Trends in out-of-hospital ischemic heart disease mortality for the 25-64 year old population of Kaunas, Lithuania, based on data from the 1988-2012 Ischemic Heart Disease Registry.

Aim: The aim of the study was to evaluate trends in out-of-hospital ischemic heart disease (IHD) mortality in the Kaunas, Lithuania population aged 25-64, from 1988 to 2012.

Methods: The registry was maintained according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendations for the multinational MONICA (MONItoring of trends and determinants in CArdiovascular disease) project. We analysed out-of-hospital deaths from IHD, by sex and age groups, using the linear logistic regression model for identifying trends.

Results: In 1988-2012, the out-of-hospital IHD deaths in Kaunas accounted for 78.4% and 68.4%, on average, of all IHD deaths in men and women aged 25-64, respectively. During the study period, the out-of-hospital IHD mortality for the Kaunas population aged 25-64 was 134.5 per 100,000 men and 18.2 per 100,000 women. From 1988 to 2012, the out-of-hospital IHD mortality for men and women aged 25-64 tended to decline by, on average, 8.3% per year (p = 0.269) and 16.2% per year (p = 0.101), respectively; whereas the corresponding rates for men aged 25-44 were declining significantly, by 22.5% per year (p = 0.047). The most significant changes in out-of-hospital IHD mortality were among men aged 25-44 with no previous history of acute myocardial infarction (AMI), in whom the out-of-hospital IHD mortality was significantly declining, by 21.3% per year (p = 0.015); whereas the corresponding rates for men aged 45-54 with a previous history of AMI tended to decline by 20.4% per year (p = 0.114).

Conclusions: In 1988-2012, the out-of-hospital IHD deaths of younger men and middle-aged women accounted for the highest percentage of all IHD deaths; and a higher proportion of both men and women with no previous history of AMI, as compared to the proportion of those with a previous history of AMI.