Trends in stroke, cardiovascular disease, and medical expenditure under a community-based long-term stroke prevention program

BACKGROUND: Evidence on the effects of preventive measures for noncommunicable disease is urgently needed for low-income and middle-income countries suffering from stroke epidemics along with population aging. OBJECTIVES: We sought to examine the impact of a community-based stroke prevention program on incidences of stroke and ischemic heart disease, mortality from cardiovascular disease, and medical expenditure. METHODS: Trends in the incidences of stroke and ischemic heart disease were documented in a Japanese rural community, Kyowa, from 1981 through 2015. Trends in mortality from cardiovascular disease and in medical expenditures were compared between Kyowa and its surrounding municipalities from 1981 through 2004. RESULTS: In Kyowa, the age-and-sex-adjusted incidences of stroke and of ischemic heart disease decreased by half (from 4.1 to 1.9 and from 1.5 to 0.7 per year/1000 persons, respectively) over the past 35 years. A similar decreasing trend was observed for the age-and-sex-adjusted mortality from cardiovascular disease, and this decreasing trend occurred earlier than that in the surrounding municipalities. The medical expenditures for cardiovascular disease became lower in Kyowa than in the surrounding municipalities over time. CONCLUSION: Our study's findings suggest that a community-based stroke prevention program augmented the decline in the incidences of stroke and ischemic heart disease, mortality from cardiovascular disease, and attenuated the increase in medical expenditures for cardiovascular disease.