Heritability of resting heart rate and association with mortality in middle-aged and elderly twins.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Resting heart rate (RHR) possibly has a hereditary component and is associated with longevity. We used the classical biometric twin study design to investigate the heritability of RHR in a population of middle-aged and elderly twins and, furthermore, studied the association between RHR and mortality.

Methods

In total, 4282 twins without cardiovascular disease were included from the Danish Twin Registry, hereof 1233 twin pairs and 1816 'single twins' (twins with a non-participating co-twin); mean age 61.7 (SD 11.1) years; 1334 (31.2%) twins died during median 16.3 (IQR 13.8-16.5) years of follow-up assessed through Danish national registers. RHR was assessed by palpating radial pulse.

Results

Within pair correlations for RHR adjusted for sex and age were 0.23

SUBMITTER: Jensen MT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5831408 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature