Table 1.
Distribution of demographic characteristics and selected risk factors for AMI in cases and control subjects, The Singapore Chinese Health Study
| Characteristic or risk factor | Cases (n=280) |
Controls (n=560) |
2-sided P |
|---|---|---|---|
| Level of education | |||
| No formal school | 24.6% | 22.0% | 0.006 |
| Primary school | 54.3% | 46.4% | |
| Secondary or higher | 21.1% | 31.6% | |
| Cigarette smoking | |||
| Never | 45.7% | 57.3% | 0.001 |
| Former smokers | 18.2% | 18.8% | |
| Current smokers | 36.1% | 23.9% | |
| Alcohol consumption | |||
| Non/occasionally | 90.4% | 84.8% | 0.08 |
| Weekly | 6.1% | 9.8% | |
| Daily | 3.6% | 5.4% | |
| Weekly moderate or strenuous physical activity | 34.6% | 37.0% | 0.51 |
| History of diabetes | 23.2% | 8.2% | <0.0001 |
| History of hypertension | 55.4% | 39.1% | <0.0001 |
| Obesity (BMI >=30 kg/m2) | 3.6% | 2.9% | 0.57 |
| Hypercholesterolemia (>=6.2 mmol/L) | 20.6% | 13.7% | 0.01 |
| Hypertriglyceridemia (>=2.3 mmol/L) | 24.2% | 18.9% | 0.08 |
AMI, acute myocardial infarction; SD, standard deviation.
P-values are based on chi-square test or t test.
Moderate activities include brisk walking, bowling, bicycling on level ground, tai chi or chi kung; strenuous activities include sports such as jogging, bicycling on hills, tennis, squash, swimming laps or aerobics and vigorous work such as moving heavy furniture, loading or unloading trucks, shoveling, or equivalent manual labor.