RT Journal
A1 Roger VL, Adabag A, Weston SA
T1 SUrveillance of sudden death after myocardial infarction—reply
JF JAMA
JO JAMA
YR 2009
FD March 18
VO 301
IS 11
SP 1123
OP 1124
DO 10.1001/jama.2009.285
UL http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jama.2009.285
AB 
In Reply: In response to Dr Zhao and colleagues, the population of Olmsted County receives a substantial proportion of its care at Mayo Clinic and is mostly white. These points, acknowledged in our article, indicate that our study needs replication in groups not represented in the county; no regional population could be representative of a whole country, let alone the world. However, the medical records linkage system of the Rochester Epidemiology Project encompasses all local providers of medical care, and studies under the auspices of the Rochester Epidemiology Project have consistently demonstrated that trends observed in Olmsted County for chronic diseases in general and cardiovascular diseases in particular are similar to those observed in similar populations in the United States and the world.1 Thus, Olmsted County data are of broad relevance.