Young Swedish patients with sudden cardiac death have a lifestyle very similar to a control population.
OBJECTIVE
To study the association between lifestyle and sudden cardiac death (SCD) in the young with special respect to athletic activities.


METHODS
We compared lifestyle factors, collected from forensic and medical reports and from interviews with family members, in the Swedish cohort of individuals 15-35 years of age who had suffered an SCD during 1992-1999, with those of the control population of the same age group, obtained from national health registries.


RESULTS
Physical activity and body mass index (BMI) in men were the same as in the controls, whilst women had a higher BMI and a lower level of physical activity in the SCD group. Twenty-three per cent (32/138) were competing athletes in the SCD group and 29% in the control group (622/2131). Death during physical activity was more common in athletes (20/32) than in non-athletes (18/106) (p<0.001). In coronary artery disease deaths, 11/15 (73%) were smokers and BMI was significantly higher than in the controls in both sexes.


CONCLUSIONS
Young Swedish persons suffering SCD were very similar to the normal population with regard to lifestyle factors.
Wisten
Aase
A
Department of Internal Medicine, Sunderby Hospital, Luleå, Sweden. aase.wisten@nll.se
Messner
Torbjörn
T
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D015992:Body Mass Index; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016757:Death, Sudden, Cardiac / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology