Primary incidence of cardiovascular diseases worldwide and in the Russian Federation from 1990 to 2021

Introduction. Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) continue to lead among all causes of death in the world. The CVD incidence in countries continues to rise, despite existing containment strategies applied at various levels, including individual and country-based.

The purpose of the study. To analyze the CVD incidence in populations across the world from 1990 to 2021.

Materials and methods. Data were sourced from the online publication “Our World in Data.” Countries were grouped by disease incidence level using quartile division; hierarchical cluster analysis was performed via the average linkage method, and the average annual growth/decline rate (AR) of disease incidence was calculated.

Results. The CVD incidence in the world from 1990 to 2021 decreased from 0.9 to 0.8 cases per 100 people (AR = –0.46%). In terms of the primary incidence of CVD in 2021, the Russian Federation is in the fourth quarter, in the group of countries with high incidence. Clustering showed the Russian Federation to be grouped with Algeria, Jordan and Mongolia, having similar incidence rates (1.28–1.29 cases per 100 people) and a tendency to decrease the incidence.

Research limitations. For the analysis, age-standardized indices of CVD incidence from 204 countries for the period from 1990 to 2021 were used, constituting a highly representative sample.

Conclusion. From 1990 to 2021, the global CVD incidence declined. As of 2021, the Russian Federation continued to be among the countries with the highest levels of CVD incidence, but at the same time, there was a downward trend in the incidence, which coincided with the trend in most countries of the world. Further research is needed to study the factors determining the revealed variability in the incidence and evaluate the effectiveness of measures aimed at reducing morbidity.

Compliance with ethical standards. This type of research does not require an examination by the local ethics committee.

Contribution of the authors:
Brazhnikov A.Yu. — scientific guidance, concept and design of the research, formulation and development of material, statistical processing of data;
Kuraeva V.M. — collection and processing of material, writing the text, editing, compiling the list of references;
Oynotkinova O.Sh. — material processing, text writing, editing;
Derbenev D.P. — material processing, text writing, editing.
All authors — approval of the final version of the article, responsibility for the integrity of all parts of the article.

Funding. This article was prepared by the author’s team within the framework of the research “Innovative approaches in the development of the public health system of the city of Moscow” (No. according to EGISU: № 123032100060-2).

Conflict of interest. The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Received: April 4, 2025 / Accepted: June 24, 2025 / Published: October 31, 2025

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