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 .
Coronary heart disease morbidity and mortality in hypercholesterolemic men predicted from an exercise test: the Lipid Research Clinics Coronary Primary Prevention Trial.
A positive exercise electrocardiogram ( ECG ) has been proved to predict cardiovascular events in asymptomatic normolipidemic men . To study whether it is also predictive for hypercholesterolemic men , data from 3,806 asymptomatic hypercholesterolemic men in the Lipid Research Clinics Coronary Primary Prevention Trial were analyzed . All the men had performed a submaximal treadmill exercise test at baseline , before they were assigned to the cholestyramine or placebo treatment group . Because of missing or inconclusive data , 31 men were excluded from the analyses . A test was positive if the ST segment was displaced by greater than or equal to 1 mm ( visual code ) or there was greater than or equal to 10 microV-s change in the ST integral ( computer code ) , or both . The prevalence of a positive test was 8.3 % . During the 7 to 10 year ( mean 7.4 ) follow-up period , the mortality rate from coronary heart disease was 6.7 % ( 21 of 315 ) in men with a positive test and 1.3 % ( 46 of 3,460 ) in men with a negative test ( placebo and cholestyramine groups combined ) . The age-adjusted rate ratio for a positive test , compared with a negative test , was 6.7 in the placebo group and 4.8 in the cholestyramine group . With use of Cox 's proportional hazards models , it was found that the risk of death from coronary heart disease associated with a positive test was 5.7 times higher in the placebo group and 4.9 times higher in the cholestyramine group after adjustment for age , smoking history , systolic blood pressure , high density lipoprotein cholesterol and low density lipoprotein cholesterol . A positive test was not significantly associated with nonfatal myocardial infa rct ion . ( ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS
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 .