Danish singles have a twofold risk of acute coronary syndrome: data from a cohort of 138 290 persons.

Full Abstract

STUDY

OBJECTIVE:
Atherosclerosis of the coronary and other arteries is an important health problem in virtually all countries of the world, and thus there is a persisting need for the development of preventive programmes including population risk group identification. The aim of the study was to identify sociodemographic population risk indicators of an initial episode of acute coronary syndrome (ACS), including unstable angina pectoris (UAP), myocardial infarction (MI), and sudden cardiac death (SCD).

DESIGN:
Cohort study of 138 290 residents of the municipality of Aarhus, Denmark, aged 30-69 years. Information on population members' individual age, sex, social background, and eventual death was obtained from Danish Population Registers.

SETTING:
University hospital.

PATIENTS:
The study prospectively identified 646 victims of ACS from 1 April 2000 to 31 March 2002.

MAIN RESULTS:
Based on multiple logistic regression, age and single living were found to be positively associated with incident ACS in both sexes. Women >60 years living alone and men >50 years living alone were at especially high risk. They constituted only 5.4% and 7.7% of the source population, respectively, but they accounted for 34.3% and 62.4% of ACS patients dying within 30 days.

CONCLUSIONS:
Single living is associated with an increased risk of ACS. Thus, risk groups identified by use of information on their age and family structure may be targets for future more focused and cost effective preventive strategies. In Western populations, such high risk groups will constitute comparatively limited parts of the population, and in Denmark they are easily identifiable in routine population registers.

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Author information

Author/s: Nielsen, K M (KM); Faergeman, O (O); Larsen, M L (ML); Foldspang, A (A);

Affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Cardiology, Aarhus Sygehus University Hospital, Denmark. rlg04kmn(-atsign-)as.aaa.dk

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Journal of epidemiology and community health (J Epidemiol Community Health), published in England. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2006-Aug; vol 60 (issue 8) : pp 721-8

Dates: Created 2006/07/14; Completed 2007/05/10;

PMID: 16840763, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Acute Disease
Adult
Aged
Cardiovascular Diseases - epidemiology
Cohort Studies
Denmark - epidemiology
Female
Humans

Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Prospective Studies
Risk Factors
Sex Distribution
Single Person - statistics & numerical data
Socioeconomic Factors

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