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Anthropometric measurements were compared in 312 white and 242 black women (mean age 54) who were participants in the Charleston Heart Study. Body mass index (BMI) was greater in black women (27.8 kg/m2) than in white women (24.7 kg/m2) as were body circumferences. However, when the girth measurements were adjusted for BMI, some racial differences were reversed. Age, smoking and BMI-adjusted abdominal girth was smaller in the black women than in the white women (88.9 cm vs 92.2 cm). The ratio of abdomen to midarm circumference was larger in white women than black women (3.24 vs 3.09), and could be interpreted to indicate a less central fat pattern in the black women. This conclusion should be viewed with caution since circumference measurements, though often used in epidemiologic research, do not differentiate between subcutaneous fat and visceral fat.

The relationship between cholesterol and 28-year CHD mortality in women was evaluated in the Charleston Heart Study. Linear, quadratic, and cubic models were investigated using Cox proportional hazards regression analysis. In white women, the linear, quadratic, and cubic terms for cholesterol were significant suggesting an asymmetric J-shaped relationship. In black women, only the linear term in all three models was statistically significant suggesting an increasing CHD mortality rate with increasing cholesterol level. The lack of consistency of results by different statistical analyses in black women make conclusions concerning the nature of the relationship between cholesterol and CHD mortality less strong in black women than in white women. Compared with women having a cholesterol value equal to the mean of the group (241 mg/dl), white women having a cholesterol value one standard deviation above the mean (s = 52.5 mg/dl) had a 60% higher CHD mortality rate (hazard ratio = 1.6, 95% CI: 1.2-2.1). In black women, the estimated hazard ratio for a one standard deviation (s = 47.8 mg/dl) increase in cholesterol is 1.4 (95% CI: 1.03-1.8). The results suggest that the relationship of cholesterol to CHD mortality is different in white and black women. The relationship in white women appears to be curvilinear and represented by an asymmetric curve while the relationship in black women is not curvilinear and the overall pattern of association, while possibly linear, is equivocal.

A prevalence estimate for Raynaud phenomenon among adult residents of South Carolina was based on data obtained from respondents in a statewide health survey, followed by face-to-face interviews and clinical screening for Raynaud phenomenon, using a screening procedure developed by the authors. The survey obtained 5246 personal interviews from a probability sample of over 3000 households, and 494 survey subjects participated in the clinical screening. The prevalence estimates and their standard errors were computed using survey case weights, design-based estimation, and logistic modelling techniques. The prevalence of Raynaud phenomenon among adult residents of South Carolina was determined to be 3.5%, with a standard error of 0.6%. Prevalence was higher for females (4.3%, SE = 0.7%) than for males (2.7%, SE = 0.6%). These figures are much lower than most estimates in the existing literature on Raynaud phenomenon.

During the 1984/85 recall of the Charleston Heart Study Cohort, physical function data were obtained for 247 white males, 376 white females, 123 black males, 247 black females and 71 high socioeconomic status (SES) black males over 60 years of age. Black females had the highest prevalence of physical disability (55.8%), followed by white females (43.2%), black males (39.0%) and white males (25.8%) and high SES black males (22.3%). Physical disability was 1.5-2.5 times as prevalent among individuals with a history of cardiovascular disease (CVD) than those without such a history. Among individuals without a current history of CVD univariate analyses showed the following as significant (lower 95% CI greater than 1.0) predictors of physical disability: elevated systolic blood pressure in white females, black males, and black females; elevated cholesterol in black females; obesity in black females; and low educational level in white females. Regression analyses indicated that obesity in 1960 accounted for 10.9 and 2.9% respectively of the variability in physical disability scores in 1985 for black females and white females.