Epidemiology of Cardiovascular Diseases

Epidemiology is the study of the distribution and determinants of health conditions. In this article, epidemiological studies of cardiovascular diseases and, more specifically, of coronary heart disease (CHD), are reviewed to document their major public health importance, the changes in mortality during this century, and international comparisons of these trends. The major risk indicators for CHD are reviewed and found to be determined in large part by psychosocial and behavioral mechanisms. More purely psychosocial risk indicators are also reviewed for the consistency with which they predict CHD prevalence and incidence. It seems fair to assert that, although the pathogenetic mechanisms involved are biological, the contributing causes to CHD are primarily behavioral.