Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comparative Study
. 2011 Sep;33(3):430-8.
doi: 10.1093/pubmed/fdq093. Epub 2010 Nov 2.

Incidence and prognosis of angina pectoris in South Asians and Whites: 18 years of follow-up over seven phases in the Whitehall-II prospective cohort study

M J S Zaman  1 , M J Shipley, M Stafford, E J Brunner, A D Timmis, M G Marmot, H Hemingway
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Incidence and prognosis of angina pectoris in South Asians and Whites: 18 years of follow-up over seven phases in the Whitehall-II prospective cohort study

M J S Zaman et al. J Public Health (Oxf). 2011 Sep.

Abstract

Background: Whether the higher coronary mortality in South Asians compared with White populations is due to a higher incidence of disease is not known. This study assessed cumulative incidence of chest pain in South Asians and Whites, and prognosis of chest pain.

Methods: Over seven phases of 18-year follow-up of the Whitehall-II study (9,775 civil servants: 9,195 White, 580 South Asian), chest pain was assessed using the Rose questionnaire. Coronary death/non-fatal myocardial infarction was examined comparing those with chest pain to those with no chest pain at baseline.

Results: South Asians had higher cumulative frequencies of typical angina by Phase 7 (17.0 versus 11.3%, P < 0.001) and exertional chest pain (15.4 versus 8.5%, P < 0.001) compared with Whites. Typical angina and exertional chest pain at baseline were associated with a worse prognosis compared with those with no chest pain in both groups (typical angina, South Asians: HR, 4.67 and 95% CI, 2.12-0.30; Whites: HR, 3.56 95% CI, 2.59-4.88). Baseline non-exertional chest pain did not confer a worse prognosis. Across all types of pain, prognosis was worse in South Asians.

Conclusion: South Asians had higher cumulative incidence of angina than Whites. In both, typical angina and exertional chest pain were associated with worse prognosis compared with those with no chest pain.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Cumulative incidence of different types of chest pain by ethnic group over seven study phases.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Harding S, Rosato M, Teyhan A. Trends for coronary heart disease and stroke mortality among migrants in England and Wales, 1979–2003: slow declines notable for some groups. Heart. 2008;94(4):463–70. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wild SH, Fischbacher C, Brock A, et al. Mortality from all causes and circulatory disease by country of birth in England and Wales 2001–2003. J Public Health (Oxf) 2007;29(2):191–8. - PubMed
    1. Fischbacher CM, Steiner M, Bhopal R, et al. Variations in all cause and cardiovascular mortality by country of birth in Scotland, 1997–2003. Scott Med J. 2007;52(4):5–10. - PubMed
    1. Sheth T, Nair C, Nargundkar M, et al. Cardiovascular and cancer mortality among Canadians of European, south Asian and Chinese origin from 1979 to 1993: an analysis of 1.2 million deaths. CMAJ. 1999;161(2):132–8. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Palaniappan L, Wang Y, Fortmann SP. Coronary heart disease mortality for six ethnic groups in California, 1990–2000. Ann Epidemiol. 2004;14(7):499–506. - PubMed

Publication types