title: Prevalence and prognostic value of poor R-wave progression in standard resting electrocardiogram in a general adult population. The Health 2000 Survey.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We examined the prevalence and prognostic impact of poor R-wave progression (PRWP) in a standard electrocardiogram (ECG) in a general population.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data and standard resting ECG recording were collected from a large nationally representative (random sample) health examination survey conducted in Finland in 2000-2001. The final study population consisted of 5613 individuals.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalence of PRWP (defined as RV3 < or = 3 mm and RV2 < or = RV3) was 7.0% in women and 2.7% in men (P< or = 0.001 for difference). During follow-up of 70 +/- 9 months (mean +/- SD), 317 patients died (5.6%). Both all-cause and cardiovascular mortality was higher in the group with PRWP than in those without PRWP in both women and men. In Cox regression analysis after adjustment for age, hypertension, diabetes, previous myocardial infarction, and coronary heart disease, the relative risk for all-cause mortality for PRWP was 1.69 (95% CI 0.89-3.22, P=0.112) for men and 2.00 (95% CI 1.28-3.13, P=0.002) for women. For cardiovascular mortality the relative risk for individuals with PRWP was 1.85 (0.74-4.65, P=0.19) for men and 3.02 (1.54-5.93, P=0.001) for women.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  PRWP is a common ECG finding and predicts risk for total and cardiovascular mortality in women in a general population.
authors.affiliation: Division of Internal Medicine, Department of Cardiology, Seinäjoki Central Hospital, Finland.
authors.forename: Ismo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Anttila
authors.forename: Kjell
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nikus
authors.forename: Tuomo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nieminen
authors.forename: Antti
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jula
authors.forename: Antti
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Reunanen
authors.forename: Veikko
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Salomaa
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kattainen
authors.forename: Markku S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Nieminen
authors.forename: Terho
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lehtimäki
authors.forename: Vesa
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Virtanen
authors.forename: Samuel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sclarovsky
authors.forename: Mika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kähönen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012306:Risk; D012737:Sex Factors