TABLE 1.
Baseline characteristics of the PREDIMED-Plus participants according to categories of total nut consumption
| Total Nut Consumption |
P2 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | <1 s/wk1 | ≥1 to <3 s/wk | ≥3 to <7 s/wk | ≥7 s/wk | ||
| Frequency, n | 6,630 | 2,432 | 1,796 | 1,306 | 1,096 | |
| Total nuts, g/day, median [IQR] | 9 [2, 24] | 2 [0, 4] | 9 [6, 13] | 21 [17, 26] | 39 [32, 51] | <0.001 |
| Walnuts | 2 [0, 13] | 0 [0, 0] | 2 [2, 4] | 13 [4, 13] | 24 [13, 30] | <0.001 |
| Almonds | 2 [0, 4] | 0 [0, 0] | 2 [0, 4] | 4 [2, 13] | 13 [0, 13] | <0.001 |
| Other nuts | 2 [0, 4] | 0 [0, 0] | 2 [0, 4] | 4 [0, 9] | 13 [0, 17] | <0.001 |
| Sociodemographic variables | ||||||
| Age, y | 65.0 ± 4.9 | 65.0 ± 4.9 | 64.8 ± 5.0 | 64.9 ± 4.9 | 65.4 ± 4.7 | 0.022 |
| Women, n (%) | 3,210 (48.4) | 1,203 (49.5) | 873 (48.6) | 618 (47.3) | 516 (47.1) | 0.473 |
| Education level, n (%) | ||||||
| Primary or less | 3,266 (49.3) | 1,233 (50.7) | 874 (48.7) | 664 (50.8) | 495 (45.2) | 0.006 |
| Secondary | 1,913 (28.9) | 717 (29.5) | 517 (28.8) | 352 (27.0) | 327 (29.8) | |
| College | 1,451 (21.9) | 482 (19.8) | 405 (22.6) | 290 (22.2) | 274 (25.0) | |
| Civil status, n (%) | ||||||
| Single, divorced, or separated | 854 (12.9) | 341 (14.0) | 208 (11.6) | 154 (11.8) | 151 (13.8) | 0.109 |
| Married | 5,088 (76.7) | 1,833 (75.4) | 1,391 (77.5) | 1,030 (78.9) | 834(76.1) | |
| Widower | 688 (10.4) | 258 (10.6) | 197 (11.0) | 122 (9.3) | 111 (10.1) | |
| Disease present at recruitment | ||||||
| Type 2 diabetes, n (%) | 2,041 (30.8) | 778 (32.0) | 533 (29.7) | 398 (30.5) | 332 (30.3) | 0.411 |
| Hypertension, n (%) | 5,570 (84.0) | 2,078 (85.4) | 1,494 (83.2) | 1,091 (83.5) | 907 (82.8) | 0.105 |
| Hypercholesterolemia, n (%) | 4,637 (69.9) | 1,661 (68.3) | 1,269 (70.7) | 934 (71.5) | 773 (70.5) | 0.152 |
| Medication use, n (%) | ||||||
| Insulin or other antidiabetic drugs | 1,768 (26.7) | 659 (27.1) | 476 (26.5) | 350 (26.8) | 283 (25.8) | 0.881 |
| Antihypertensive agents | 5,204 (78.5) | 1,947 (80.1) | 1,395 (77.7) | 1,015 (77.7) | 847 (77.3) | 0.129 |
| Statins or other hypolipidemic drugs | 3,453 (52.1) | 1,253 (51.5) | 945 (52.6) | 678 (51.9) | 577 (52.7) | 0.881 |
| Depressive symptomatology, n (%) | 1,366 (20.6) | 547 (22.5) | 368 (20.5) | 239 (18.3) | 212 (19.3) | 0.014 |
| Anthropometric variables | ||||||
| BMI, kg/m2 | 32.6 ± 3.4 | 32.9 ± 3.5 | 32.6 ± 3.4 | 32.4 ± 3.5 | 32.0 ± 3.2 | <0.001 |
| Waist circumference, cm | ||||||
