Prevalence of coronary heart disease in rural population of Bagalkot, Karnataka, India.

ABSTRACT

Background: Coronary heart disease contributes much to the burden morbidity and mortality from chronic diseases globally and more than 80% of CVD-related deaths worldwide now occur in low and middle income countries. By the year 2020, India will bear 60% of the world’s cardio vascular disease burden. The present study was undertaken to find out the prevalence of Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) in the age group of 20 years and above among the rural population of Bagalkot, Karnataka. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted in Shirur, a rural field practice area of S. Nijalingappa Medical College, Bagalkot between 1st January 2011 to 31st October 2012, to study the prevalence of CHD among individuals aged 20 years and above. The systematic random sampling method was used to draw the sample of 1226 respondents from 7015 eligible individuals. Results: The present study revealed the prevalence of CHD as 7.58% with the prevalence of symptomatic CHD (4.81%) was higher compared to asymptomatic (2.77%) cases. CHD was found to be significantly associated with increasing age in both genders (p<0.001) with male (60.22%) predominance. Higher prevalence of CHD was found among Hindu individuals, married people, illiterate and also among the individuals belonging to lower socio economic class. Conclusions: Higher prevalence of CHD was found in the study in Shirur; a village of North Karnataka is a matter of concern and has to be addressed by regular screening and health education regarding the risk factors and lifestyle modification.