Association of Cumulative Exposure to Resting Heart Rate with Risk of Stroke in General Population: The Kailuan Cohort Study

Background and Purpose: It remains unclear whether resting heart rate (RHR), particularly cumulative exposure to resting heart rate (cumRHR), is associated with stroke. The aim of our study was to prospectively explore the relationship between cumRHR and stroke morbidity. Materials and Methods: The Kailuan study is a prospective longitudinal cohort study on cerebrovascular events and cardiovascular factors. Hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated using a Cox competing risk model. Results: A total of 46,568 participants were included in the final analysis. In the observation population, we identified 851 stroke events and 1012 incident death cases in the 4.98 +/- .51 year followed-up. Each 46.74 (beats/min) x year increase in heart rate was associated with a 12% increase in the risk of stroke (HR = 1.12, 95% CI = 1.05-1.20). In the categorical model, the highest quartile had an increased risk of stroke (HR = 1.43, 95% CI = 1.13-1.81), compared with the bottom quartile. Gender and age had no interaction with cumRHR for the risk of stroke. Conclusion: Increase of exposure to cumulative heart rate is independently associated with a higher risk of stroke in the general population.