Trends of coronary heart disease among men of Japanese ancestry in Hawaii.

The 15-year prospective study of cardiovascular disease among a cohort of Japanese men in Hawaii provided an opportunity to examine the temporal trends of coronary heart disease (CHD) incidence and mortality rates and to compare them with Hawaii State CHD mortality rates. The State mortality records showed a decline in CHD mortality from 1968 to 1978 which was similar to the national trends. For more than 11,000 men of Japanese ancestry under surveillance, there was no evidence of declining rates for either CHD deaths or for total CHD incidence. There was also no change in case-fatality rates during this time. An explanation for these differences could not be provided but there was a suggestion that it involved changes in classification of some groups of cardiovascular disease and stroke.