Physical health was coded by an internist who reviewed each participant’s health records, obtained from their physicians every five years. Disease categories included: cancer (cancer, CA, carcinoma, adenoma, malignant lymphoma, melanoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, basal cell epithelioma, glioma); heart disease (myocardial infarction, coronary artery disease, congestive heart failure, cardiomyopathy, graft or angioplasty of coronary artery, angina, ischemia); vascular disease (peripheral vascular disease, aortic aneurysm, angioplasty of any peripheral vessel, deep vein thrombosis, carotid or aortic stenosis, varicosities, carotid occlusion, carotid artery surgery, aortic insufficiency, aortic sclerosis, carotid endarterectomy, bypass of a peripheral vessel, lateral ischemia, vascular dementia, vessel stent, venous stasis, pulmonary embolism); hyperlipidemia: (hypercholesterolemia, high lipids, low HDL, high LDL, dyslipidemia, high cholesterol, hyperlipidemia); diabetes (diabetes mellitus, glucose intolerance, glucose tolerance, high glucose); cerebrovascular disease (cerebrovascular accident, transient ischemic attack, infarct, sub-arachnoid hemorrhage, brain hemorrhage); hypertension (hypertension, high blood pressure, on antihypertensives); and lung disease (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, hyperinflated lungs, pneumonia, tuberculosis, pulmonary edema, emphysema, lung resection, lung abscess). If any of these diagnoses were listed as a cause of death on a participant’s death certificate, the condition was coded as present.
