Does present use of cardiovascular medication reflect elevated cardiovascular risk scores estimated ten years ago? A population based longitudinal observational study

Table 5 Characteristics for females (n = 2 448) and males (n = 2 411) started on cardiovascular medication (CVM) versus those not on treatment (females n = 8 521, males n = 6 872) in the period 1997-2008¹.

Characteristics 1997-99	Females			Males
	CVM (n = 2 488)	No CVM (n = 8 521)	p-value*	CVM (n = 2 411)	No CVM (n = 6 872)	p-value*
General health less than good	22.9	12.7	<0.001	16.1	10.7	<0.001
General health very good	14.1	23.5	<0.001	13.4	20.9	<0.001
Anxiety last 2 weeks¹	4.2	2.5	<0.001	2.4	2.0	0.2
Depression last 2 weeks¹	6.6	5.2	0.004	4.0	3.5	0.3
Muscular pain ≥ 3 months	56.0	45.9	<0.001	40.8	37.3	0.002
Use of other medication	63.7	50.4	<0.001	43.6	28.3	<0.001
Hard exercise < 1 hr/week	60.0	56.5	0.002	55.5	51.3	<0.001
Light exercise < 1 hr/week	18.3	15.0	<0.001	22.8	20.2	0.007
No use of alcohol	11.5	9.7	0.009	6.7	7.2	0.4
Daily cigarette smoking	38.0	35.8	0.04	36.5	34.5	0.07
Education < 12 years	61.8	52.8	<0.001	56.3	51.4	<0.001
Education ≥ 16 years	11.9	17.0	<0.001	15.0	18.9	<0.001
MI in relatives < 60 years	22.7	14.9	<0.001	23.0	13.7	<0.001
Stroke in relatives < 70 years	14.9	10.3	<0.001	13.0	9.2	<0.001
BMI, kg/m², mean (SD)	26.5 (4.8)	24.3 (3.7)	<0.001	27.4 (3.6)	25.7 (3.6)	<0.001
SBP, mmHg, mean (SD)	132.7 (17.2)	120.8 (12.2)	<0.001	138.7 (15.3)	128.7 (15.3)	<0.001
DBP, mmHg, mean (SD)	76.9 (11.4)	69.3 (9.0)	<0.001	82.6 (11.0)	74.7 (8.9)	<0.001
Chol, mmol/l, mean (SD)	5.8 (1.1)	5.3 (0.9)	<0.001	6.1 (1.3)	5.6 (1.0)	<0.001
Hdl chol, mmol/l, mean (SD)	1.31 (0.38)	1.42 (0.33)	<0.001	1.06 (0.26)	1.15 (0.29)	<0.001
TG, mmol/l, mean (SD)	1.72 (1.16)	1.29 (0.73)	<0.001	2.62 (2.17)	1.99 (1.20)	<0.001
Glucosis, mmol/l, mean (SD)	5.3 (1.4)	5.0 (0.9)	<0.001	5.5 (1.3)	5.2 (1.0)	<0.001

¹Figures are proportions unless otherwise stated
Myocardial infarction (MI), Body mass Index (BMI) Standard deviation (SD)
Systolic Blood Pressure (SBT); Diastolic Blood Pressure (DBT); High Density Lipid (HDL); TriGlycerides (TG)
¹Substantially or very much bothered
*p-value for difference in propotions or in mean levels of each characteristic for females/males using CVM versus females/males not using CVM (chi square test/independentsamples t-test)

ISSN: 1471-2458