Epidemiology of Cardiovascular Mortality—Geographic and Ethnic

Abstract

Cardio-vascular (CV) diseases death rates for whites aged 45-74, sex- and age-adjusted in 10-year age groups by the direct method, for 1949-1951, for 279 areas in the U. S. show low-rate areas to be in the western plains, with a few in the Middle South; and high-rate areas to be near the East Coast, with some along the Gulf and Great Lakes. The highest-rate areas have CV rates twice as high as those for low-rate areas. Non-CV mortality patterns tend to follow the pattern for CV mortality. Further refinements of methods, such as correction for residence, have not as yet produced appreciable changes in rates. In the Middle Atlantic States, persons born in Ireland and Poland had the highest rates, while the Scandinavians, Italians and Germans had lower rates. However, neither foreign birth nor migration within the United States (as determined from a study of death rates by state of birth by state of residence) appears to be as important as the place of residence in determining death rates. Other factors, such as content of the drinking water, are being studied further for their association with CV mortality rates.