Height and the risk of acute myocardial infarction in Italian women.

The relationship between body height and risk of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) was investigated in a case-control study conducted in Northern Italy on 429 women with AMI under age 75 and 863 controls in hospital for acute conditions, unrelated to known or potential risk factors for coronary heart disease. Compared to women in the highest tertile of height, the relative risks (RR) adjusted for age were 1.1 (95% confidence interval, CI, 0.9-1.5) for the intermediate tertile, and 1.3 (95% Cl 1.0-1.8) for the lowest tertile. The trend in risk was significant (chi 1(2) = 3.89, P = 0.05). Adjustment for several potential confounding variables, including age, body mass index, education, smoking habits, family history of AMI, history of diabetes, hypertension and hyperlipidaemia did not materially modify these estimates: the RR for the highest vs the lowest tertile was 1.4 (95% CI 1.0-1.0). The association was stronger in elderly women, i.e. in earlier generations, and in heavier ones. This positive association is discussed in terms of socio-economic conditions, since low stature may be related to poor living conditions and unfavourable environmental factors in childhood and adolescence among earlier generations of Italian women.