Relative importance of atherosclerotic risk factors for coronary heart disease in Taiwan.
BACKGROUND
The relative importance of atherosclerotic risk factors, such as hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes and smoking, was associated with cardiovascular events and varied among different ethnic groups. For a population with relatively low coronary heart disease (CHD) such as Asian-Pacific countries, it is crucial to differentiate the roles of these risk factors.


METHODS
We examined the relative importance of various risk factors for CHD in a community-based cohort in Taiwan, consisting of 3602 adults aged 35 and older with a median follow-up time of 9.0 years since 1990. Regular death certificate verification and medical record reviews were performed in the follow-up activities.


RESULTS
There were 85 cases defined as CHD. In the Cox proportional hazard analysis, men were at higher risk than women [hazard risk (HR)=2.22, 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.39-3.56]. Hypertension was the most common risk factor for CHD. Dyslipidemia, especially lowered high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, also played an important role (HR=2.09, 95% CI=1.33-3.29) in CHD events. Hypertension had a greater influence in males (HR=6.08, P<0.001) than in females (HR=2.80, P<0.001). No independent association was found for smoking or body mass index in cardiovascular events.


CONCLUSIONS
This study found that in a community-based cohort, hypertension, and dyslipidemia attribute an important role to cardiovascular events.
Chien
Kuo-Liong
KL
Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University College of Public Health, China Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan. klchien@ha.mc.ntu.edu.tw
Sung
Fung-Chang
FC
Hsu
Hsiu-Ching
HC
Su
Ta-Chen
TC
Chang
Wei-Deng
WD
Lee
Yuan-Teh
YT
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015897:Comorbidity; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006949:Hyperlipidemias / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006973:Hypertension / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D011336:Probability; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012372:ROC Curve; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012737:Sex Factors; D015996:Survival Rate; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology