Table Info

Table 1.

New-onset AF in relation to baseline characteristics

Variable		New-onset AF, n (%)	HR (95% CIs)	P
Sex	Men	187 (5.0)	1.22 (0.99–1.50)	0.070
Sex	Women	186 (4.1)	1.22 (0.99–1.50)	0.070
Age, years	≥ 65	306 (6.0)	3.01 (2.30–3.94)	< 0.0001
Age, years	< 65	67 (2.1)	3.01 (2.30–3.94)	< 0.0001
Ethnicity	Black	8 (1.6)	0.34 (0.17–0.68)	0.001
Ethnicity	Non-Black	362 (4.7)	0.34 (0.17–0.68)	0.001
Systolic BP, mmHg	> 173	228 (5.5)	1.62 (1.31–2.00)	< 0.0001
Systolic BP, mmHg	≤ 173	145 (3.5)	1.62 (1.31–2.00)	< 0.0001
Cornell voltage-duration product	LVH+	273 (5.2)	1.61 (1.26–2.04)	< 0.0001
Cornell voltage-duration product	LVH–	91 (3.3)	1.61 (1.26–2.04)	< 0.0001
Coronary heart disease	Present	106 (5.9)	1.91 (1.19–3.04)	0.006
Coronary heart disease	Absent	22 (3.2)	1.91 (1.19–3.04)	0.006
Cardiovascular disease	Present	116 (5.8)	1.44 (1.15–1.80)	0.002
Cardiovascular disease	Absent	257 (4.1)	1.44 (1.15–1.80)	0.002
Serum potassium, mmol/L	< 4.1	165 (5.2)	1.30 (1.05–1.61)	0.019
Serum potassium, mmol/L	≥ 4.1	207 (4.1)	1.30 (1.05–1.61)	0.019
Urine albumin/creatinine (log)	< 1.25	147 (3.7)	1.44 (1.16–1.78)	0.001
Urine albumin/creatinine (log)	≥ 1.25	208 (5.3)	1.44 (1.16–1.78)	0.001

Declarations

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the 945 clinical centers who participated in the LIFE study.

Author contributions

ESZ, KW, PMO and RBD contributed to the conception and design of this LIFE sub-study. ESZ, IMS, KW and DAH performed the statistical analyses. ESZ wrote the first draft of the manuscript. All authors contributed to manuscript revision, read and approved the submitted version.

Conflicts of interest

Sverre E. Kjeldsen has received ad-hoc lecture honoraria within the past 3 years from Getz, Merck Healthcare KGaA, Sanofi-Aventis and Vector-Intas. The other authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Ethical approval

The trial protocol was approved by ethical committees in all countries with participating clinical centres and done in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.

Consent to participate

Written informed consent to participate in the study was obtained from all participants.

Consent to publication

Not applicable.

Availability of data and materials

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author (RBD) upon dire need.

Funding

Merck & Co., Inc. supported the LIFE study with an unrestricted grant from 1993. Merck had a non-voting member of the Steering Committee, which designed the study and wrote the protocol. Merck did monitoring, and data was accumulated in a Merck database until study ended in 2002. Merck provided the study steering committee with free access to blinded data until 2002 and then un-blinded data after the database was cleared for queries and frozen. The steering committee including a committee statistician validated independently the main outcomes. The steering committee has always been free to analyze and interpret the data, make decisions to publish and write the papers. Merck has not had any formal role after 2002 except for sporadically provided expert statistical assistance.

Copyright

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