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. 2023 Jun 22;62(7):2723–2737. doi: 10.1007/s00394-023-03191-z

Table 1.

Descriptive analysis of participant characteristics based on tertiles of HEI-2015, PDI and PVD in NHANES (N = 27,915)

Covariates Overall HEI-2015 p trend PDI p trend PVD p trend
T1 T2 T3 T1 T2 T3 T1 T2 T3
Age (years) (median, IQR) 49 (35, 65) 41 (30, 54) 46 (33, 58) 52 (38, 65)  < 0.001 42 (30, 56) 46 (34, 60) 49 (36, 61)  < 0.001 45 (32, 58) 46 (32, 60) 47 (34, 60)  < 0.001
Sex (n%)
 Male 50.6 54.1 51.1 46.4  < 0.001 52.7 49.5 49.5 0.001 53.7 49.5 48.8  < 0.001
 Female 49.4 45.9 48.9 53.6 47.3 50.5 50.5 46.3 50.5 51.2
Race (n%)
 Mexican American 7.8 8.1 8.4 6.8  < 0.001 7.7 8.1 7.5  < 0.001 7.3 7.7 8.2  < 0.001
 Other Hispanic 4.8 4.4 5.5 4.7 5.3 5.1 4.1 4.8 5 4.8
 Non-Hispanic White 71.5 72.5 69.1 72.8 68.2 71.7 74.6 69.5 71.6 73.3
 Non-Hispanic Black 9.6 10.1 10.4 8.2 12.6 9.4 6.9 12.8 9.4 6.8
 Other Race including multi-racial 6.3 4.8 6.6 7.5 6.2 5.7 6.9 5.6 6.3 6.9
Marital status (n%)
 Married/living with partner 64.2 61.4 64.1 67.2  < 0.001 58.8 64.5 69.2  < 0.001 59.5 64.7 68  < 0.001
 Widowed 5.9 4.4 5.8 7.8 5.5 6.4 5.9 6.1 5.7 6
 Divorced 10.0 10.5 10.3 9.3 11.4 10 8.8 12.4 9.6 8.3
 Separated 2.4 2.9 2.4 2 2.6 2.5 2.2 2.7 2.4 2.1
Never married 17.4 20.9 17.5 13.7 21.8 16.6 13.9 19.3 17.6 15.5
Education (n%)
 Less than high school 16.1 19 16.7 12.3  < 0.001 19.3 19.3 16.1  < 0.001 19.2 19.2 15.9  < 0.001
 High school diploma (including GED) 24.9 29.7 24.9 19.7 27.5 27.5 24.8 27 27 25.9
 More than high school 59.1 51.3 58.3 68 53.2 53.2 59.1 53.8 53.8 58.2
FPIR (median, IQR) 3.1 (1.6, 5) 2.7 (1.3, 4.7) 3.1 (1.6, 5) 3.6 (1.9, 5)  < 0.001 2.7 (1.4, 4.7) 3.1 (1.6, 5) 3.6 (1.9, 5)  < 0.001 2.8 (1.4, 4.8) 3.1 (1.6, 5) 3.5 (1.8, 5)  < 0.001
Smoking (n%)
 Never smoked 53.0 47.3 53 58.8  < 0.001 49.8 53.5 55.6  < 0.001 47.9 53.1 57.5  < 0.001
 Ex-smoker 25.3 22.1 24.4 29.6 23 25 28 24.4 25.2 26.4
 Smoker 21.7 30.6 22.6 11.5 27.2 21.5 16.4 27.7 21.7 16.1
Physical activity level (n%)
 Low 35.4 38.2 37 30.9  < 0.001 36.3 37.1 32.8  < 0.001 38 35.7 32.7  < 0.001
 Moderate 12.8 12.4 13 13.2 12.4 12.1 14 12.1 13 13.4
 High 51.8 49.5 50 55.9 51.3 50.8 53.2 49.9 51.4 53.9
Alcohol intake (gm) (median, IQR) 0 (0, 3.7) 0 (0, 0) 0 (0, 13.2) 0 (0, 11.2)  < 0.001 0 (0, 13) 0 (0, 0.8) 0 (0, 0.2)  < 0.001 0 (0, 11.2) 0 (0, 1.6) 0 (0, 0.5)  < 0.001
CVD (n%)
 No 91.5 92.4 92 90.2  < 0.001 92.3 90.8 91.5 0.01 91 91.6 92 0.16
 Yes 8.5 7.6 8 9.8 7.7 9.2 8.5 9 8.4 8
Cancer (n%)
 No 90.7 92 91.4 88.5  < 0.001 91.6 90.9 89.5 0.001 91.2 90.9 89.9 0.08
 Yes 9.3 8 8.6 11.5 8.4 9.1 10.5 8.8 9.1 10.1
Hypertension (n%)
 No 68.7 71.8 69.8 64.3  < 0.001 69.7 68.5 68 0.23 67.6 68.8 69.7 0.09
 Yes 31.3 28.2 30.2 35.7 30.3 31.5 32 32.4 31.2 30.3
Arthritis (n%)
 No 75.4 77.5 75.7 72.9  < 0.001 77.6 74.6 73.9  < 0.001 75.1 74.2 76.9 0.01
 Yes 24.6 22.5 24.3 27.1 22.4 25.4 26.1 24.9 25.8 23.1
Diabetes (n%)
 No 88.7 90.2 89 86.7  < 0.001 88.7 87.8 89.6 0.01 87.7 88.5 89.8 0.01
 Yes 11.3 9.8 11 13.3 11.3 12.2 10.4 12.3 11.5 10.2
Cholesterol (mean, SD) 5.1 (1.1) 5.1 (1.1) 5.1 (1.1) 5.1 (1.1) 0.02 5.1 (1.1) 5.1 (1.1) 5.1 (1.1) 0.09 5.1 (1.1) 5.1 (1.1) 5.1 (1.1) 0.99
BMI (mean, SD) 28.3 (6.1) 28.6 (6.2) 28.4 (6.2) 27.6 (5.8)  < 0.001 28.7 (6.4) 28.3 (6.1) 27.7 (5.8)  < 0.001 28.8 (6.5) 28.3 (6.1) 27.6 (5.7)  < 0.001
Obesity (n%)
 No 67.0 63.2 66.2 71.8  < 0.001 63.9 66.4 70.7  < 0.001 62.9 66.4 71.4  < 0.001
 Yes 33.0 36.8 33.8 28.2 36.1 33.6 29.3 37.1 33.6 28.6
CRP (n%)
 < 1.0 mg/L 34.4 31.6 33.9 37.9  < 0.001 30.7 34.2 38.3  < 0.001 30.2 33.7 39  < 0.001
 1.0–3.0 mg/L 37.5 36.8 38.2 37.6 38 37.9 36.7 38.2 38.3 36.1
 > 3.0 mg/L 28.1 31.6 27.9 24.5 31.3 27.9 25 31.7 28 24.9

HEI-2015 Healthy Eating Index-2015, PDI Plant-based dietary index, PVD pro-vegetarian diet, CRP C-reactive protein, FPIR family poverty income ratio, CVD cardiovascular diseases, BMI body mass index

ANOVA was used for quantitative variables and Pearson’s Chi-square test was used for categorical variables