Table 2. Cardiovascular risk factors associated with SCD in a multivariate model in four population-based cohorts.
| Population cohorts, HR (95% CI) | Fixed-effects meta-analysis | ||||||
| FINRISK 1992 | FINRISK 1997 | FINRISK 2002 | Health 2000 | I2 | HR (95% CI) | P-value | |
| Sex, male | 3.37 (2.24–5.07) | 2.34 (1.56–3.52) | 3.12 (1.70–5.74) | 2.59 (1.62–4.13) | 0.00 | 2.79 (2.23–3.51) | <2.2×10−16 |
| Geographic region, East | 1.43 (1.05–1.95) | 1.06 (0.78–1.44) | 1.60 (0.92–2.79) | 1.19 (0.80–1.76) | 0.00 | 1.26 (1.05–1.51) | 0.01 |
| HDL/TC ratio | 1.22 (0.11–13.4) | 0.08 (0.01–1.08) | 0.93 (0.04–23.6) | 1.27 (0.08–21.1) | 0.00 | 0.56 (0.15–2.16) | 0.40 |
| Systolic BP per 10 mmHg | 1.17 (1.08–1.26) | 1.06 (0.98–1.13) | 1.12 (1.02–1.24) | 1.06 (0.97–1.16) | 0.35 | 1.10 (1.06–1.15) | 4.8×10−6 |
| Prevalent diabetes | 2.26 (1.49–3.44) | 1.59 (1.07–2.39) | 1.57 (0.85–2.88) | 1.49 (0.94–2.37) | 0.00 | 1.74 (1.38–2.18) | 2.2×10−6 |
| BMI per kg/m2 | 1.05 (1.02–1.09) | 1.01 (0.97–1.04) | 1.04 (0.99–1.09) | 0.97 (0.92–1.01) | 0.71* | 1.02 (0.98–1.06) | 0.38 |
| Current smoker | 2.70 (1.85–3.94) | 2.78 (1.89–4.09) | 5.48 (3.04–9.86) | 4.83 (2.84–8.22) | 0.55* | 3.55 (2.52–5.00) | 3.9×10−13 |
| Former smoker | 1.21 (0.79–1.84) | 1.28 (0.86–1.90) | 1.08 (0.56–2.09) | 2.36 (1.38–4.02) | 0.39 | 1.39 (1.10–1.76) | 0.007 |
| Physical activity† | 0.56 (0.41–0.78) | 0.58 (0.42–0.80) | 0.42 (0.26–0.66) | 0.45 (0.31–0.65) | 0.00 | 0.51 (0.43–0.62) | 6.7×10−13 |
| Prevalent CHD | 4.77 (3.20–7.13) | 2.70 (1.77–4.11) | 3.56 (2.06–6.17) | 5.10 (3.38–7.72) | 0.47 | 3.99 (3.20–4.96) | <2.2×10−16 |
| QT-prolonging drug | NA | 0.76 (0.40–1.42) | 1.29 (0.58–2.84) | 0.85 (0.46–1.55) | 0.00 | 0.90 (0.61–1.31) | 0.57 |
| Digoxin | NA | 3.33 (1.98–5.60) | 2.12 (0.75–6.01) | 2.68 (1.41–5.08) | 0.00 | 2.91 (2.00–4.24) | 2.7×10−8 |
BMI = body mass index, BP = blood pressure, CHD = coronary heart disease, CI = confidence interval, HDL = high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, HR = hazard ratio (in Cox regression), I2 = measure of heterogeneity between studies, SCD = sudden cardiac death, TC = total cholesterol.
*
Random-effects meta-analysis was used because of significant heterogeneity between studies.
†
Leisure-time physical activity (moderate/high vs. low).