Ventricular Premature Complexes and Their Associated Factors in a General Population of Japanese Men

Increased ventricular premature complexes (VPCs) are associated with a higher risk of cardiac morbidities. However, little information is available on the risk factors of Western general populations. Therefore, we aimed to assess the frequency and associated factors of VPCs in healthy general Japanese men. We conducted a population-based cross-sectional study in 517 men, aged 40 to 79 years, using 24-hour Holter electrocardiography. Age, body mass index, height, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, resting heart rate, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, physical activity, smoking, alcohol consumption, lipid-lowering therapy were included in multivariable negative binomial regression to assess independent correlates for the number of VPCs per hour. We observed at least 1 VPC in 1 hour in 429 men (83%). In multivariable negative binomial regression adjusted for all covariates simultaneously, age (risk ratio [95% confidence interval] 1.91 [1.56 to 2.33] per 1-SD increment), height (1.17 [1.04 to 1.49] per 1-SD increment), resting heart rate(1.34 [1.02 to 1.77] per 1-SD increment), diabetes mellitus (2.36 [1.17 to 4.76] ), hypertension (1.90 [1.03 to 3.50]), physical activity (0.67 [0.47 to 0.97] ), current smoking (4.23 [1.86 to 9.60] ), past smoking (2.08 [1.03 to 4.19] ), current light alcohol consumption (0.16 [0.04 to 0.64] ), and lipid-lowering therapy (0.47 [0.23 to 0.96] ) were independently associated with VPCs frequency. In conclusion, VPCs frequency was independently associated with age, height, resting heart rate, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, physical activity, smoking, alcohol consumption, and lipid-lowering therapy.