[The influence of the geographic, demographic and socio-economic factors on the mortality from ischaemic heart disease in Switzerland (author's transl)].

The age-standardized mortality rate of Swiss men from ischaemic heart disease (ICD 8th revision, codes 410-414) can be placed between the higher mortality rate of the Federal Republic of Germany and the lower one of France. A geographical gradient is also found within Switzerland: the German speaking areas register higher rates than the French speaking areas, and this difference is more pronounced for comparisons of large cities than for rural locations. These mortality rates are not biased by the other diseases of the heart (ICD codes 420-429). In addition to this geographical gradient, the socio-economic classes, marital status and the number of children are the best demographic and social indicators to discriminate in multivariate form the deaths from ischaemic heart disease among all deaths of men aged 45 to 64 years: the relative risk of dying from ischaemic heart disease is higher among men in non-manual professions (especially in non-independent situations) and among married men with two or none children. The results confirm the importance of the psycho-socio-cultural factors in the etiology of ischaemic heart disease.