Background: The social security department of the French national electric and gas company has established an ischemic heart disease register among a population of about 140 000 employees based on sick leaves as well as deaths recorded with their medical cause.
Methods: History of the illness, medical tests and treatments were known retrospectively from the consulting physicians of the company. Acute coronary events recorded were: inaugural angina pectoris, myocardial infarction, sudden coronary death and fortuitous discovery of coronary disease.
Results: A first study conducted on employees during the 1993-1995 period showed infarction incidence age rates similar to those estimated from the French MONICA registers for France as a whole. Regional discrepancies were observed for myocardial infarction rates: Nord-Pas de Calais, Champagne-Ardennes, Lorraine, Franche-Comté and Limousin were at the most elevated risk (SIR=131, 155, 169, 125 and 178 resp). Large variations according to socio-economic status were observed.
Conclusion: This register will permit studies on the links between socio-economic status at different professional career points and the occurrence of ischemic heart disease and the evaluation of the impact of psychosocial factors such as previous depressive disorders.