A Cohort Study an Cerebrovascular Disease in Middle-aged and Elderly Population in Rural Areas in Jiangxi Province, China

Abstract

To clarify the risk factors of CVD deaths in rural areas in Jiangxi Province, China, a cohort study was carried out from September 1 through December 31, 2000 involving 50, 252 participants aged 40 years or older in 4 counties. Among the 3, 429 deaths, 671 cases (398 males and 273 females) died of CUD. In addition, excluding 183 cases with a previous history of CVD, 632 CUD deaths out of 50, 469 subjects were analyzed using Cox proportional hazard models. The multivariate hazard ratio {HR} for CUD mortality significantly increased in parallel with age, blood pressure and degree of liking far salty foods (p for trend<0.01 ). The multivariate HR for CVD mortality of ex-drinkers was 1.55 (95%CI: 1.04, 2.31) compared with non-drinkers. The multivariate HR for CVD mortality of subjects who ate meat once or twice per month was 0, 75 (95%CI: 062, 0.91) compared with those who never ate meat or sel- dom. There was no significant relationship between smoking and CVD mortality. Our results indicated that the main risk factors for CVD mortality were advancing age, high-normal blood pressure and hyper- tension. The risk in these areas was lower in subjects who disliked salty foods and those who ate meat once or twice per month, J Epidemiol 2003;13:149-156.