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 relation to all-cause mortality in elderly populations of different European countries. METHODS: Men aged 65--84 years from defined administrative areas were enrolled in Finland (rural areas of east and west Finland; n=716), in the Netherlands (the town of Zutphen; n=887), and in Italy (the rural areas of Crevalcore and Montegiorgio; n=682). Ten-year all-cause mortality was studied in relation to measurements taken at entry: age, systolic blood pressure, HDL- and non-HDL-cholesterol, body mass index, heart rate and smoking habits. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed with all-cause mortality as the end-point. RESULTS: Ten-year death rates from all causes were higher in Finland (574 per 1000), lower in the Netherlands (475 per 1000), and Italy (466 per 1000). Age, heart rate and smoking in all three countries were independently associated with 10-year all-cause mortality. Non-HDL-cholesterol was not related with all-cause mortality. The observed associations between HDL-cholesterol, 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 were consistently associated with all-cause mortality.