Decline in mortality of coronary heart disease among whites and blacks in Wisconsin 1979-1998.

OBJECTIVES: 1) To examine overall trends in Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) mortality in Wisconsin from 1979 to 1998 to assess progress toward Wisconsin's "Public Health Agenda for the Year 2000" goal; and 2) to compare the trends in mortality rates due to CHD by race, gender, and age groups between the periods of 1979-1983 and 1994-1998.

METHODS: Mortality data for CHD (ICD codes 410-414, 429.2) were retrieved from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's WONDER database. Age-specific CHD mortality rates were calculated as averages over the 5-year periods, 1979-1983 and 1994-1998. Both the percentage change in mortality rates between the two periods and the number of lives saved during the 1994-1998 period as a result of change were obtained. To look at racial disparities in mortality, relative rates, that is, ratios between mortality rates of blacks and whites in the 1994-1998 period, were calculated.

RESULTS: Between the two time periods (1979-1983 and 1994-1998) there was a 40% reduction of CHD mortality in most age groups for white men and women. The slowest decline in mortality occurred among black men: 11% in the 35-44 age group and less than 30% among those 55 years and older. Although the mortality rate declines for black women over the study period were similar to those for whites overall, in the 1994-1998 period mortality rates among younger black women aged 35 to 54 were 2 to 4 times higher than those for white women in the corresponding age groups.

CONCLUSION: Wisconsin achieved its year 2000 objective for CHD mortality reductions in 1998, experiencing a 49% decline in CHD mortality from 1979 to 1998. Despite this overall decline, however, there was a noticeable difference in the trends among demographic groups, suggesting a further focus on racial disparities in CHD mortality.