title: The myth of high mortality rates due to ischaemic heart disease in white South Africans.
abstract: It has often been said that when compared with Whites in other countries South African Whites have an extremely high mortality rate from ischaemic heart disease (IHD), the so-called disease of affluence. This conclusion may arise from a misinterpretation of the mortality statistics of the South African population. The apparent misinterpretation arises from the comparison of the mortality rates for South African Whites (a predominantly privileged and affluent class) with those for the total populations of other countries, which include the labourer classes (in which IHD is less prevalent and which are predominantly Black in South Africa). The argument that socio-economic class must be controlled for in such calculations is demonstrated by a comparison of the occupational structures of the four South African race groups. When the statistics are recalculated to encompass the other groups with a view to including the manual labourer class, there is evidence that South Africa has a low to average incidence of IHD. It is acknowledged, however, that even this may not be an ideal method. Possible influencing factors, in this case socio-economic status, must be controlled for when statistical comparisons of large populations are made.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000401:mortality*; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000208:ethnology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013019:South Africa; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D013548:Sweden; D014481:United States; D044465:White People