The North Karelia Project: a programme for community control of cardiovascular diseases

Abstract

In this article the background and principles of the intervention and evaluation of the North Karelia Project are presented. The project is a comprehensive community control programme concerning cardiovascular diseases in the province of North Karelia, Eastern Finland. In the baseline survey of the project (1972), 25-59-year-old males had a particularly high of CVD level risk factors; there were 54% current smokers, the mean cholesterol was 269 mg% and the mean casual blood pressure was 147/90 mmHg. According to the myocardial infarction register the incidence rate of acute myocardial infraction was, during the first year of the project (1972), 13.8 per thousand among 30-64-yearold males. During the first 2 1/2 of the intervention the percentage of current smokers decreased among males from 54 to 42. The percentage of males using low-fat milk increased from 17 to 48. The percentage of males who had had their blood pressure measured during the previous half year increased from 28 to 56 and those under antihypertensive drug treatment from 3.1 to 9.1. Local groups for secondary prevention of myocardial infarction were established all over the province. On the basis of the accumulated experience and theoretical considerations, the project plan has futher been elaborated.