Abstract
In a prospective cohort study, associations of resting heart rate with risk of coronary, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and all-cause mortality in age-specific cohorts of black and white men and women were examined over 22 years of follow-up. Participants were employees from 84 companies and organizations in the Chicago, Illinois, area who volunteered for a screening examination. Participants included 9,706 men aged 18–39 years, 7,760 men aged 40–59 years, 1,321 men aged 60–74 years, 6,928 women aged 18–39 years, 6,915 women aged 40–59 years, and 1,151 women aged 60–74 years at the baseline examination in 1967–1973. Vital status was ascertained through 1992. For fatal coronary disease, multivariate-adjusted relative risks associated with a 12 beats per minute higher heart rate (one standard deviation) were as follows: for men aged 18–39 years, relative risk (RR) = 1.27 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.08–1.48); for men aged 40–59 years, RR = 1.13 (95% CI 1.05–1.21); for men aged 60–74 years, RR = 1.00 (95% CI 0.89–1.12); for women aged 40–59 years, RR = 1.21 (95% CI 1.07–1.36); and for women aged 60–74 years RR = 1.16 (95% CI 0.99–1.37). Corresponding risks for all fatal cardiovascular diseases were similar to those for coronary death alone. Deaths from cancer were significantly associated with heart rate in men and women aged 40–59 years. All-cause mortality was associated with higher heart rate in men aged 18–39 years (RR = 1.11, 95% CI 1.01–1.20), men aged 40–59 years (RR = 1.16, 95% CI 1.11–1.21), and women aged 40–59 years (RR = 1.20, 95% CI 1.13–1.27). Heart rate was not associated with mortality in women aged 18–39 years. In summary, heart rate was a risk factor for mortality from coronary disease, all cardiovascular diseases, and all causes in younger men and in middle-aged men and women, and for cancer mortality in middle-aged men and women. Am J Epidemiol 1999;149:853–62.
