Ford ES and Capewell S (2007) Coronary heart disease mortality among young adults in the U.S. from 1980 through 2002: concealed leveling of mortality rates. J Am Coll Cardiol 50: 2128–2132

Although annual mortality from coronary heart disease (CHD) in the US has declined since the 1960s, there is concern that the rate of decline has begun to slow in recent decades. Ford and Capewell used vital statistics data for individuals in the US aged ≥35 years and census counts for the years 1980, 1990 and 2000 to determine trends in the annual change in CHD mortality.

From 1980 to 2002, the age-adjusted mortality for CHD declined by 52% in men and 49% in women; however, the average annual rate of decline was greater during the 1980s than in the 1990s for both men (2.9% vs 2.6%) and women (2.6% vs 2.4%). In women aged 35–54 years, the annual mortality decreased by 5.4% between 1980 and 1989 and by 1.2% between 1989 and 2000, and increased by 1.5% between 2000 and 2002. The rate of decline also slowed among men of the same age (decrease of 6.2% between 1980 and 1989 and of 0.5% between 2000 and 2002).

The rate of decline in CHD mortality has decreased in recent years in both men and women, and particularly in individuals younger than 55 years. The authors suggest that the increased incidence among young people of CHD risk factors such as obesity and hypertension might be responsible for this change, and they recommend vigorous screening for such risk factors.