Cardiovascular Disease

Prevalence

• In 2007, 1.3 million Canadians (4.8%) reported having heart disease diagnosed by a health professional.
• Men are more likely to report having a heart disease than women – 5.3% of men and 4.2% of women.
• A further 315,000 Canadians reported living with the effects of a stroke in 2009.
• Since the prevalence rates of heart disease and stroke were obtained from self-reports, the true number of people with these conditions is likely underestimated.
• Nearly 6 million Canadians aged 20 years and older (22%) were living with diagnosed hypertension in from 2007 to 2009.

Mortality

• In 2009, cardiovascular diseases were the second leading cause of death for Canadians, representing 22.7% of all deaths.
• Men were more likely to die of CVD than women – almost three times higher for those under 65 years of age.
• Mortality rates for CVD increase dramatically among men at age 45 and among women at age 55.
• On the other hand, between 1969 and 2004, mortality rates for ischemic heart disease, heart attack and stroke all decreased significantly and combined, major cardiovascular diseases continued this trend through 2009.
• While the reason for this decrease is not known, it was likely the result of a combination of lower rates of people developing CVD due to a reduction in risk factors and better management of CVD leading to longer survival rates.

Economic burden

• CVD has a major economic impact in Canada on individuals, their families, communities and the health care system. In 2000, the direct and indirect costs of CVD in Canada were estimated to be $22.2 billion. This was the second highest total cost among all diagnostic categories and only slightly less than musculoskeletal diseases which were the most costly.
• Costs for CVD included $7.6 billion for health care costs (direct costs), and $14.6 billion for indirect costs resulting from lost economic productivity due to disability or death.

For more facts and figures on CVD

• The Public Health Agency of Canada provides Chronic disease data cubes which are interactive databases that allow users to create tables and graphs using their web browser and interactive maps providing current statistics on priority chronic disease and risk factor prevalence in Canada as well as for other non-communicable diseases.
• Maternal Hypertension in Canada Fact Sheet Public Health Agency of Canada (2014).
• Tracking Heart Disease and Stroke in Canada – Stroke Highlights 2011
• Report from the Canadian Chronic Disease Surveillance System: Hypertension in Canada, 2010
• Tracking heart disease and stroke in Canada-2009 (PDF document)

For more information on risk factors:

• Tracking Heart Disease and Stroke in Canada – Stroke Highlights 2011
• 2009 Tracking Heart Disease and Stroke in Canada
• The Risk factor atlas from the Public Health Agency of Canada shows major chronic disease risk factors (with national trends over time, age-specific prevalence estimates, and maps of the prevalence of risk factors in health regions across the country) using data from the Statistics Canada Canadian Community Health Surveys (2005 and 2003).

For more information on primary prevention:

• Public Health Agency of Canada information on prevention of CVD.
• The Heart and Stroke Foundation web site provides information prevention of CVD.
• Hypertension Canada provides information on prevention and treatment of hypertension for health professionals and the public.
• U.S. Centers for Disease Prevention and Control prevention information.
• The World Health Organisation’s prevention of CVD: pocket guidelines for assessment and management of CVD risk.
• U.K. Prevention of cardiovascular disease, National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (2010).

British Columbia

In the guidelines, Cardiovascular disease – Primary prevention, the BC Ministry of Health provides recommendations directed at physicians on the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in adults who do not have CVD (2014).

Core Public Health Functions for BC: Evidence Review, Chronic Disease (PDF document), Chapter 8, p. 86 describes the evidence for primary prevention of CVD (2010).

Ontario

Healthy Eating, Physical Activity and Health Weights (PDF document), Ministry of Health Promotion, Government of Ontario (2010).

International

Risk estimation and the prevention of cardiovascular disease, a national clinical guideline (PDF document) Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (2007).
U.K. Prevention of cardiovascular disease, guidance from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (2010).

Canada

• Health fact sheets, including blood pressure for children, youth and adults. Statistics Canada. Features short, informative articles on interesting health topics from various health data sources.
• The Public Health Agency of Canada provides Chronic Disease Infobase Data Cubes which are interactive databases that allow users to create tables and graphs using their web browser and interactive maps providing current statistics on priority chronic disease and risk factor prevalence in Canada as well as for other non-communicable diseases.
• Data tables from Statistics Canada by subject: Diseases and health conditions, including CVD.
• Statistics Canada database of surveillance information on CVD.

Provincial/Territorial Data

New Brunswick

• The state of public health in New Brunswick 2013: Heart health – A report from the Chief Medical Officer of Health (PDF document) provides an understanding of the extent of burden, trends and risk factors of cardiovascular disease with the aim of shifting the focus of care from treatment to prevention. Government of New Brunswick.

Ontario

• The annual Ontario stroke evaluation report 2014: On target for stroke prevention and care by the Institute of Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) (2014), documents progress made by the Ontario Stroke Network in the provision of best practice stroke prevention and care from 2003/04 to 2012/13 through 43 core performance indicators.

Saskatchewan

• Prevalence and incidence of ischemic heart disease and heart failure in Saskatchewan Government of Saskatchewan (2015).
• Prevalence of asthma, COPD, diabetes and hypertension in Saskatchewan, 2010-11 Government of Saskatchewan (2013).

International Data

Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)

• Cardiovascular Disease and Diabetes – Policies for better health and quality of care, OECD Health Policies Studies (2015). Examines how countries perform in their ability to prevent, manage and treat cardiovascular disease (CVD) and diabetes.

United Kingdom

• Coordinated by Public Health England, the National Cardiovascular Health Intelligence Network (NCVIN) analyses surveillance data and translates it into user-friendly information for by commissioners, policy makers, clinicians and health professionals to improve services and outcomes.

World Health Organisation

• The Global atlas on cardiovascular disease prevention and control from the World Health Organization documents the magnitude of the problem, using global cardiovascular mortality and morbidity data (2011).

International

• The U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention provides a database of publications on CVD.
• The World Health Organisation‘s site on CVD provides key publications.

Newfoundland and Labrador

• Chronic Disease provides provincial Chronic Disease Policy Framework, self-management and links for community action.

Nova Scotia

• Cardiovascular Health Nova Scotia aims to improve the cardiovascular health of Nova Scotians. Encompasses cardiac disease and stroke.

Prince Edward Island

• Chronic disease prevention and management section of Health PEI PEI provides provincial leadership, management, policy and program development for chronic disease prevention and management including tips and tools for healthy living aimed at the general public.