title: Incidence of total stroke, stroke subtypes, and myocardial infarction in the Japanese population: the JMS Cohort Study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Previous reports indicated that the incidence rate of stroke was higher in Japan than in Western countries, but the converse was true in the case of myocardial infarction (MI). However, few population-based studies on the incidence rates of stroke and MI have been conducted in Japan.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Jichi Medical School (JMS) Cohort Study is a multicenter population-based cohort study that was conducted in 12 districts in Japan. Baseline data were collected between April 1992 and July 1995. We examined samples from 4,869 men and 7,519 women, whose mean ages were 55.2 and 55.3 years, respectively. The incidence of stroke, stroke subtypes, and MI were monitored.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean follow-up duration was 10.7 years. A total of 229 strokes and 64 MIs occurred in men, and 221 strokes and 28 MIs occurred in women. The age-adjusted incidence rates (per 100,000 person-years) of stroke were 332 and 221 and those of MI were 84 and 31 in men and women, respectively. In the case of both sexes, the incidence rates of stroke and MI were the highest in the group of subjects aged > 70 years.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We reported current data on the incidence rates of stroke and MI in Japan. The incidence rate of stroke remains high, considerably higher than that of MI, in both men and women. The incidence rates of both stroke and MI were higher in men than in women.
authors.affiliation: Division of Community and Family Medicine, Center for Community Medicine, Jichi Medical University, Yakushiji, Shimotsuke, Tochigi, Japan. i-shizu@jichi.ac.jp
authors.forename: Shizukiyo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ishikawa
authors.forename: Kazunori
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kayaba
authors.forename: Tadao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gotoh
authors.forename: Naoki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nago
authors.forename: Yosikazu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Akizumi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tsutsumi
authors.forename: Eiji
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kajii
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000145:classification* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016017:Odds Ratio; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D017678:Sex Distribution; D020521:Stroke / Q000145:classification* / Q000453:epidemiology*