FATAL MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION AND THE ROLE OF ORAL CONTRACEPTIVES

Publication Description
The association between use of oral contraceptives (OC) and death from myocardial infarction (MI) in young women was investigated in a collaborative case-control study conducted in the five largest metropolitan areas in the US. Potential cases were identified from computer tapes of the National Center for Health Statistics. Controls were selected from among women who died from, or were hospitalized for, acute conditions other than heart disease or from accidents, and were matched to cases on age, geographic area, and year of death. Information on cause of death, personal characteristics, OC use, and the presence of conditions predisposing to MI was obtained from interviews with relatives and abstracts of hospital, clinic and physician records. Odds ratios as approximations to relative risks for fatal MI in relation to OC use, and the associated 95% confidence limits, were calculated overall and for subgroups determined by demographic and health history characteristics. Odds ratios in the total study population were not significantly different from one. However, odds ratios significantly different from one were found when attention was restricted to white subjects without contraindications to OC use, andincluding only those cases whose deaths were attributed to MI with the greatest degree of certainty. Smoking was found to be a significant risk factor for fatal MI.

Primary Author
Krueger,D. E.
Ellenberg,S. S.
Bloom,S.
Calkins,B. M.
Maliza,C.
Nolan,D. C.
Phillips,R.
Rios,J. C.
Rosin,I.
Shekelle,R. B.
Spector,K. M.
Stadel,B. V.
Stolley,P. D.
Terris,M.

Volume
111

Issue
6

Start Page
655

Other Pages
674

URL
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7386441

PMID
7386441



Reference Type
Journal Article

Periodical Full
American journal of epidemiology

Publication Year
1980

Publication Date
Jun

Place of Publication
United States

ISSN/ISBN
0002-9262

Document Object Index
10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a112944