Chin-Shan Community Cardiovascular Cohort in Taiwan-baseline data and five-year follow-up morbidity and mortality

A cohort consisting of 3602 residents (82.8% of the target population) aged 35 years and older was established in 1990 in the Chin-Shan Community, a s uburb 20 miles outside of metropolitan Taipei, Taiwan. The long-term object ive was to investigate the prospective impact on cardiovascular health in a society undergoing transition from a developing to a developed nation. Thi s article presents the study design, selected baseline risk factors of card iovascular diseases (CVD), and CVD events at the 5-year follow-up evaluatio n with an emphasis on sociodemographic differences. The multivariate logist ic regression analyses revealed that white-collar individuals were more lik ely than blue-collar workers to have dyslipidemia including high-density li poprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels <35 mg/dl [odds ratio (OR) = 1.7, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.2-2.4] and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels greater than or equal to 160 mg/dl (OR = 13, 95% CI = 1.0-1 .7). However, they were at slightly lower risk for stroke and CVD/sudden de ath, and at moderately higher risk for coronary artery disease and diabetes , although both these trends were not significant. Men were more likely tha n women to have HDL-C levels <35 mg/dl (OR = 1.8, 95% CI = 1.4-2.2), but th ey were less likely to have LDL-C levels greater than or equal to 160 mg/dl (OR = 0.7, 95% CI = 0.6-0.8). The risk of CVD/sudden death was higher for men than for women during the follow-up period (OR = 1.9, 95% CI = 1.3-2.9) . This could be due to risk factors such as a much higher prevalence of tob acco (61.9% vs. 4.5%) and alcohol (43.7% vs. 6.4%) use in men. In conclusio n, individuals of higher socioeconomic status have a higher prevalence of d yslipidemia but slightly lower 5-year incidence of CVD events. (C) 2000 Els evier Science, Inc. All rights reserved.