Shifts in the age distribution and from acute to chronic coronary heart disease hospitalizations

Background Shifts in the burden of coronary heart disease (CHD) from an acute to chronic illness have important public health consequences. Objective To assess age-sex-specific time trends in rates and characteristics of acute and chronic forms of CHD hospital admissions in the Netherlands. Methods Using nationwide Dutch registers, we assessed time trends between 1998 and 2007 in hospitalization rates of 188,266 acute myocardial infarction (AMI, ICD-9 410), 294,374 unstable angina (ICD-9 411, 413) and 205,649 chronic forms of CHD (ICD-9 412, 414) admissions. Results Between 1998 and 2007, the age-standardized CHD hospitalization rate declined from 688 to 545 per 100,000 in men and from 281 to 229 per 100,000 in women. Overall, hospitalization rates decreased at younger age (