China CVD Statistics

American Heart Association
2001-09-05

Did you know that coronary heart disease is the leading cause of death in urban areas in China? Read on for more alarming statistics.

The following information appears courtesy of the American Heart Association

2001 China Statistics

* The mortality rate attributable to cardiovascular disease increased from 86.2 per 100,000 in 1957 (12.1 percent of total deaths) to 214.3 per 100,000 in 1990 (35.8 percent of total deaths in urban areas).

* The mortality rate for adults ages 25--74 attributable to cardiovascular disease has regularly been found to be higher in the North than in the South, i.e., the highest in Zhengzhou, Henan Province (50 percent for males and 63 percent for females) and the lowest in Zhanjiang, Guangdong Province, at 23 percent for both sexes.

* Coronary heart disease is the leading cause of death in urban areas. Pulmonary heart disease is the leading cause of death in rural areas.

* There are 50--60 million high blood pressure patients in China.

* The prevalence of high blood pressure is higher in the North than in the South. In 1979--80 the average prevalence rate for people age 15 and older, including borderline cases, was 7.73 percent, about 50 percent higher than in 1958--59, and still rising.

* For adults, 61 percent of males and 7 percent of females smoke cigarettes.

* Blood cholesterol levels are uniformly low in comparison with values reported from Western countries.

* Surveys conducted in Beijing in 1988--89 indicate 35.2 percent of men and 39.5 percent of women are overweight.

* Stroke has a high incidence and, in some areas, is the leading cause of death. The incidence of stroke is four times that of acute myocardial infarction, which, although it has been increasing in recent years, still has much lower incidence and mortality rates than those seen in most Western countries. Prevalence is currently about 5 million Chinese, 75 percent with varying degrees of incapacity. Incidence is 1.3 million new stroke patients per year.

* In China, data sources suggest that there are between 1 and 1.5 million stroke deaths a year, and about 600,000 more deaths from all forms of heart disease. Altogether, cardiovascular disease probably claims about 2.5 million lives --- or almost 30 percent of all deaths --- each year.

For more information, please visit The American Heart Association