The estimation of HRV by ambulatory monitoring offers prognostic information beyond that provided by the evaluation of traditional cardiovascular disease risk factors.

In our large, community-based sample, increased body-mass index was associated with an increased risk of heart failure. Given the high prevalence of obesity in the United States, strategies to promote optimal body weight may reduce the population burden of heart failure.

Normal LV systolic function is often found in persons with CHF in the community and is more common in women than in men. Although CHF cases with normal LVEF have a lower mortality risk than cases with reduced LVEF, they have a fourfold mortality risk compared with control subjects who are free of CHF.

In a community based sample of the population, the prevalence of mitral-valve prolapse was lower than previously reported. The prevalence of adverse sequelae commonly associated with mitral-valve prolapse in studies of patients referred for that diagnosis was also low.