Ayrshire and Arran coronary prevention programme--baseline risk factor survey.

Scotland has very high mortality rates for coronary heart disease in both men and women. The Ayrshire and Arran health Board Area is co-terminus with four local government districts which all have male coronary mortality rates above the Scottish average. A survey of lifestyle and coronary risk factors was conducted in these four districts in preparation for the launch of a Prevention Programme's 'Healthy Heart Campaign'. This survey will be used as a baseline for evaluation of lifestyle modification and risk factor change over the next 5-10 years. The information provided by the survey is valuable to the direction and targeting of the Prevention Programme. The methods developed in this survey could be used for evaluation of other coronary prevention programmes. Similar data has been collected from another 20 districts as part of the Scottish Heart Health Study and has been distributed to all the Scottish mainland health boards.