TABLE 1.
Baseline characteristics of participants by age class and overall
| Characteristics | Age class (years) | All Ages | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ≤40 | 40–50 | 50–60 | 60–70 | >70 | ||
| Number in age class | 2635 | 2028 | 2470 | 2263 | 2452 | 11 848 |
| Number with characteristic (%) | ||||||
| Women | 1423 (54.0) | 1108 (54.6) | 1383 (56.0) | 1192 (52.7) | 777 (31.7) | 5883 (49.7) |
| Europeans | 1837 (69.7) | 1260 (62.1) | 1386 (56.1) | 1060 (46.8) | 1571 (64.1) | 7114 (60.0) |
| Asians | 273 (10.3) | 427 (21.1) | 637 (25.8) | 626 (27.7) | 452 (18.4) | 2415 (20.4) |
| South Americans | 525 (20.0) | 341 (16.8) | 447 (18.1) | 577 (25.5) | 429 (17.5) | 2319 (19.6) |
| Current smoking | 764 (29.1) | 687 (34.1) | 693 (28.0) | 570 (25.2) | 488 (19.9) | 3202 (27.0) |
| Drinking alcohol | 1123 (42.6) | 988 (48.7) | 1179 (47.7) | 1101 (48.7) | 1124 (45.8) | 5515 (46.5) |
| On antihypertensive treatment | 54 (2.1) | 172 (8.5) | 535 (21.7) | 644 (28.5) | 949 (38.7) | 2354 (19.9) |
| Diabetes mellitus | 41 (1.6) | 75 (3.7) | 181 (7.3) | 263 (11.6) | 306 (12.5) | 866 (7.3) |
| History of cardiovascular disease | 76 (2.8) | 69 (3.4) | 251 (10.2) | 409 (18.1) | 509 (20.8) | 1314 (11.1) |
| Mean (SD) of characteristic | ||||||
| Age (years) | 29.9 ± 5.0 | 44.3 ± 2.9 | 54.5 ± 3.0 | 63.8 ± 3.0 | 73.2 ± 3.8 | 52.9 ± 15.9 |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 23.8 ± 4.0 | 25.4 ± 4.3 | 26.2 ± 4.5 | 26.0 ± 4.5 | 25.6 ± 4.0 | 25.4 ± 4.4 |
| Serum cholesterol (mg/dl) | 193.5 ± 38.0 | 212.5 ± 40.7 | 221.0 ± 42.4 | 224.8 ± 47.1 | 222.0 ± 43.8 | 214.4 ± 44.0 |
| 24-h SBP (mmHg) | 115.3 ± 9.9 | 119.4 ± 12.3 | 123.7 ± 13.6 | 127.6 ± 14.0 | 132.2 ± 15.1 | 123.6 ± 14.4 |
| 24-h DBP (mmHg) | 70.3 ± 7.1 | 74.0 ± 8.8 | 75.8 ± 9.1 | 75.2 ± 8.6 | 74.4 ± 8.4 | 73.9 ± 8.6 |
| 24-h PP (mmHg) | 45.0 ± 6.7 | 45.4 ± 7.1 | 47.9 ± 8.1 | 52.4 ± 9.6 | 57.8 ± 11.2 | 49.7 ± 10.0 |
| 24-h MAP (mmHg) | 85.3 ± 7.5 | 89.1 ± 9.5 | 91.8 ± 10.1 | 92.6 ± 9.7 | 93.6 ± 9.7 | 90.4 ± 9.8 |
| 24-h PR (bpm) | 75.1 ± 9.1 | 73.9 ± 8.8 | 72.5 ± 8.5 | 71.3 ± 8.8 | 69.5 ± 9.6 | 72.5 ± 9.2 |
| 24-h elastic PP (mmHg) | 43.5 ± 7.2 | 40.7 ± 6.2 | 41.3 ± 6.9 | 44.0 ± 8.3 | 47.5 ± 10.4 | 43.5 ± 8.3 |
| 24-h stiffening PP (mmHg) | 1.5 ± 3.9 | 4.7 ± 9.9 | 6.6 ± 5.2 | 8.4 ± 5.7 | 10.3 ± 6.8 | 6.23 ± 6.22 |
BP, blood pressure; PP, pulse pressure; PR, pulse rate; MAP, mean arterial pressure derived as DBP with PP/3. Current smoking (the daily use of smoking materials), drinking alcohol-containing beverages occasionally or daily, the use of antihypertensive medications and a history of cardiovascular disease were assessed at baseline by questionnaire. Diabetes was a self-reported diagnosis, use of antidiabetic drugs, fasting blood glucose of at least 126 mg/dl (7.0 mmol/l), random blood glucose of at least 200 mg/dl (11.1 mmol/l), or diabetes documented in practice or hospital records. BMI was body weight in kilograms divided by body height in square meters. The 24-h BP was recorded with validated oscillometric devices (see more details in a previous publication) [29]. Serum cholesterol was measured by automated methods in certified laboratories. The elastic PP and stiffening PP were determined from the mean 24-h PP and the SD of the 24-h SBP and DBP readings (Supplemental Methods, http://links.lww.com/HJH/C43).