A slight increase of fasting plasma glucose after 2 years was associated with electrocardiogram changes suggestive of coronary heart disease in normal subjects

Background: Much attention has been focused on the primary prevention of ischemic heart disease (IHD), but the prevalence and prognostic indicators of IHD remain unclear in healthy Japanese subjects. Hypothesis: The purpose of this study was to determine the predictors for the transition of IHD in healthy adult subjects using data from annual medical examinations. Methods: We analyzed clinical data on 2,710 healthy subjects (1,836 men and 874 women aged 26–76 years in 2000) who underwent medical examinations in both 2000 and 2002. Ischemic changes in the electrocardiogram (ECG) suggestive of IHD were defined as the existence of abnormal Q‐wave and/or ST‐T abnormalities without left ventricular high voltage. We assigned the subjects to two groups: the ischemic heart group (Group I), including subjects with normal ECG findings in 2000, followed by suspicious ischemic changes in the ECGs in 2002; and the normal group (Group N), including subjects with normal ECGs in both 2000 and 2002. Results: Fifty‐nine subjects (2%, 20 women) were assigned to Group I and 2,538 subjects (96%, 810 women) were assigned to Group N. There were significant differences between the two groups in baseline age (Group I vs. Group N: 53 vs. 47 years, p < 0.001), body mass index (24 vs. 23 kg/m2, p = 0.036), systolic blood pressure (132 vs. 122 mmHg, p