Cardiovascular diseases in the elderly: analysis of the behavior of mortality in a municipality in the Southern Region of Brazil from 1979 to 1998.

OBJECTIVE To know the behavior of mortality due to cardiovascular diseases in the elderly living in the municipality of Maringá, in the Brazilian state of Paraná. METHODS The causes of death over 20 years were studied according to sex, age, and groupings of the International Classification of Diseases, 9th and 10th Revisions, using the mortality database of the Ministry of Health. RESULTS In regard to total deaths in the elderly, the proportional mortality due to cerebrovascular disease and ischemic heart disease decreased 42.5% and 34.4%, respectively, while that due to hypertension increased 119%, increasing from 2.1% to 4.6%. A 51.2%, 44.6%, and 12.5% decrease occurred, respectively, in the risk of death due to cerebrovascular disease, ischemic heart disease, and other forms of heart disease. For cerebrovascular disease and ischemic heart disease, the decrease in the estimate of the risk of death was greater among women, while for the other forms of heart disease, the decrease was greater among men. In regard to age groups, the risk of death increases as age advances for each cardiovascular disease in both sexes. CONCLUSION Cardiovascular diseases continue to play an important role in morbidity and mortality in the elderly population, requiring even greater effort from health care providers for their prevention and treatment.