Heart disease: key data sources

Incidence

The incidence of coronary heart disease (CHD) or heart attack can be estimated from the Scottish Morbidity Record (SMR) databases, by counting:

• 'new' SMR01 hospital admissions for CHD or heart attack (i.e. records for people with no previous admission for CHD/heart attack in the last 10 years).

However, it is essential to understand the major limitations of this approach - these are detailed on the PHS linked database.

Mortality

Information on deaths from heart disease (including CHD and heart attack) is collated from death registrations by the National Records of Scotland (NRS).

Prevalence

Information on CHD prevalence can be obtained from a number of sources such as the Scottish Health Survey and the Scottish Primary Care Information Resource (SPIRE). Each of these data sources provide high level estimates of prevalence.

Hospital discharge data

Statistics on discharges from hospital due to heart disease (including CHD, heart attack, angina, heart failure) are held in the Scottish Morbidity Record (SMR) databases.

Ambulance service data

Information on Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) activity for patients with heart problems or chest pains is extracted from the SAS data warehouse at ePRF (electronic patient record form) level. It includes (1) incidents where a SAS resource attended and (2) conveyances where a patient was conveyed to hospital. More details are provided in PHS's Heart Disease publication or SCAP.