The effects of age, period, and cohort on mortality from ischemic heart disease in China

In contrast with most developed countries, mortality due to ischemic heart disease (IHD) continues to rise in China. We examined the effects of age, period, and cohort on IHD mortality in urban and rural populations from 1987 to 2013 to identify the drivers of this trend. Region-specific data on annual IHD mortality among adults aged 20 to 84 years and corresponding population statistics were collected. We then tested for age, period, and cohort effects using the Intrinsic Estimator approach. Our results indicated that IHD mortality in China increased significantly over the three decades studied. There was a log-linear increase in the age effect on IHD mortality as those aged 80–84 showed 277 and 161 times greater IHD mortality risk than those aged 20–24 in urban and rural populations, respectively. While there was an upward trend in the period effect in both populations, the influence of the cohort effect on mortality decreased over time for those born from 1904 to 1993. The age, period, and cohort effects on mortality in China were generally comparable between urban and rural populations. The results suggest that population aging is a major driver behind the rapid rise in IHD mortality.