[Risk factors and 28 year morbidity and mortality of coronary heart disease in a cohort with a low incidence of the disease: the Manresa Study].

Background: To Study the incidence of coronary heart disease (CHD) and all-cause mortality in a cohort of men followed during 28 years, and their association with serum cholesterol, systolic blood pressure, glycemia, cigarette smoking and body mass index measured at baseline.

Methods: A cohort of 1,059 men aged 30 to 59 years and free of cardiovascular diseases at baseline in 1968, was reexamined every five years until 1988. The last examination was performed in 1996. Information was collected on 96.4% of the participants.

Results: Incidence and mortality rates from CHD and from all-causes of death per 10(5) person-years of observation were 499.80, 235.80 y 925.33, respectively. At the end of follow-up, high levels of serum cholesterol and smoking were independently associated with the incidence and mortality from CHD controlling by age, blood pressure, glycemia and BMI. Serum cholesterol, hyperglycemia and smoking were independently associated with all-cause mortality.

Conclusions: In this industrial cohort of men, with relative low incidence of CHD, smoking and serum cholesterol at baseline remained associated with the incidence of CHD through 28 years of observation.