Age at Death in the Turkish Adult Risk Factor Study: Temporal Trend and Regional Distribution at 56.700 Person-years' Follow-Up

Abstract

Objectives: We analyzed the temporal trend and regional distribution of age at death due to all-causes and the sex-specific and age range defined by coronary mortality in the 18-year follow-up of the Turkish Adult Risk Factor Study. Study Design: The participants of the Turkish Adult Risk Factor Study who have been examined in even years were last surveyed in August 2008. A total of 1,582 individuals were surveyed, which constituted half of the surviving participants of the overall cohort. Information on death was obtained from first-degree relatives and/or health personnel of local health offices. Survivors were evaluated by history, physical examination, and 12-lead electrocardiography. The cumulative follow-up was 56,700 person-years. Results: Of 1582 participants, 868 (431 men, 437 women) were examined, in 604 subjects information was gathered, and 47 participants (26 men, 21 women) were ascertained to have died. Twenty-two deaths were classified as being of coronary origin. Cumulative assessment of the entire cohort in the age range of 45-74 years disclosed coronary mortality to be 7.64 per 1000 person-years in men and 3.84 in women and persisted to be the highest among 30 European countries, whereas overall mortality declined at a greater proportion. Overall mean ages at death were deferred within a 12-year period by 7.4 years in men and 6 years in women, to 71.9 and 74.8 years, respectively. The extension of this mean survival was similar among urban-rural areas and geographic regions. Conclusion: Coronary mortality declined modestly, but life expectancy of Turkish adults rose by a mean of nearly seven years in the 12 years to 2003-08 without showing major differences in sex, urban-rural dwelling or geographic regions.