Table 1

Population and patient data sources of information on CHD in the UK, 1981–2000

Information	Source	Evaluation
Population statistics (1981–2000) (number)	Office for National Statistics¹⁸	Easily accessible, accurate, and up to date
Deaths by age and sex (1981–2000) (number)	Available online from Office for National Statistics⁶ and as published reports⁶⁶	Death certification complete, standardised coding. Only minority based on necropsy. May over estimate CHD deaths in elderly people.
CHD mortality (rates)	Available as mortality statistics from Office for National Statistics^66,⁶⁷ and from British Heart Foundation Annual CHD Statistics online or published reports²	Little information on ethnic minority or socioeconomic differences.
CABG surgery patients (number)	CABG numbers from 1991–2000 available online on UK Society for Cardiothoracic Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland’s web site (http://www.scts.org/doc/2102).¹⁹ To obtain figures for England and Wales CABG numbers for Scotland and Ireland deducted from UK figures.	Appear accurate. Lack detail on age, sex, ethnic group, social status, and long term survival.
Angioplasty patients (number)	Angioplasty numbers for 1991–2000 available online on British Cardiovascular Intervention Society’s web site http://www.bcis.org.uk/audit/Bcis00.ppt.²⁰	Age and sex split not provided. No long term outcomes.
Angina patients admitted to hospital (number)	Number of angina patients admitted to hospital available from Hospital Episode Statistics 1999–2000 (http://www.doh.gov.uk/hes/index.html).²¹	Episodes not individuals. Coding accuracy improving. Lack detail on subgroups. No data on therapy.
Angina patients in the community (number)	Prevalence of “ever experienced angina” is available from Health Survey for England 1998,¹⁶ and British Regional Heart Study.⁶⁸	Only prevalence not incidence.
Heart failure patients admitted to hospital (number)	Number of heart failure patients admitted to hospital available from Hospital Episode Statistics 1999–2000 (http://www.doh.gov.uk/hes/index.html)²¹	As for angina admissions.
Heart failure patients in the community (number)	Prevalence of treated heart failure patients in the community available from Key Health Statistics from General Practice 1998 report¹³	GP consultations; therefore omits subjects not presenting to NHS.