The epidemiology of coronary heart disease in Middlesex County, Connecticut: I. A preliminary report on methodology and the incidence of primary myocardial infarction

Abstract

1. 1. This report contains a description of the methodology of voluntary reporting of coronary heart disease by private physicians in a general population group in Middlesex County, Connecticut, during an eighteen-month reporting period. 2. 2. Under the most favorable conditions of cooperation and motivation of the practicing physicians and by the effective coordination of a full-time professional staff, such an approach did, as expected, produce valuable information. 3. 3. Population estimates made from the United States Bureau of the Census interview data collected on a probability sample of the population of the County made it possible to determine incidence rates for primary myocardial infarction among white males, aged 35 to 64, for the year April, 1957, through March, 1958. It was concluded that a minimal incidence rate (for myocardial infarction among white males aged 35 to 64 for Middlesex County, Connecticut) was 5.2 per 1,000 and that the actual rate was somewhat larger—approximately 6 per 1,000. 4. 4. Comparisons with similarly obtained data in North Dakota were presented. The rate in Middlesex County for cases comparable to those cases included in the North Dakota rate is significantly higher (5.4 to 3.3) when all the six-county area population in North Dakota is included and not significantly higher (5.3 to 4.4) when the farmers are excluded from the North Dakota population.