© 1978 Oxford University Press
research-article |
High Amplitude R-Waves in Japanese and American Telephone Executives*,*
1Tokyo Health Administration Center, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Public Corporation 1-2-1 Hitotsubashi, Tokyo 100, Japan
2Department of Epidemiology, School of Hygiene and Public Health, The Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD, USA
3Tokyo Health Administration Center, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Public Corporation 1-2-1 Hitotsubashi, Tokyo 100, Japan
4Medical Department, American Telephone and Telegraph Company 295 North Maple Avenue, Basking Ridge, NJ, 07920, USA
Reprint requests should be addressed to Dr Sakai or Dr Stone
Executives between the ages of 35 and 58 in the top six levels of the Tokyo office of the Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Public Corporation and the New York office of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company were examined as part of an international comparison of cardiovascular risk factors. Included in the standardized examinations were smoking histories, 12-lead electrocardiograms, and measurements of skin folds, blood pressure, pulse rates before and after exercise, heart size, serum cholesterol and serum triglycerides.
Among the 826 Japanese subjects, 14.5 per cent had R-waves classified as high (31 according to the Minnesota code) and 8.2 per cent as slightly high (code 33). The prevalence of these findings was much lower among the 959 Americans, namely 4.5 per cent coded 31 and 1.8 per cent coded 33.
Comparisons between national groups suggested slight associations of high R-waves with decreased subcutaneous fat and increased blood pressure. Within national groups, however, these associations were not consistent. Only among the Americans was there an association of high R-waves with subcutaneous fatness, and only among the Japanese was there an association with increased blood pressure. The associations with smoking and heart size were trifling, and there was no association of high R-waves with pulse rates or with elevated serum lipids.
Received 31 August 1977