Prevalence of ischemic heart disease in a rural population of Bangladesh.

Bangladeshi people, as other South Asians, have high susceptibility to ischemic heart disease (IHD) but population-based data are lacking in Bangladesh. We investigated for IHD burden in a rural population of Bangladesh in 2001. Information was sought on use of medications for IHD and electrocardiogram was done in 447 adults (157 men and 290 women) aged 20 years or older (mean 40 years). Prevalence of IHD defined by presence of pathological Q wave on electrocardiogram or current medication for IHD is 3.4% (95% confidence interval, 1.7% to 5.1%). Prevalence in men (4.6%, 1.3% to 7.9%) was almost twice than in women (2.7%, 0.8% to 4.6%). However, this sex-difference should be cautiously interpreted because of small sample size for men. It appears that IHD is an important problem even in this traditional rural population of Bangladesh.