Relation of adult height with stroke mortality in Japan: NIPPON DATA80.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The age-adjusted stroke mortality rate in Japan was the highest in the world from 1950 to the 1970s, but it started to dramatically decrease after 1965. In addition to improved management of high blood pressure, the increase in average height might also contribute to this reduction. The present study investigates whether height is an independent risk for stroke mortality in Japan. METHODS Among participants of the National Survey on Cardiovascular Diseases in 1980 who were randomly selected from the Japanese population, we followed up 3969 and 4955 Japanese men and women without prior cardiovascular disease for a maximum of 19 years and observed 158 and 132 stroke deaths. RESULTS Height was inversely correlated with age and with crude stroke mortality. The relationship was attenuated in men when we adjusted for age or other possible confounders (multivariate adjusted relative hazards of a 5-cm increase of height for stroke mortality: 0.92, 95% CI: 0.79 to 1.08). For women, the inverse relationship (relative hazard: 0.77: 95% CI: 0.64 to 0.91) remained after multivariate adjustment. These relationships persisted when we stratified participants by age. CONCLUSIONS Height is inversely related to stroke mortality and the relationship is statistically significant among Japanese women.