Table 4.
Clinical characteristics of subjects enrolled in a long-term follow-up of blood pressure in family members of soldiers killed during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina*
| No. (%) of family members |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Disease/habit | with a killed relative (n = 1144) | without a killed relative (n = 582) | Group difference (%, 95% confidence interval) | P† |
| Diabetes‡ | 45 (3.9) | 14 (2.4) | 1.5 (-0.3-3.1) | 0.123 |
| Increased cholesterol§, II | 298 (86.6) | 102 (84.3) | 2.3 (-4.4-10.5) | 0.543 |
| Increased triglycerides¶, II | 313 (91.0) | 116 (95.9) | -4.9 (-9.1-0.9) | 0.112 |
| PTSD** | 532 (46.5) | 37 (6.4) | 40.1 (36.5-43.5) | <0.001 |
| Smoking†† | 563 (49.2) | 233 (40.0) | 9.2 (4.2-14.0) | <0.001 |
| Alcohol†† | 646 (56.5) | 242 (41.6) | 14.9 (9.9-19.7) | <0.001 |
| Drugs†† | 5 (0.4) | 0 | 0.4 (-0.3-1.0) | 0.174 |
*The study involved 1726 closest relatives (parents, grandparents, siblings, or spouses) of the solders who fought in the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina during 1992-1995. Follow-up lasted from 1996 to 2003. All biochemical tests were performed in the laboratory of Health Center in Široki Brijeg, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
†Fisher exact test.
‡Self-reported; diagnosis of diabetes mellitus was established by a trained physician.
§Normal plasma concentration: 3.5-5.5 mmol/L (chlorenzimatic method).
IIOf all hypertensive subjects advised to perform laboratory tests, 344 (54.6%) responded in the study group, and 121 (49.9%) in the control group (P = 0.175, Fisher exact test).
¶Normal plasma concentration: 0.68-1.90 mmol/L for men; 0.46-1.60 mmol/L for women (chlorenzimatic method).
**PTSD – posttraumatic stress disorder, self-reported; diagnosis was established by a trained physician.
††Habit was considered to exist if self-reported, irrespective of the intensity.