Heart disease: key points 

Coronary heart disease (CHD), also known as ischaemic heart disease,  is a heart condition that occurs when the heart’s blood vessels, the coronary arteries, become narrowed or blocked and cannot supply enough blood to the heart. 

Incidence

• The incidence of and mortality from coronary heart disease (CHD) have both largely been falling in Scotland over the period 2014/15 to 2023/24 ..
• The incidence of CHD is higher amongst men, older people and people with a family history of early heart disease.
• Risk factors for CHD include: high blood cholesterol, physical inactivity, smoking, high blood pressure, obesity, poor diet and diabetes.
• The age and sex standardised incidence rate for CHD decreased by 12% from 377 per 100,000 population in 2014/15 to 326 in 2023/24..
• The age and sex standardised incidence rate of heart attack decreased by 6.8% from 226 per 100,000 population in 2014/15 to 211 in 2023/24. . 

Mortality

• CHD mortality increases with age with much higher rates among older people.
• Over the last 20 years, CHD mortality rates in Scotland have been higher than those in the United Kingdom as a whole and much higher than those for the European Union. However the absolute gap in rates has narrowed considerably.
• The age-sex standardised mortality rate for coronary heart disease (CHD) has also been decreasing, falling from 148 per 100,000 in 2014 to 130 in 2023. This is an overall reduction of 13%.
• Within Scotland, mortality rates remain higher in deprived areas. There has been a reduction in mortality in all the deprivation quintiles over the decade 2013-2022. However, the gap between the most and least deprived has been decreasing over time. More information is available from the Scottish Government website

Standardised rates

• Please note incidence and mortality rates are standardised using the 2013 European standard population. For more information see Appendix A1 of PHS's Heart Disease Statistics Update.