Xy. Xie et al., ETHNIC-DIFFERENCES IN ELECTROCARDIOGRAPHIC LEFT-VENTRICULAR HYPERTROPHY IN YOUNG AND MIDDLE-AGED EMPLOYED AMERICAN MEN, The American journal of cardiology, 73(8), 1994, pp. 564-567
In the United States population, black men have higher prevalence rate
s of electrocardiographic (ECG) high QRS voltage, more ST-segment and
T-wave abnormalities, and more ECG left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH)
than do white men. Reasons for these differences have not been fully e
lucidated. The prevalence rate of ECG LVH and associated characteristi
cs were compared in black and white men in the Chicago Heart Associati
on Detection Project in Industry population study. Data were from 1,39
1 black men and 19,126 white men (age range 20 to 64 years) employed b
y 84 Chicago organizations. ECG LVH was defined by the presence of bot
h high QRS (Minnesota code 3.3) and ST-T abnormality (code 4.1-4.3 or
5.1-5.3). Black men had a significantly higher prevalence rate of ECG
LVH than did white men in each 15-year age group (15.9 vs 2.4, 14.6 vs
2.8, and 35.7 vs 12.5/1,000 in the 20- to 34-, 35- to 49-, and 50- to
64-year age groups, respectively; p <0.01 for each comparison). Multi
ple logistic regression analyses indicated that systolic blood pressur
e and age were associated positively with ECG LVH (p <0.01) in both bl
ack and white men. Men with history of hypertension and receiving drug
treatment had a greater likelihood of having ECG LVH than did those w
ith history of hypertension but not receiving drug treatment, possibly
because those with more severe hypertension were more likely to have
been prescribed medication. Serum cholesterol, cigarettes smoked/day,
1-hour post-load plasma glucose and education were not consistently re
lated to ECG LVH. After adjustment for all possible risk factors, the
black-white difference in LVH prevalence rates remained significant (p
<0.001). Thus, this difference was only partly explained by racial di
fferences in the distribution of blood pressure and other cardiovascul
ar risk factors.