Trends in electrocardiographic abnormalities and risk of cardiovascular mortality in Lithuania, 1986–2015

Background This study aimed to assess the trends in the prevalence of electrocardiographic (ECG) abnormalities from 1986 to 2015 and impact of ECG abnormalities on risk of death from cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in the Lithuanian population aged 40–64 years. Methods Data from four surveys carried out in Kaunas city and five randomly selected municipalities of Lithuania were analysed. A resting ECG was recorded and CVD risk factors were measured in each survey. ECG abnormalities were evaluated using Minnesota Code (MC). Trends in age-standardized prevalence of ECG abnormalities were estimated for both sexes. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) for coronary heart disease (CHD) and CVD mortality. Net reclassification index (NRI), integrated discrimination improvement and other indices were used for evaluation of improvement in the prediction of CVD and CHD mortality risk after addition of ECG abnormalities variable to Cox models. Results From1986 to 2008, the decrease in the prevalence of Q-QS MC was observed in both genders. The prevalence of high R waves increased in men, while the prevalence of ST segment and T wave abnormalities as well as arrhythmias decreased in women. Ischemic changes and possible MI were associated with a 2.5-fold and 4.4-fold higher risk of death from CVD in men and 1.51-fold and 2.56-fold higher mortality risk from CVD in women as compared to individuals with marginal or no ECG abnormalities. The addition of ECG abnormalities to traditional CVD risk factors improved Cox regression models performance. According to NRI, 18.6% of men were correctly reclassified in CVD mortality prediction model and 25.2% of men - in CHD mortality prediction model. Conclusions the decreasing trends in the prevalence of ischemia on ECG in women and increasing trends in the prevalence of left VH in men were observed. ECG abnormalities were associated with higher risk of CVD mortality. The addition of ECG abnormalities to the prediction models modestly improved the prediction of CVD mortality beyond traditional CVD risk factors. The use of ECG as routine screening to identify high risk individuals for more intensive preventive interventions warrants further research.