Associations between heart rate and other risk factors in a large French population

Objectives In a large general French population of 100 000 subjects, the re lationship of resting heart rate with age, gender, demographic parameters, physical activity and classical risk factors was evaluated. Population and methods A population composed of all the subjects who had a free health check-up at the IPC Centre between 1992 and 1995 (62 353 men an d 35 371 women) was analysed. Heart rate was considered either as a continu ous parameter or as a qualitative parameter. The study population was divid ed into four heart rate classes: < 65, 65-74, 75-84 and greater than or equ al to 85 beats/min. Results Women had significantly higher heart rate values than men, and this gender difference was constant in the different age groups. In both gender s, heart rate was positively associated with blood pressure, triglycerides, glycaemia and physical inactivity, and negatively with body height Heart r ate was also correlated with total cholesterol but only in men. The only fa ctor having opposite effects on heart rate in men and women was tobacco smo king (positive in men and negative in women). Among untreated hypertensive men, 21.3% had a heart rate greater than or equal to 85 beats/min compared with only 4.0% among normotensive men. In women, these percentages were 23. 6 and 7.6%, respectively. Subjects with untreated mild hypertension or unco ntrolled treated hypertension also showed increased rates of tachycardia co mpared to normotensives. Conclusions The present analysis, performed in a large French population, s hows that high heart rate is associated with several other risk factors, es pecially hypertension, suggesting that tachycardic subjects have a high ris k profile. J Hypertens 1999, 17:1671-1676 (C) Lippincott Williams & Wilkins .