Mortality and incidence of chest pain after an exercise intervention programme

One hundred and sixty-six middle-aged Finnish men free of clinical coronary heart disease (CHD), but having at least one CHD risk factor, participated in an 18-month controlled exercise intervention study, one-half as an exercising group and the other half as a matched control group; thereafter all 166 followed a partially controlled exercise programme for the next year. These men formed the intervention group for the present follow-up study covering the subsequent 6 years. The reference group for the follow-up comprised 152 men who fulfilled the same inclusion criteria for the original study as the intervention subjects, but who had been excluded from the study for non-medical reasons, mainly because they could not be pair-matched. Mortality statistics were collected, and a postal questionnaire on chest pain symptoms and physical activity was sent to all of the men 8 years after the start of the study. On CHD death and four deaths occurred in the reference group, and one CHD and no other deaths in the intervention group. Severe chest pain possibly suggestive of myocardial infarction was more common in the reference group than in the intervention group, but no difference was found in angina pectoris symptoms. The level of recent physical activity or smoking did not affect the chest pain symptoms independently.