Cardiovascular risk factors and 10-year all-cause mortality in elderly European male populations - The FINE study

Background This study aims to examine cardiovascular risk factors in relati on to all-cause mortality in elderly populations of different European coun tries. Methods Men aged 65-84 years from defined administrative areas were enrolle d in Finland (rural areas of east and west Finland; n=716), in the Netherla nds (the town of Zutphen; n=887), and in Italy (the rural areas of Crevalco re and Montegiorgio; n=682). Ten-year all-cause mortality was studied in re lation to measurements taken at entry: age, systolic blood pressure, HDL- a nd non-HDL-cholesterol, body mass index, heart rate and smoking habits. Uni variate and multivariate analyses were performed with all-cause mortality a s the end-point. Results Ten-year death rates fi om all causes were higher in Finland (574 p er 1000), lower in the Netherlands (475 per 1000), and Italy (466 per 1000) . Age, heart rate and smoking in all three countries were independently ass ociated with 10-year all-cause mortality. Non-HDL-cholesterol was not relat ed with all-cause mortality. The observed associations between HDL-choleste rol, systolic blood pressure, body mass index and all-cause mortality were dependent on the in- or exclusions of early death. Conclusion In these elderly men only age, smoking habits and heart rate wer e consistently associated with all-cause mortality. (Eur Heart J 2001; 22: 573-579). (C) 2001 The European Society of Cardiology.