Changes over time in the prevalence and treatment of cardiovascular risk factors, and contributions to time trends in coronary mortality over 25 years in the Lille urban area (northern France)

Summary Background The long-term collection of population-based data should improve our knowledge of the contribution of trend in cardiovascular risk factors to the steady fall in mortality associated with coronary heart disease in high-income countries. Aims To assess long-term time trends in the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors, estimated coronary heart disease risk and mortality between 1986 and 2013 in the Lille urban area (northern France). Methods We studied representative samples of inhabitants of the Lille urban area (aged 40–64 years) in 1986–1988 ( n  = 860), 1995–1996 ( n  = 1021), 2005–2007 ( n  = 1021) and 2011–2013 ( n  = 1636), together with data from the Lille MONICA registry. Results In men, the age-standardized prevalence fell between 1986 and 2013 from 70.5% to 42.5% for hypertension, from 71.1% to 58.3% for dyslipidaemia and from 44.1% to 24.7% for smoking (all P P P Conclusions Prevalences of main risk factors and estimated coronary mortality risk decreased concomitantly with the observed coronary mortality – indicating that primary prevention made a major contribution to the decrease in mortality.