Analysis of risk factors for stroke in a cohort of men born in 1913

N Engl J Med. 1987 Aug 27;317(9):521-6. doi: 10.1056/NEJM198708273170901.

Abstract

We analyzed parental death from stroke and other potential risk factors in relation to the incidence of stroke among 789 men, all 54 years old at the base-line examination. During 18.5 years of follow-up, 57 men (7.2 percent) had strokes. In univariate analyses, the following characteristics correlated significantly with the incidence of stroke: increased systolic (P = 0.004) and diastolic blood pressure (P = 0.0001), larger waist circumference (P = 0.007), higher waist:hip ratio (P = 0.0004), increased plasma fibrinogen level (P = 0.01), and lower vital capacity (P = 0.03). In addition, men whose mothers had died of stroke had a threefold increase in their incidence of stroke as compared with men without such a maternal history (P = 0.0005). Potential risk factors for stroke that were not confirmed were body-mass index, serum cholesterol level, hematocrit, blood glucose level, smoking, coronary heart disease, electrocardiographic signs of left ventricular hypertrophy, and a paternal history of death from stroke. In multivariate analyses, increased blood pressure, abdominal obesity, increased plasma fibrinogen level, and maternal history still correlated significantly with the risk of stroke. A maternal history of stroke should probably be added to the list of risk factors for stroke among middle-aged men.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Abdomen / anatomy & histology
  • Blood Pressure
  • Cerebrovascular Disorders / epidemiology*
  • Cerebrovascular Disorders / genetics
  • Fibrinogen / analysis
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Obesity / complications
  • Risk
  • Vital Capacity

Substances

  • Fibrinogen