The Study
Income based disparities in ischemic heart disease mortality a global analysis of age standardized death rates (1990 to 2021)
This study looked at how many people died of heart disease in different countries over 30 years and noticed that richer countries had bigger drops in deaths. But it didn’t test why — maybe they had better hospitals, healthier food, or cleaner air. So we can say richer places had fewer deaths, but we can’t say being rich made people live longer.
Analysis score
Maximum 44 for a cross-sectional study.
Where the score came from
Heart disease kills fewer people now than 30 years ago, but rich countries got better at preventing it much earlier than poor ones.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 544 / 100
Quality score
Snapshots of a population at a single point in time, or descriptions of small groups. Can identify correlations and prevalence, but cannot determine cause and effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1Yes — this means people in wealthier nations live longer from heart disease, while those in poorer nations are still catching up, even if they're improving now.
- 2Globally, heart disease deaths fell 30%.
- 3In rich countries, they fell 49%.
- 4In poorer countries, deaths barely changed overall — some even rose slightly.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
European Heart Journal
Year
2025
Authors
T. Warsi, M. Kakakhel, S. Rath, S. Ishtiaq, M. Haider, H. Ilyas, Z. Bacha, A. Afridi, R. Ahmed
Related Content
Claims (6)
Between 1990 and 2021, high-income regions saw a 49% drop in deaths from ischemic heart disease, with an average yearly decrease of 3.43%, the largest decline observed anywhere in the world.
From 2014 to 2021, deaths from ischemic heart disease in low-income regions decreased by 1.13% per year, while from 1990 to 2013, death rates barely changed, showing a recent slowdown in cardiovascular deaths in these regions.
In regions with middle-to-high socioeconomic development, deaths from ischemic heart disease decreased by 2.41% each year between 2007 and 2021 due to increased economic resources and healthcare spending.
Between 1990 and 2021, the number of deaths from ischemic heart disease worldwide dropped by 30%, averaging a 1.30% decrease each year, but the improvement varied by region.
In low-middle income regions, deaths from ischemic heart disease rose slightly but significantly between 1990 and 2021, even though there was a moderate drop after 2014.
The number of people dying from ischemic heart disease has dropped by 44% since 1990.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.