A Matched Case-Control Study on Sudden Unexpected Death among Japanese Workers

抄録

A matched case-control study on sudden unexpected death, defined as a natural death within 24 hours after the onset of acute symptoms occurring in apparently healthy workers, was carried out. The purpose of our study is to analyze the factors that precede sudden unexpected death among Japanese workers, controlling for differences in working conditions. 102 male cases and 202 age-and sex-matched coworker controls were studied, using questionnaires sent to fulltime occupational health physicians. Mean values of blood pressure, number of cigarettes smoked daily were significantly higher and that of HDL-cholesterol were significantly lower in the sudden death cases than in the controls. A larger number of workers with hypertension and electrocardiogram abnormality and a smaller number of managerial workers and individuals with higher education were found among the sudden death cases than among the controls. Conditional logistic regression analysis suggested that hypertension may be the most positive predictor of sudden unexpected death among Japanese workers (relative risk= 2.37, 95% confidence interval : 1.29-4.35). J Epidemiol, 1993; 3 : 29-34.