Background: Cardiovascular diseases are the major cause of death in Brazil.
Objective: To correlate cardiovascular mortality rates in the states of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Rio Grande do Sul, and in their capitals, between 1980 and 2008, with socioeconomic indicators collected from 1949 onwards.
Methods: Population and death data were obtained from the Brazilian Unified Health System databank (Datasus). Mortality rates due to the following were calculated and adjusted by use of the direct method and compensated for poorly defined causes: ischemic heart diseases; cerebrovascular diseases; cardiovascular diseases; poorly defined causes; and all causes. Child mortality data were obtained from state and municipal health secretariats and from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). Information on gross domestic product (GDP) and educational level was obtained from the Brazilian Institute of Applied Economic Research (Ipea). The mortality rates and socioeconomic indicators were correlated by using the estimation of Pearson linear coefficients to determine optimized year lag. The inclination coefficients of the regression between the dependent variable "disease" and the independent variable "socioeconomic indicator" were estimated.
Results: The three states showed a reduction in mortality, which was especially due to a decrease in cardiovascular mortality, mainly of cerebrovascular diseases. The decrease in cardiovascular mortality was preceded by a reduction in child mortality, an elevation in the per capita GDP, and an increase in the educational level, and a strong correlation between indicators and mortality rates was observed.
Conclusions: The three indicators showed an almost maximum correlation with the reduction in cardiovascular mortality. Such relationship indicates the importance of improving quality of life to reduce cardiovascular mortality.