EKG Predicts Heart Risk in Postmenopausal Women

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The researchers found that women who had minor abnormalities had a 55 percent increased risk of a coronary heart disease event, while women with major EKG abnormalities faced triple the average risk of such an event.

About 5 percent of the women who had normal baseline EKGs developed abnormalities during the study period. These women had a 2.6 times higher risk of a coronary heart disease event.

Whether or not a woman was taking hormones had no effect on an EKG's ability to predict heart trouble, according to the study.

"This is a test that predicts the future," said Denes. "Hopefully, it can inspire people who are having a hard time deciding to lose weight, increase their physical activity or eat a healthy diet, because now they know there's an additional factor that suggests you'll have trouble in the future."

Denes did offer one caveat to the findings, however. He said because the study population was mostly white, the researchers don't know if the test will be as useful in predicting heart disease risk in minority women.

Dr. Nieca Goldberg, medical director of New York University's Women's Heart Program, said, "This is really an untapped field that has never really been looked into, and it looks like electrocardiograms are more predictive than we thought."

Goldberg recommends that women should have a baseline ECG at age 50, and women of any age who have heart disease symptoms should also have the test.

"If the ECG is abnormal, that should trigger a more aggressive evaluation for heart disease," she said.

More information

To learn more about electrocardiograms, visit the American Heart Association.