Table 1.
Clinical characteristics among 2219 individuals according to the quartiles of the DTI-ALPS index
| Characteristic | Quartile 1 (≤1.57) (n=568) |
Quartile 2 (1.57–1.66) (n=534) |
Quartile 3 (1.67–1.76) (n=572) |
Quartile 4 (>1.76) (n=545) |
P value |
| Sociodemographics | |||||
| Age (years), mean±SD | 63.5±6.9 | 61.7±6.6 | 60.7±6.2 | 59.4±5.9 | <0.001 |
| Sex (male), n (%) | 329 (57.9) | 251 (47.0) | 237 (41.4) | 202 (37.1) | <0.001 |
| Education, n (%) | 0.01 | ||||
| Illiteracy | 104 (18.3) | 78 (14.6) | 87 (15.2) | 80 (14.7) | |
| Elementary school | 166 (29.2) | 132 (24.7) | 134 (23.4) | 116 (21.3) | |
| Middle school | 145 (25.5) | 166 (31.1) | 167 (29.2) | 184 (33.8) | |
| High school | 103 (18.1) | 116 (21.7) | 145 (25.4) | 120 (22.0) | |
| University or above | 50 (8.8) | 42 (7.9) | 39 (6.8) | 45 (8.3) | |
| Vascular risk factors | |||||
| Body mass index (kg/m2), mean±SD | 24.1±3.1 | 23.8±2.8 | 23.9±3.1 | 24.1±3.0 | 0.37 |
| Systolic blood pressure (mm Hg), median (IQR) | 131.5 (121.0–143.0) | 128.0 (117.5–139.0) | 128.5 (118.5–138.5) | 128.0 (116.0–139.5) | <0.001 |
| Diastolic blood pressure (mm Hg), median (IQR) | 76.0 (70.0–82.0) | 74.8 (69.0–80.5) | 75.0 (69.0–80.5) | 74.5 (69.0–81.0) | 0.03 |
| Hypertension, n (%) | 293 (51.6) | 223 (41.8) | 237 (41.4) | 223 (40.9) | <0.001 |
| Diabetes mellitus, n (%) | 156 (27.5) | 117 (21.9) | 131 (22.9) | 101 (18.5) | 0.005 |
| Hypercholesterolaemia, n (%) | 109 (19.2) | 113 (21.2) | 150 (26.2) | 122 (22.4) | 0.03 |
| Stroke/Transient ischaemic attack, n (%) | 28 (4.9) | 19 (3.6) | 10 (1.8) | 10 (1.8) | 0.004 |
| Coronary artery disease, n (%) | 0 (0.0) | 2 (0.4) | 5 (0.9) | 3 (0.6) | 0.17 |
| Atrial fibrillation, n (%) | 4 (0.7) | 7 (1.3) | 3 (0.5) | 3 (0.6) | 0.41 |
| Current drinking, n (%) | 129 (22.7) | 101 (18.9) | 100 (17.5) | 67 (12.3) | <0.001 |
| Current smoking, n (%) | 142 (25.0) | 109 (20.4) | 97 (17.0) | 88 (16.2) | <0.001 |
| Laboratory data, median (IQR) | |||||
| Total cholesterol (mmol/L) | 5.3±1.0 | 5.4±1.0 | 5.4±1.0 | 5.4±1.0 | 0.28 |
| Triglycerides (mmol/L) | 1.8±1.2 | 1.8±1.2 | 1.9±1.5 | 1.8±1.2 | 0.18 |
| High-density lipoprotein (mmol/L) | 1.4±0.3 | 1.4±0.4 | 1.4±0.3 | 1.4±0.3 | 0.22 |
| Low-density lipoprotein (mmol/L) | 2.8±0.8 | 2.8±0.8 | 2.8±0.8 | 2.9±0.8 | 0.25 |
| Fasting blood glucose (mmol/L) | 6.2±1.8 | 6.0±1.5 | 6.0±1.4 | 6.0±1.5 | 0.21 |
| Glycosylated haemoglobin (%) | 6.1±1.0 | 6.0±0.9 | 6.0±0.9 | 5.9±0.9 | 0.005 |
| Homocysteine (mmol/L) | 13.2±7.3 | 12.2±6.5 | 11.0±4.2 | 11.3±5.7 | <0.001 |
| Medication, n (%) | |||||
| Antihypertensive | 175 (30.8) | 148 (27.7) | 151 (26.4) | 120 (22.0) | 0.01 |
| Lipid-lowering | 23 (4.1) | 28 (5.2) | 29 (5.1) | 21 (3.9) | 0.6 |
| Antiplatelet | 23 (4.1) | 15 (2.8) | 17 (3.0) | 13 (2.4) | 0.42 |
| Anticoagulant | 2 (0.4) | 0 (0.0) | 1 (0.2) | 0 (0.0) | 0.32 |
| Antidiabetic | 78 (13.7) | 47 (8.8) | 50 (8.7) | 45 (8.3) | 0.006 |
| MoCA adjusted by education, median (IQR) | 21.0 (17.0–25.0) | 22.0 (18.0–25.0) | 23.0 (19.0–25.0) | 23.0 (19.0–25.0) | <0.001 |
CSVD, cerebral small vessel disease; DTI-ALPS, diffusivity along perivascular spaces based on diffusion tensor imaging; MoCA, Montreal Cognitive Assessment.