Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of the patients at implantation of first pacemaker
| Womena | Mena | p-value for differenceb | All first implantations | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total number of first implantations | 45,661 (47,1) | 51,164 (52.8) | <0.001c | 96,900 |
| Mean age, years (SD) | 74.6 (12.6) | 71.4 (13.2) | <0.001 | 72.9 (13.0) |
| Median age, years | 77.0 | 74.0 | – | 75.0 |
| Age ≥60 years, n (%) | 41,457 (90.8) | 43,637 (85.3) | <0.001 | 85,165 (87.9) |
| Age ≥80 years, n (%) | 17,489 (38.3) | 12,208 (23.9) | <0.001 | 31,569 (32.6) |
| ECG, n (%): | ||||
| Sick sinus syndrome | 20,166 (44.2) | 20,847 (40.7) | <0.001 | 41,026 (42.3) |
| Heart block | 17,612 (38.6) | 20,050 (39.2) | 0.049 | 37,682 (38.9) |
| Bundle branch block | 1537 (3.4) | 2582 (5.0) | <0.001 | 4121 (4.3) |
| Normal sinus rhythm (with or without abnormal EPSd) or not documented |
940 (2.1) | 1164 (2.3) | 0.021 | 2104 (2.2) |
| Other | 541 (1.2) | 691 (1.4) | 0.022 | 1232 (1.3) |
| Unknown/uncoded/unspecified | 4865 (10.7) | 5830 (11.4) | <0.001 | 10,735 (11.1) |
| Symptoms, n (%): | ||||
| Syncope | 13,004 (28.5) | 14,651 (28.6) | 0.592 | 27,672 (28.6) |
| Dizzy spells | 12,749 (27.9) | 12,973 (25.4) | <0.001 | 25,728 (26.6) |
| Bradycardia | 9,485 (20.8) | 10,908 (21.3) | 0.037 | 20,398 (21.1) |
| Dyspnoea/heart failure | 2396 (5.2) | 3064 (6.0) | <0.001 | 5462 (5.6) |
| None/prophylactic | 751 (1.6) | 1132 (2.2) | <0.001 | 1884 (1.9) |
| Tachycardia | 866 (1.9) | 876 (1.7) | 0.031 | 1743 (1.8) |
| Other | 215 (0.5) | 267 (0.5) | 0.260 | 483 (0.5) |
| Unknown/uncoded/unspecified | 6195 (13.6) | 7293 (14.3) | 0.002 | 13,530 (14.0) |
| Aetiology, n (%): | ||||
| Conduction tissue disease | 5219 (11.4) | 5401 (10.6) | n.c. | 10,623 (11.0) |
| Ischaemic | 2100 (4.6) | 2718 (5.3) | n.c. | 4818 (5.0) |
| Therapy induced | 1603 (3.5) | 1978 (3.9) | n.c. | 3583 (3.7) |
| Cardiomyopathy | 1170 (2.6) | 1400 (2.7) | n.c. | 2572 (2.7) |
| Post myocardial infarction | 716 (1.6) | 1528 (3.0) | n.c. | 2244 (2.3) |
| Congenital | 394 (0.9) | 348 (0.7) | n.c. | 742 (0.8) |
| Other | 182 (0.4) | 446 (0.9) | n.c. | 628 (0.6) |
| Unknown/uncoded/unspecified, n (%) | 34,277 (75.1) | 37,345 (73.0) | n.c. | 71,690 (74.0) |
aFor 75 patients the sex is unknown, for 38 males and 22 females age is unknown
b P-value was not calculated for aetiology because of large proportion of missing data (n.c.)
cFor 1995–2005
d EPS electrophysiological study