Short stature and risk of mortality and cardiovascular disease: negative findings from the NHANES I epidemiologic follow-up study

Department of Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology, Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood, Illinois 60153, USA.

OBJECTIVES: This study sought to examine the relation between body height and incidence of myocardial infarction, coronary heart disease, overall mortality and mortality from cardiovascular disease. BACKGROUND: An association between short stature and increased risk of fatal and nonfatal cardiovascular disease has been observed in several studies, attracting considerable attention. METHODS: We used data from the First National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES I) Epidemiologic Follow-Up Study, a prospective study of a large random sample of the U.S. population, to examine the association between height and risk of four end points. RESULTS: Baseline data were collected from 1971 to 1975 for 13,031 respondents (5,296 men, 7,735 women), and the average follow-up period was 13 years, through 1987. Height was inversely associated with risk of all four of the end points studied in both men and women. However, after adjustment for age and years of education in Cox proportional hazards analyses, the relation no longer existed. Using the same adjustment procedures, persons in the lowest height quintile had no increase in risk compared with those in the highest category. The findings were consistent for men and women, blacks and whites and different age groups. CONCLUSIONS: Data from this study in a national sample do not support the hypothesis of an inverse height-heart disease relation.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				Y.-M. Song and J. Sung Adult Height and the Risk of Mortality in South Korean Women Am. J. Epidemiol., September 1, 2008; 168(5): 497 - 505. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. M. Schooling, C. Jiang, T. H. Lam, G. N. Thomas, M. Heys, Bmbs, X. Lao, W. Zhang, P. Adab, K. K. Cheng, et al. Height, Its Components, and Cardiovascular Risk Among Older Chinese: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of the Guangzhou Biobank Cohort Study Am J Public Health, October 1, 2007; 97(10): 1834 - 1841. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. Silventoinen, S. Zdravkovic, A. Skytthe, P. McCarron, A. M. Herskind, M. Koskenvuo, U. de Faire, N. Pedersen, K. Christensen, J. Kaprio, et al. Association between Height and Coronary Heart Disease Mortality: A Prospective Study of 35,000 Twin Pairs Am. J. Epidemiol., April 1, 2006; 163(7): 615 - 621. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				G. D. Batty, M. J. Shipley, C. Langenberg, M. G. Marmot, and G. Davey Smith Adult height in relation to mortality from 14 cancer sites in men in London (UK): evidence from the original Whitehall study Ann. Onc., January 1, 2006; 17(1): 157 - 166. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				O. Basso, A. J Wilcox, C. R Weinberg, D. D Baird, and J. Olsen Height and risk of severe pre-eclampsia. A study within the Danish National Birth Cohort Int. J. Epidemiol., August 1, 2004; 33(4): 858 - 863. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				Y.-M. Song, G. D. Smith, and J. Sung Adult Height and Cause-specific Mortality: A Large Prospective Study of South Korean Men Am. J. Epidemiol., September 1, 2003; 158(5): 479 - 485. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. Silventoinen, J. Kaprio, M. Koskenvuo, and E. Lahelma The association between body height and coronary heart disease among Finnish twins and singletons Int. J. Epidemiol., February 1, 2003; 32(1): 78 - 82. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. Lundberg, F. Diderichsen, and J. Hallqvist Is the association between short stature and myocardial infarction explained by childhood exposures-a population-based case referent study (SHEEP) Scand J Public Health, October 1, 2002; 30(4): 249 - 258. [Abstract] [PDF]

				U. Goldbourt and D. Tanne Body Height Is Associated With Decreased Long-Term Stroke but Not Coronary Heart Disease Mortality? Stroke, March 1, 2002; 33(3): 743 - 748. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				L. Kilander, L. Berglund, M. Boberg, B. Vessby, and H. Lithell Education, lifestyle factors and mortality from cardiovascular disease and cancer. A 25-year follow-up of Swedish 50-year-old men Int. J. Epidemiol., October 1, 2001; 30(5): 1119 - 1126. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. Bobák, C. Hertzman, and M. Marmot Own education, current conditions, parental material circumstances, and risk of myocardial infarction in a former communist country J. Epidemiol. Community Health, February 1, 2000; 54(2): 91 - 96. [Abstract] [Full Text]