Home > Topics > Chronic Diseases > Heart Disease > Hearth Disease Prevalence

Heart Disease Prevalence

As part of the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS), respondents were asked if they had been diagnosed with certain health conditions by a health professional that were expected to last six months or longer. In 2009/10, 6% (4.7%, 7.8%) of Simcoe Muskoka adults (20+) reported having heart disease. This was not significantly different from the provincial self-reported heart disease prevalence rate of 5.5%  (5.2%, 5.9%). It should be noted that respondents were simply asked if they had heart disease, they were not asked about specific types of diagnoses of heart disease.

The trend in self-reported heart disease prevalence in Simcoe Muskoka between 2000/01 and 2009/10 was relatively stable, remaining between five and eight per cent. The trend in self-reported heart disease prevalence for Ontario as a whole also remained stable between five and six per cent for each of the survey years.

The prevalence of self-reported heart disease decreases with higher levels of income. Among adults (20+) in Simcoe Muskoka, those in the highest income category had significantly lower self-reported heart disease when compared with those with lower levels of income.

The Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES), an independent Ontario research organization, published estimates of Ischaemic Heart Disease (IHD) prevalence at both the provincial and public health unit level on their inTool website for the 2006/07 fiscal year.

In the 2006/07 fiscal year, the age-standardized prevalence rate of IHD in Simcoe Muskoka for adults 20 years and older was 6.0 (5.9, 6.1) per 100 persons. This was similar to the Ontario IHD prevalence rate of 6.2 per 100 adults (20+).

In 2006/07 in Simcoe Muskoka, IHD prevalence rates increased with age for both males and females; however, the prevalence rates were higher among males when compared to females for all age groups (see figure three).