Deaths from Heart Attack in England

Your chance of dying from a heart attack has about halved over the last ten years.

Mortality from acute myocardial infarction in England, 2002-10
Mortality from acute myocardial infarction in England, 2002-10

But is this down to prevention or treatment?

Number of heart attacks
Number of heart attacks

Your chance of having a heart attack is down about 30% Chance of dying after heart attack

Your chance of dying if you have a heart attack is down by about a quarter

Determinants of the decline in mortality from acute myocardial infarction in England between 2002 and 2010: linked national database study. ” both primary prevention and secondary prevention would have contributed to the decline in the rate of sudden deaths from acute myocardial infarction. In addition to reducing rates of sudden death, coronary prevention can reduce disease severity and therefore may contribute to the decline in case fatality for those who survive long enough to receive hospital care for acute myocardial infarction. Furthermore, changes in fatal outcomes among people admitted to hospital for acute myocardial infarction also reflect, at least in part, the contribution of improvements in acute medical treatment during the study time period.”

What is already known on this topic

Population based mortality rates from coronary heart disease and acute myocardial infarction have been declining in England and other developed countries since the 1970s.

The relative contributions of changes in event rate and case fatality to the decline in total acute myocardial infarction mortality vary by country and are not known for England and many other countries.

What this study adds

In England during 2002-10 the age standardised total mortality rate fell by about half and the age standardised event and case fatality rates both declined by about one third.

The determinants of the declining mortality rates differed by sex, age, and geographical region.

Overall, just over half of the decline in acute myocardial infarction mortality rate can be attributed to a decline in event rate and just less than half to a decline in case fatality.