title: Racial differences in the ECG--selected aspects.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Racial differences in the ECG have been known about for many years but there has been no significant comparison of large population groups. This study set out to remedy this shortcoming.
  
  
  METHODS
  Digital ECG data were available for four population samples gathered in Scotland, Taiwan, Nigeria and India. All ECGs were recorded in the different countries and processed centrally by the University of Glasgow ECG Analysis Program. Measurements were analysed statistically to look for significant differences.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 4223 individuals in the study (2559 males and 1664 females). In general terms, findings such as QRS duration being longer in males than females applied to all four races. More specifically, QRS voltages were higher in young black males compared to others, while ST amplitudes, as in V2, were higher in Chinese and Nigerian males than in Caucasians.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Race requires to be taken into account to enhance automated interpretation of the ECG.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cardiovascular and Medical Sciences, University of Glasgow, Scotland. Electronic address: peter.macfarlane@glasgow.ac.uk.
authors.forename: P W
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Macfarlane
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, University of Ilorin, Nigeria.
authors.forename: I A
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Katibi
authors.affiliation: Institute of Engineering and Technology, Vishnupuri, India.
authors.forename: S T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Hamde
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar, India.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cardiovascular and Medical Sciences, University of Glasgow, Scotland.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cardiovascular and Medical Sciences, University of Glasgow, Scotland.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Devine
authors.affiliation: Robertson Centre for Biostatistics, University of Glasgow, Scotland.
authors.forename: B G
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Francq
authors.affiliation: Robertson Centre for Biostatistics, University of Glasgow, Scotland.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lloyd
authors.affiliation: Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, India.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kumar
mesh_terms: D004562:Electrocardiography / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000208:ethnology; D008297:Male; D009549:Nigeria / Q000208:ethnology; D044469:Racial Groups / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012606:Scotland / Q000208:ethnology; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013624:Taiwan / Q000208:ethnology
keywords: Black; Caucasian; Chinese; ECG; Indian; Normal limits; Race