[Division of the 45- to 59-year-old male population into groups depending on the risk factors in a prophylactic study of ischemic heart disease].

A prospective study was conducted from March 1972 to November 1976 in a group of Kaunas male population ranging in age from 45 to 59 years. At the beginning of the study it consisted of 3,553 individuals. They were divided into groups of low, moderate, and high risk according to the presence of a risk factor (hypertension, hypercholesteremia, impaired glucose tolerance test) and a pathologic condition. The ratio of the total mortality rate per 1,000 of the population during the observation period in these groups was 1 : 2 : 3, while that of the mortality of ischemic heart disease was 1 : 3 : 5. The rate of out-patient coronary mortality and the occurrence of new cases with myocardial infraction according to their number registered in the groups of low, moderate, and high risk was 1 : 2 : 5. All the indices in the group of individuals who refused to take part in the study were close to those in the high risk group. The data obtained point to the possibility of defecting by means of preventive study individuals exposed to a greater or lesser risk of the development of ischemic heart disease and death, which makes it possible for the Public Health Service to concentrate attention of definite groups of the population so as to apply differentiated preventive measures.