Heart disease death rates six times higher in most deprived areas than elsewhere in Scotland

The death rate from heart disease among working-age Scots is six times higher in the most deprived parts of the country than in the least, new figures have revealed.

The NHS data also showed incidence rate for coronary heart disease (CHD) - including heart attacks, cases of heart failure and angina - has increased for the first time in a decade.

In 2017-18 there were 18,422 cases of heart disease recorded, up from 17,915 the previous year.

Meanwhile, the standardised incidence rate for CHD went from 354.5 per 100,000 people in 2016-17 to 359.1 per 100,000 in 2017-18 - the first increase since 2008-09.

Scotland has a "high prevalence of the immediate risk factors associated with heart disease, such as smoking, obesity and high cholesterol'', the report noted.

In the most-deprived 10% of communities there were 4,262 deaths from heart disease over the period 2013-17 - including 1,123 people under the age of 65.

But in the least-deprived 10% of the country, deaths for this age group were just 202.

That meant the standardised mortality rate for under-65s in these areas was 35.8 per 100,000 people - compared to 218.5 in the poorest parts of Scotland.

Overall, the figures showed a "steady downward trend in deaths from coronary heart disease in Scotland'' - although this rate of decline was noted to have slowed in the last five years

The report added that "although the overall incidence rate has been falling over time, the gap between the most and least deprived has remained fairly constant, and has been trending upwards over the last two years for males''.

It found that over the period 2008-2017 cases of heart disease fell by 24% in the least-deprived 20% of Scotland, but by only 17% in the most-deprived 20% of the country.

The mortality rate for heart disease, when adjusted for age and sex, has fallen by over a third (35.5%) in the last decade - although the reduction in 2017 was "the smallest in the preceding 10 years''.

The figures were released at the same time as data showed a fall of almost two-fifths (38.7%) in the death rate for cerebrovascular disease over the last decade - going from 129 per 100,000 people in 2008 to 79 per 100,000 people in 2017.

However in the most deprived 10% of communities the standardised mortality rate for under-65s was 89% higher than the Scottish average - while in the least-deprived 10% the death rate was 58% lower than the average.