Risk factors for death for males and females. A study of the death pattern in the Stockholm prospective study.

In the Stockholm Prospective Study, 531 male and 163 female deaths had occurred during 14.5 years of observation. Deaths were divided into three categories: "ischemic", "neoplastic" and "other" and their relations to entry characteristics were analyzed. For ischemic vascular deaths age, smoking, systolic blood pressure and triglycerides were independent risk factors for both sexes, while cholesterol and weight/height index were not. For neoplastic deaths age, smoking, systolic blood pressure and ESR were positively and cholesterol and weight/height index negatively associated. This negative association was found especially for colon carcinoma and not for, e.g., prostatic and bronchial carcinoma in men. For other deaths age, blood pressure and ESR were independent risk factors for men, and age, smoking and ESR for women.