Prevalence, treatments and outcomes of coronary artery disease in Indians: A systematic review

Abstract Aim To conduct a systematic review on the prevalence, risk factors, treatments and outcomes of Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) in Indians. Methods and results We conducted a systematic review of studies in Indians with CAD from Jan 1969 to Oct 2012. Initial search yielded 3885 studies and after review 288 observational studies were included. The prevalence of CAD in urban areas was 2.5%–12.6% and in rural areas, 1.4%–4.6%. The prevalence of risk factors was: smoking (8.9–40.5%), hypertension (13.1–36.9%) and diabetes mellitus (0.2–24.0%). The median time to reach hospital after an MI was 360 min. In hospital rates of drug use were: antiplatelets 68%–97.9%, beta blockers 47.3%–65.8% and ACEIs 27.8–56.8%. Conclusions In this first systematic review of CAD in India, prevalence of risk factors is high, treatments delayed and use of evidence based treatments variable.