All individuals were monitored from the baseline examination until death or the first incident or until 31 December 2012. The mean follow-up period was 6.8 years, with a total of 114 135 person years. The major primary endpoints were fatal or non-fatal coronary heart disease, fatal or non-fatal cardiovascular disease, fatal cardiovascular disease, and total mortality. Non-fatal coronary heart disease was defined as non-fatal myocardial infarction (ICD-10 code I21), unstable angina (ICD-10 code I20.0), percutaneous coronary intervention, and/or coronary artery bypass grafting. Fatal coronary
heart disease was defined as ICD-10 codes I20-I25. Stroke was defined as fatal or non-fatal cerebral infarction,
intracerebral haemorrhage, or unspecified stroke (ICD-10 codes I61, I63, I64). Cardiovascular disease was defined as the composite of coronary heart disease or stroke, whichever came first. A secondary endpoint was mortality from non-cardiovascular disease. A history of heart failure was defined as ICD-10 code I50, and atrial fibrillation before the study start was defined as ICD-10 code I48. All events were obtained by linking to the Swedish cause of death and hospital discharge registers, a reliable validated alternative to revised hospital discharge and death certificates