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Prevalence of coronary heart disease and cardiovascular risk factors in a sample of older Australians: Australian Longitudinal Study of Ageing
Author(s) -
Harris Josephine,
Giles Lynne,
Finucane Paul,
Andrews Gary
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
australasian journal on ageing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.63
H-Index - 34
eISSN - 1741-6612
pISSN - 1440-6381
DOI - 10.1111/j.1741-6612.2004.00005.x
Subject(s) - medicine , blood pressure , ageing , coronary heart disease , diabetes mellitus , longitudinal study , disease , gerontology , cardiology , physical therapy , endocrinology , pathology
Objectives: To describe the prevalence of coronary heart disease (CHD) and characterise cardiovascular risk factors in elderly Australians.Methods: At entry into the Australian Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ALSA), 1075 participants aged 70 years and over provided cardiovascular data by questionnaire, clinical assessment and laboratory measurements.Results and Conclusion: A total of 201 participants (18.7%) were defined as having CHD, 138 participants (12.9%) had diabetes and 652 (61.3%) had systolic hypertension. Prevalent CHD was associated with male sex, older age, lower high‐density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, low diastolic blood pressure and use of antihypertensive medication. While many ‘traditional’ cardiovascular risk factors were not significantly associated with CHD in this cross‐sectional analysis, follow‐up of this sample will allow a longitudinal assessment of their relationship with CHD in older Australians.