Trends in the incidence of coronary heart disease and stroke and the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors among Japanese men from 1963 to 1994

Abstract Purpose To determine trends in the incidence of cardiovascular disease in Japan, we examined observational data on coronary heart disease, stroke, and cardiovascular risk factors among urban Japanese working men. Subjects and methods The surveyed population included all male employees aged 40 to 59 years who worked for eight industrial companies in Osaka, the second largest metropolitan city in Japan. Surveillance for cardiovascular disease and risk factors was conducted from 1963 to 1994. Results The age-adjusted incidence of coronary heart disease increased from 0.4 per 1000 person-years during 1963 to 1970, to 1.5 per 1000 person-years during 1979 to 1986, and then plateaued until 1987 to 1994 ( P for trend=0.002), whereas the incidence of stroke declined from 1.2 per 1,000 person-years during 1971 to 1978, to 0.6 per 1,000 person-years in 1987 to 1994 ( P for trend=0.02). The age-adjusted mean (± SD) total cholesterol level, which was 4.87 ± 2.88 mmol/L during 1963 to 1966, increased to 5.11 ± 0.62 mmol/L during 1982 to 1983 ( P P for trend Conclusion Although these findings were limited to urban middle-aged men, the increase in serum cholesterol is likely to attenuate the reduction in future rates of coronary heart disease in Japan that would have been expected to result from the declining prevalence of smoking.