The aim of this study was to present the prevalence of self-reported Ischemic Heart Disease (IHD) based on a national population-based survey and to characterize people with self-reported IHD with respect to health behavior, risk factors, health-care services utilization and health-related HRQoL; further to compare people with self-reported IHD to those with other chronic illness and people without chronic illness. Based on the Danish Health Interview Survey 2005 (SUSY), a sample of 10,983 persons aged 35 years or older was examined. Data was collected through personal interviews (response rate = 66.7%) and self-administered questionnaires (51.5%). The sample was divided into three mutual exclusive groups: IHD; other chronic illnesses; and no chronic illness. The prevalence of IHD was 5.6% (5.2 - 6.0). The disease was more common in men than women, and the average age was 67.5 years. People with self-reported IHD were characterized as having poorer health behaviors; more risk factors: 40% smokers, 21% sedentary lifestyle, 26% obese; higher utilization of the health-care services; and poorer HRQoL. When compared to people with other chronic diseases, people with IHD continued to show the same characteristics. The IHD group had more problems affecting their daily lives than the other two groups. The issues that affected the people with IHD have also been shown to increase the load on the health-care system. Therefore, it is important to the patients, health-care, and society that the prevalence of IHD is reduced and the burden of disease is made a priority.
In 2005, the World Health Organization projected that 60% of the deaths worldwide would be caused by chronic diseases [
As the mortality rates have declined in Denmark, there has been a documented increase in the rate of hospitalization due to ischemic heart disease (IHD) [
The impact of chronic disease is both a major cost and economic burden to individuals, health systems, and societies [
Previous research conducted with people living with IHD has mainly been based on data from national or regional hospital registries [3-5], however this data only reflects the number of people with chronic IHD in contact with the healthcare system. From a public health perspective, it is important to know how many people are living in society with chronic IHD and how their everyday life is affected.
In cross-sectional surveys among people aged > 50 years, Oldridge and Stump found a significantly greater likelihood of limitation of activity and poor or fair selfrated health among respondents with heart disease compared to people with other kinds of chronic illness [
The aim of this study is to present the prevalence of self-reported IHD based on a national population-based survey and to characterize people with self-reported IHD with respect to health behavior, risk factors, health-care services utilization and health-related HRQoL; further to compare people with self-reported IHD to those with other chronic illness and people without chronic illness.
The Danish Health Interview Survey 2005 (SUSY) was conducted by the National Institute of Public Health [
During the interview participants were asked two key questions, with subsequent follow-up questions. First they were asked, “Do you have any chronic disease, disorder or illness, chronic effects of injury, any functional impairment or any other chronic health problem?” If the answer was “yes”, then the participant was asked two follow-up questions: “What kind of disease?” and “Where in your body is the disease located?” The second key question asked them specifically, “Do you now or have you previously had a heart attack (myocardial infarction) or angina pectoris?”
Based on the interview responses the study sample was divided into three mutually exclusive groups:
• Participants with IHD: respondents giving a “yes” answer to one or both questions (n = 630);
• Participants with other chronic illnesses (e.g. musculoskeletal disease, respiratory disease, diseases of the nervous system) (n = 4353);
• Participants with no chronic illness (n = 5983).
All reported chronic illnesses were subsequently coded according to the International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision (ICD-10). The chronic illness breakdown is illustrated for both the IHD group and other chronic illness group in
The other data collected can be categorized into seven major areas: sociodemographic, health behaviors, risk factors, healthcare system utilization, medication use, social relations and HRQoL. Standard socio-demographic data was collected during the interview including: gender, age, cohabitation status and educational level. The questions concerning health behaviors and risk factors included smoking pattern, level of physical activity, dietary intake, prevalence of hypertension and diabetes, use of preventive check-ups, self-efficacy [
Six questions in the interview addressed the use of physician services within the past three months and four questions asked about the use of other health-care providers within the same time period. Participants were also asked if they were regularly taking medication. Questions concerning quality of life included social relations, self-rated health, chronic activity limitations and self-rated HRQoL. There were three questions regarding social relations during the interview. Self-rated HRQoL measurement were collected from the self-administered questionnaire and based on the SF-36 [14,15]. Questions on sexual activity were also included in the self-administered questionnaire.
Raw prevalence and 95% confidence intervals are presented for the IHD group only. When comparing the three groups prevalences are adjusted for both age and gender and presented with 95% confidence intervals. To test for equal prevalences in the groups, a test for conditional independence [
A total of 630 respondents reported having IHD, corresponding to 5.6% (95% CI 5.2% - 6.0%) of adult Danes aged 35 years or older.
The comorbidities for the IHD group and the other chronic illness group are shown in
Health behavior and risk factors among people with IHD differed significantly from the two other groups (
Health-care utilization varied considerably between the two disease groups and the group without disease (