title: Thirty-Year Trends in Mortality from Cerebrovascular Diseases in Korea.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Cerebrovascular disease is a leading cause of mortality and morbidity in Korea. Understanding of cerebrovascular disease mortality trends is important to reduce the health burden from cerebrovascular diseases. We examined the changing pattern of mortality related to cerebrovascular disease in Korea over 30 years from 1983 to 2012.
  
  
  METHODS
  Numbers of deaths from cerebrovascular disease, hemorrhagic stroke, and cerebral infarction were obtained from the national Cause of Death Statistics. Crude and age-adjusted mortality rates were calculated for men and women for each year. Penalized B-spline methods, which reduce bias and variability in curve fitting, were used to identify the trends of 30-year mortality and identify the year of highest mortality.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During the 30 years, cerebrovascular disease mortality has markedly declined. The age-adjusted cerebrovascular disease mortality rate has decreased by 78% in men and by 68% in women. In the case of hemorrhagic stroke, crude mortality peaked in 2001 but age-adjusted mortality peaked in 1994. Between 1994 and 2012, age-adjusted mortality from hemorrhagic stroke has decreased by 68% in men and 59% in women. In the case of cerebral infarction, crude and age-adjusted mortality rates steeply increased until 2004 and 2003, respectively, and both rates decreased rapidly thereafter.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Cerebrovascular disease mortality rate has significantly decreased over the last 30 years in Korea, but remains a health burden. The prevalence of major cardiovascular risk factors are still highly prevalent in Korea.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Yonsei University Graduate School, Seoul, Korea.; Cardiovascular and Metabolic Diseases Etiology Research Center, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Seung Won
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Cardiovascular and Metabolic Diseases Etiology Research Center, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.; Department of Preventive Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyeon Chang
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Hye Sun
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Il
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Suh
keywords: Cerebrovascular disorders; Korea; Mortality; Stroke; Trends