Risk factors of coronary heart disease and total mortality among elderly men with and without preexisting coronary heart disease. Finnish cohorts of the Seven Countries Study.

OBJECTIVES

We attempted to determine whether elevated levels of the classic coronary heart disease risk factors are associated with increased coronary risk and all-cause mortality among elderly men with and without coronary heart disease at baseline.

BACKGROUND

The strength of any association between the classic coronary risk factors and survival among elderly men with and without coronary heart disease has not been established.

METHODS

The classic coronary risk factor levels and risk of coronary events and total mortality during a 5-year follow-up interval were studied among men aged 65 to 84 years. Coronary events were fatal myocardial infarction (n = 71), any myocardial infarction (n = 96) and, among the men without disease, other nonfatal coronary heart disease events (n = 80).

RESULTS

Among the 171 men with prevalent coronary heart disease, significant (p < 0.05) risk factors for fatal myocardial infarction (n = 42) in multivariate analyses were low high density lipoprotein cholesterol (odds ratio [OR] 0.2, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.1 to 0.8 for 1-mmol/liter increase), high ratio of total to high density lipoprotein cholesterol (OR 1.4, 95% CI 1.1 to 1.7 for 1-U increase), and smoking more than nine cigarettes daily (OR 6.0, 95% CI 1.5 to 24.9 vs. values in men who had never smoked). Among the 476 men without prevalent coronary heart disease, only high serum total cholesterol was a risk factor for fatal myocardial infarction (n = 29) (OR 1.4, 95% CI 1.0 to 2.0 for 1-mmol/liter increase). Among men with prevalent coronary heart disease, the only significant (p < 0.05) risk factor for total mortality was smoking more than nine cigarettes daily (OR 3.9, 95% CI 1.1 to 13.4 vs. values among men who had never smoked). Among men without prevalent coronary heart disease, only the use of antihypertensive medication (OR 2.0, 95% CI 1.2 to 3.3 between men with and without such medication) was a risk factor for total mortality.

CONCLUSIONS

The classic risk factors for coronary heart disease appear to be of importance even in old age, especially among men with prevalent coronary heart disease.