Birthweight, adult risk factors and incident coronary heart disease: the Caerphilly study

Abstract:Objective: ermine the relationships between birthweight, the incidence of coronary heart disease, and arange of coronary heart disease risk factors that operate during adult life. : study with a 10-year follow-up period. g: wn of Caerphilly, South Wales, and five adjacent villages. ts: men aged 45–59 at time of recruitment between 1979 and 1983. utcome measures: aths, coronary heart disease deaths, non-fatal CHD events. s: lidity of the birthweight data was supported by the strong graded associations between birthweightand anthropometric measures in adulthood, particularly height, body mass index, triceps skinfold thickness and percentage body fat. An inverse relationship was found between birthweight and incident fatal and non-fatal CHD, (P=0.01), though no relationship was found between birthweight and all-cause mortality. Amongst the major CHD risk factors, only fibrinogen shows a statistically significant relationship with birthweight (P=0.008), fibrinogen levels being lower among the men with lower birthweights. When social and biological variables are included in models relating incident CHD and birthweight, the relationship between birthweight and incident fatal and non-fatal CHD remains essentially unchanged. sion: ed association between low birthweight and later CHD has been demonstrated in this cohort. This inverse association cannot be explained by the measured social or behavioural variables, or by other risk factors operating in adult life.