BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The geographic variation in CHD and @entity64 within Great Britain is well known. We aimed to quantify these variations and to determine the contribution of established risk factors. METHODS: This prospective study consisted of 7735 @entity1 40 to 59 years of age in 24 British towns who were followed up for 20 years from screening in 1978 to 1980. We compared age-adjusted incidences of major @entity64 and CHD events in southern England and the rest of Britain before and after adjustment for established cardiovascular risk factors. RESULTS: At least 1 episode of @entity64 occurred in 467 @entity1 (3.54 per 1000 @entity1 -years, age standardized) and of CHD in 1299 @entity1 (10.05 per 1000 @entity1 -years). Event rates varied between towns, from 2.00 to 5.45 per 1000 @entity1 -years for @entity64 and from 6.16 to 12.21 per 1000 @entity1 -years for CHD. Incidence for both diseases was highest in Scottish towns and lowest in southern English towns ("north-south gradient"). The hazard ratio for @entity64 in the rest of Britain compared with southern England was 1.44 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.16 to 1.78); for CHD, it was 1.32 (95% CI, 1.14 to 1.53). After adjustment for baseline systolic blood pressure, smoking status, physical activity, social class, and height, the hazard ratio was 1.24 (95% CI, 1.00 to 1.54) for @entity64 and 1.17 (95% CI, 1.02 to 1.35) for CHD. CONCLUSIONS: Similar north-south gradients were observed for major @entity64 and major CHD events. The magnitude of these gradients was considerably diminished when individual risk variables were taken into account.

North-south gradients in Britain for XXXX and CHD: are they explained by the same factors?

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['person', 'men'] @entity64 :: ('MESH:D020521', 'Disease') :: ['stroke']
@entity64 :: (MESH:D020521,Disease) :: ['stroke']