| Women | 104.0 ± 9.2 | 105.0 ± 9.2 | 103.9 ± 9.3 | 103.1 ± 8.9 | 102.7 ± 9.2 | <0.001 |
| Men | 110.9 ± 8.8 | 111.8 ± 9.1 | 110.8 ± 8.4 | 110.5 ± 8.7 | 109.9 ± 8.5 | <0.001 |
| Lifestyle variables | ||||||
| Smoking status, n (%) | ||||||
| Current smoker | 821 (12.4) | 349 (14.4) | 203 (11.3) | 143 (11.0) | 126 (11.5) | 0.029 |
| Former smoker | 2,865 (43.2) | 1,030 (42.4) | 789 (43.9) | 567 (43.4) | 479 (43.7) | |
| Never smoked | 2,944 (44.4) | 1,053 (43.3) | 804 (44.8) | 596 (45.6) | 491 (44.8) | |
| Physical activity, METs/min/day | 352.0 ± 329.3 | 326.8 ± 330.2 | 343.9 ± 310.2 | 379.7 ± 339.4 | 388.2 ± 340.2 | <0.001 |
| Cognitive performance assessment, raw scores | ||||||
| Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) | (n = 6,442) 28.2 ± 1.9 | (n = 2,358) 28.1 ± 2.0 | (n = 1,752) 28.3 ± 1.9 | (n = 1,274) 28.3 ± 1.8 | (n = 1,058) 28.2 ± 1.9 | 0.021 |
| Clock Drawing Test (CDT) | (n = 6,446) 5.9 ± 1.2 | (n = 2,358) 5.9 ± 1.3 | (n = 1,753) 6.0 ± 1.2 | (n = 1,274) 5.9 ± 1.2 | (n = 1,061) 6.0 ± 1.2 | 0.495 |
| Verbal Fluency tasks semantical (VFT-a) | (n = 6,580) 16.0 ± 4.9 | (n = 2,416) 16.0 ± 5.0 | (n = 1,782) 15.9 ± 4.8 | (n = 1,295) 16.1 ± 4.8 | (n = 1,087) 16.2 ± 4.9 | 0.374 |
| Verbal Fluency tasks phonological (VFT-p) | (n = 6,580) 12.2 ± 4.5 | (n = 2,416) 12.1 ± 4.6 | (n = 1,782) 12.1 ± 4.6 | (n = 1,295) 12.3 ± 4.4 | (n = 1,087) 12.4 ± 4.4 | 0.198 |
| Trail Making Test Part A3 (TMT-A) | (n = 6,565) 52.8 ± 28.6 | (n = 2,414) 53.8 ± 30.0 | (n = 1,779) 53.2 ± 29.3 | (n = 1,294) 52.2 ± 27.4 | (n = 1,078) 50.9 ± 25.2 | 0.038 |
| Trail Making Test Part B3 (TMT-B) | (n = 6,547) 130.1 ± 72.4 | (n = 2,403) 131.4 ± 73.6 | (n = 1,774) 131.0 ± 73.2 | (n = 1,293) 128.6 ± 70.1 | (n = 1,077) 127.5 ± 70.9 | 0.389 |
| Digit Span test forward (DST-f) | (n = 5,653) 8.8 ± 2.5 | (n = 2,092) 8.8 ± 2.5 | (n = 1,516) 8.7 ± 2.5 | (n = 1,118) 8.9 ± 2.5 | (n = 927) 8.9 ± 2.4 | 0.322 |
| Digit Span test backward (DST-b) | (n = 5,650) 5.1 ± 2.2 | (n = 2,090) 5.1 ± 2.2 | (n = 1,516) 5.0 ± 2.2 | (n = 1,118) 5.1 ± 2.3 | (n = 926) 5.2 ± 2.2 | 0.441 |
Data are presented as n (%) and mean ± SD or median [IQR] for categorical and continuous variables, respectively.
Abbreviations: IQR, interquartile range; METs, metabolic equivalents; s/wk, serving(s) per week.
1
1 serving=30 g.
2
P value for differences between categories of total nut consumption was calculated by Pearson’s Chi-square test or one-way ANOVA, as appropriate.
3
Inverse neuropsychological assessment score, lower scores represent better cognitive performance.