title: National prevalence of coronary heart disease and its relationship with human development index: A systematic review.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Coronary heart disease has become a major health concern over the past several decades. Several reviews have assessed the effects of socioeconomic status on the coronary heart disease epidemic in communities and countries, but only a few reviews have been performed at a global level. This study was to explore the relationship between the prevalence of coronary heart disease and socioeconomic development worldwide using the Human Development Index.
  
  
  METHODS
  Systematic review.
  
  
  METHODS
  The data in this study were collected from the MEDLINE database. Cross-sectional studies reporting the prevalence of coronary heart disease until November 2014 were collected. The Human Development Index was sourced from the United Nations Development Programme Database and was used to measure the socioeconomic achievements of countries. Each country was classified as a developing or developed country based on its level of development according to the Human Development Index value.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Based on the data analysis on the global level, coronary heart disease prevalence had no association with the national Human Development Index (rho = 0.07). However, there was a positive association between coronary heart disease prevalence and the national Human Development Index in developing countries, although a negative association existed in developed countries (rho = 0.47 and -0.34, respectively). In addition, the past decades have witnessed a growing coronary heart disease epidemic in developing countries, with reverse trends observed in developed countries (P = 0.021 and 0.002, respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  With the development of socioeconomic status, as measured by the Human Development Index, the prevalence of coronary heart disease is growing in developing countries, while declining in developed countries. Future research needs to pay more attention to the reasonable allocation of medical resources and control of coronary heart disease risk factors.
authors.affiliation: The Second Clinical Medical College, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, China.
authors.forename: Ke-Fu
authors.initials: KF
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Zhejiang University, China.
authors.forename: Yu-Ming
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Zhejiang University, China.
authors.forename: Jin-Zhou
authors.initials: JZ
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Columbian College of Arts and Science, The George Washington University, USA.
authors.forename: Qin-Yi
authors.initials: QY
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovasology, Hangzhou First People's Hospital, China ningfuwang.zcmu@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Ning-Fu
authors.initials: NF
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D019049:Developed Countries / Q000191:economics*; D003906:Developing Countries / Q000191:economics*; D005260:Female; D014943:Global Health / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Coronary heart disease; coronary artery disease; prevalence; socioeconomic status