Table I.

Selected baseline characteristics of 5447 CHS participants according to Sudden Cardiac Death status (n and % for categorical variables and mean and standard deviation for continuous variables).

	No Sudden Cardiac Death (n=5158)	Sudden Cardiac Death (n=289)	p-value No vs. ECG
Age (years)	72.7 ± 5.6	73.4 ± 5.6	< 0.05
Male	2090 (40.5)	165 (57.1)	< 0.001
African-American	793 (15.4)	56 (19.4)	n.s.
Body mass index (kg/m2)	26.7 ± 4.7	27 ± 4.4	n.s.
Smoking			<0.05
Current	565 (11)	38 (13)
Former	2150 (41.7)	136 (47.1)
Never	2438 (47.3)	115 (39.8)
Number of pack years	17.2 (26)	23.5 (32.7)	< 0.001
Diabetes Mellitus	412 (8)	40 (13.8)	< 0.001
Myocardial Infarction	456 (8.8)	64 (22)	< 0.001
Heart failure	230 (4.5)	30 (10.4)	< 0.001
Stroke	208 (4)	27 (9.3)	< 0.001
Hypertension	2225 (43.7)	148 (51.2)	<0.05
Systolic blood pressure (mm Hg)	136 ± 21.6	140 ± 23.4	< 0.005
Diastolic blood pressure (mm Hg)	70.9 ± 11.2	72 ± 11.7	n.s.
Total cholesterol (mg/dl)	211 ± 38.7	207 ± 48.1	n.s.
HDL cholesterol (mg/dl)	54.3 ± 15.6	50.2 ± 14.7	< 0.001
Glucose (mg/dl)	111 (37.2)	117 (41.9)	< 0.005
Creatinine (mg/dl)	1.05 ± 0.41	1.12 ± 0.32	< 0.005
C-reactive protein (mg/l)	3.55 ± 6.06	4.28 ± 6.3	< 0.05
ACE-inhibitor user	406 (7.9)	33 (11.4)	< 0.05
Beta Blocker user	655 (12.7)	49 (17)	<0.05
Digoxin user	434 (8.4)	38 (13.1)	< 0.005
Diuretic user	559 (10.8)	39 (13.5)	n.s.
K+ sparing diuretic user	441 (8.5)	18 (6.2)	n.s.
Potassium level (mEq/L)	4.17 (0.4)	4.15 (0.4)	n.s.
Heart rate (beats per minute)	65.5 (12.1)	65.8 (12.3)	n.s.
ECG atrial fibrillation	137 (2.7)	11 (3.8)	n.s.
Abnormal Q waves	270 (5.2)	34 (11.8)	<0.001
Prolonged QT interval	722 (14)	66 (22.8)	< 0.001
Ventricular conduction delay	495 (5.6)	56 (19.4)	< 0.001
ln NT-proBNP	4.81 (1.2)	5.27 (1.4)	< 0.001