Table 3.

Maximal oxygen uptake (ml/min) in quartiles of serum n-6 PUFA concentrations^*

	Exposure quartile
Serum n-6 PUFA	1 (n 421)	95 % CI	2 (n 421)	95 % CI	3 (n 422)	95 % CI	4 (n 421)	95 % CI	P for trend §	Mean difference between the highest and the lowest quartile	95 % CI
Total n-6 PUFA (%)	13·99–30·13		30·14–33·29		33·30–36·17		36·18–47·25
Model 1 †	2463	2412, 2515	2537	2485, 2588	2559	2508, 2611	2615	2563, 2667	<0·001	152	79, 225
Model 2‡	2459	2409, 2509	2533	2485, 2582	2566	2517, 2614	2616	2566, 2666	<0·001	157	85, 230
LA (%)	10·30–23·82		23·83–26·70		26·71–29·63		29·64–41·30
Model 1	2489	2437, 2540	2517	2465, 2568	2562	2511, 2614	2606	2555, 2659	0·001	118	45, 191
Model 2	2476	2425, 2526	2510	2461, 2558	2575	2527, 2624	2613	2563, 2664	<0·001	138	64, 212
GLA (%)	0·06–0·20		0·21–0·27		0·28–0·35		0·36–0·87
Model 1	2572	2514, 2613)	2542	2484, 2599	2599	2542, 2655	2558	2500, 2616	0·98	–15	–97, 67
Model 2	2477	2522, 2632	2546	2493, 2600	2581	2527, 2634	2567	2513, 2622	0·97	–10	–88, 68
DGLA (%)	0·57–1·15		1·16–1·33		1·34–1·50		1·51–3·02
Model 1	2514	2456, 2572	2498	2440, 2555	2608	2552, 2664	2650	2593, 2708	<0·001	136	54, 218
Model 2	2502	2447, 2558	2519	2465, 2572	2604	2551, 2656	2645	2590, 2700	<0·001	143	63, 223
AA (%)	1·68, 4·14		4·15–4·76		4·77–5·44		5·45–9·21
Model 1	2495	2434, 2556	2550	2493, 2607	2613	2556, 2671	2603	2548, 2658	< 0·001	108	26, 190
Model 2	2501	2450, 2553	2541	2492, 2590	2574	2526, 2622	2558	2506, 2610	0·11	57	–20, 134

LA, linoleic acid; GLA, γ-linolenic acid; DGLA, dihomo-γ-linolenic acid and AA, arachidonic acid.

^*Values are means (95 % CI). Data were analysed with ANCOVA.

^†Model 1: adjusted for age and examination years.

^‡Model 2: adjusted for model 1 plus BMI, smoking status, leisure-time physical activity, alcohol intake, use of antihypertensive medication, education, income and serum long-chain n-3 PUFA concentrations.

^§ P _{for trend} refers to the linear trend across the fatty acid quartiles.