Geographical Epidemiology of Cardiovascular Disease in India: An Exploratory Study

Cardiovascular Diseases (CVD) have become the leading cause of death in India and other developing countries. The aims of this study were to: (1) describe the geographical epidemiology of CVD in India, (2) provide a graphical display of CVD risk factors and mortality outcomes, and (3) describe the sources of bias. Five large, nationally-representative datasets from India were studied. Cardiovascular death rates were 308/100,000 among males and 198/100,000 among females in middle-age (30-69years). Wide variations between states were noted in the distribution of risk factors and mortality. The selected risk factors explained 49% and 43% of the variation among males and females respectively. Ecologic analysis revealed death rates at state-level were associated with rates of overweight and vegetarianism among males; no such association was found among females. This study has implications for identification of areas with high burden, formulation of hypotheses, and assessing needs for disease control at national/regional levels.MAS