title: A nineteen-year cohort study on the relationship of electrocardiographic findings to all cause mortality among subjects in the national survey on circulatory disorders, NIPPON DATA80.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Electrocardiogram (ECG) is one of the most popular tools for daily clinics and health checkup, and has been used for the National Survey on Circulatory Disorders to assess the health status in Japanese people. The meaningfulness to predict mortality from all causes among people with ECG abnormality is to be clarified using national samples.
  
  
  METHODS
  ECG findings recorded among 9,638 subjects for National Survey on Circulatory Disorders 1980 in Japan, were classified using the Minnesota Codes (mc). Their relationships to all cause mortality over 19 years were examined using Cox proportional hazard models adjusting for sex, age, systolic blood pressure, blood glucose, and smoking habits.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Subjects with abnormal Q-QS findings showed significantly high hazard ratios ( 3.71(mc1-1) and 1.57 (mc1-3)) for mortality to the subjects who were free from any major ECG findings. Hazard ratios were 1.37 (mc2-1) to 4.16 (mc2-5) for axis deviation, and 1.34 (mc3-1) to 1.35 (mc3-3) for left high R waves. Those were 1.63 (mc4-3) to 2.59 (mc4-1) for ST depression, and 1.54 (mc5-3) to 2.33 (mc5-1) for T abnormality. The lower the second number of the Minnesota Codes was, the higher hazard ratio was observed in the Q-QS, ST, T codes. The hazard ratios of junction-type ST depression (mc4-4), and low T waves (mc5-4, 5-5) were not significant.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  ECG findings defined by the Minnesota Codes were useful to predict the risk for mortality from all causes even after adjusting for the other major risk factors, and the results supported a usefulness of the ECG for health check-ups.
authors.affiliation: Aichi Medical University, Japan. hhoribe@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Horibe
authors.forename: Fumiyoshi
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kasagi
authors.forename: Mieko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kagaya
authors.forename: Yasuko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Matsutani
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Okayama
authors.forename: Hirotsugu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ueshima
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012307:Risk Factors