Electrocardiogram of Healthy Old Men : Electrocardiographic Findings relating to Aging and Physical Activity of Healthy Old Men

Abstract

Many authors have described electrocardiographic changes with aging. But electrocardiographic ob-servations relating to the daily physical activity of the persons with age above seventy have reported rarely. The purpose of this paper is to observe the changes in electrocardiographic characteristics which were obtained by epidemiological study in the farming village from 1958 to 1968 and the electrocardiographic differences of the aged in the farming village and the nursing home. Materials and Methods: One study population consists of 96 farmers ranging in age from 65 to 74 years (FV-6, FV-7) and the other consists of thirty-nine persons ranging in the same age in the nursing home. Moreover, 69 farmers from 55 to 59 are examined as the control groups. The farmers are classified in active and retired groups, and then are subclassified in the hypertensive (-H) and non-hypertensive (-N) groups. In hypertensive groups are all subjects who have had pressure of 160 mmHg systolic and or 95 mmHg diastolic, or over. In non-hypertensive groups are all subjects who have had both a systolic pressure of less than 160 mmHg and a diastolic pressure of less than 95 mmHg. The nursing home group with typical retired life is classified in the same method. (NH-6, NH-7) The cases with myocardial infarction, bundle branch block, chronic lung disease or congestive heart failure were excluded from this study. Blood pressure, body weight, height and skinfold thickness (triceps + subscapular) were measured according to Cardiovascular Survey Methods of WHO. Amplitudes of R, S and T wave in leads I, II, 111, Vl, V4 and V5, sum of QRS and T wave in leads I, II and III, QRS axis, P-R interval and corrected QT in lead II were measured in electrocardiogram. Results: 1. Physical measurements as described above in farming village and nursing home; The lower mean values in body weight (-7-N), in systolic blood pressure (-7-N), in diastolic blood pressure (-7-N), in circumference of arm (-7-N, -6-N, -6-H) as well as in the sum of skinfold (-7-N) are observed in the nursing home group compared with active groups in the farming village.