Evidence on harms was limited , but direct harms seemed minimal ( for resting ECG ) or small ( for exercise ECG ) .
BACKGROUND Coronary heart disease is the leading cause of death in adults .
Screening for abnormalities by using resting or exercise electrocardiography ( ECG ) might help identify persons who would benefit from interventions to reduce cardiovascular risk .
PURPOSE To up date the 2004 U.S. Preventive Services Task Force evidence review on screening for  resting or exercise ECG abnormalities in asymptomatic adults .
Prognostic value of exercise EKG testing in asymptomatic normotensive subjects. A prospective matched study.
We prospect ively studied 135 asymptomatic normotensive subjects with exercise-induced ST ischemic depression of 1 mm or more and compared them with 379 controls . At least two controls with negative responses on the exercise electrocardiographic ( EKG ) test  were selected for each case and were matched for age , sex , work , community , and coronary-risk-factors index . The end points considered were the following coronary events : angina pectoris , myocardial infa rct ion , and sudden death . After a median follow-up period of 6.0 years for the cases and 6.4 years for the controls , the relative risk was 5.55 ( 95 per cent confidence limits , 2.75 to 11.22 ) . Coronary events occurred significantly earlier in the cases than in the controls . Our data also suggest that the  exercise EKG response is a particularly good prognostic indicator for myocardial infa rct ion . In addition , our analysis has confirmed the predictive roles of age , smoking , blood pressure , and the coronary-risk-factors index and suggests that the  exercise EKG response is an additional independent risk indicator for coronary events
Evidence on harms was limited , but direct harms seemed minimal ( for resting ECG ) or small ( for exercise ECG ) .
BACKGROUND Coronary heart disease is the leading cause of death in adults .
Screening for abnormalities by using resting or exercise electrocardiography ( ECG ) might help identify persons who would benefit from interventions to reduce cardiovascular risk .
PURPOSE To up date the 2004 U.S. Preventive Services Task Force evidence review on screening for  resting or exercise ECG abnormalities in asymptomatic adults .