Table 1.

Demographic and epidemiologic characteristics of the patients with and without diverticulosis

Characteristics	Without diverticulitis, n = 268	With diverticulitis, n = 91	P value
Mean age	66.29	71.76	< 0.001
Male sex as %	53.7	52.7	0.870
Mean BMI	28.4	27.6	0.710
Origin			0.420
Israel	103 (38)	32 (35)
South Europe	93 (34)	27 (29)
Ethiopia	3 (1)	3 (3)
Sefaradi	58 (21)	24 (26)
Ashkenazi	11 (4)	5 (5)
Residence
Urban	254 (94)	85 (93)	0.620
Rural	14 (5)	6 (6)
Marital status
Married	179 (66)	23 (69)	0.660
Not married	89 (34)	28 (31)
Smoking
Never	123 (46)	52 (57)	0.190
Previous	90 (33)	24 (26)
Current	54 (20)	15 (16)
Alcohol
No drinking	196 (73)	67 (73)	0.920
Drinking	72 (27)	24 (27)
Red meat
None	23 (8)	4 (4)	0.065
< 3 times a week	213 (80)	83 (91)
> 3 times a week	28 (10)	4 (4)
Exercise
None	130 (48)	54 (59)	0.200
< 3 times a week	80 (30)	22 (24)
> 3 times a week	58 (21)	15 (16)
Education
< 12 yr	63 (23)	26 (28)	0.620
12 yr	84 (31)	27 (29)
> 12 yr	121 (45)	38 (41)
Chronic disease
Diabetes	98 (36)	31 (34)	0.660
IHD	57 (21)	23 (25)	0.420
HTN	156 (58)	62 (68)	0.094
COPD	22 (8)	7 (7)	0.870
CRF	17 (6)	4 (4)	0.490
Hypothyroidism	33 (12)	8 (8)	0.360
Vitamin D deficiency	103 (38)	31 (34)	0.450
Medications
Aspirin	97 (36)	34 (37)	0.840
NSAIDs	1 (0.4)	1 (1)	> 0.990
GC	2 (0.7)	4 (4)	0.038
Opiates	9 (3)	3 (3)	> 0.990
PPI	105 (39)	34 (37)	0.750

Data are n (%). BMI: Body mass index; COPD: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; CRF: Chronic renal failure; GC: Glucocorticoids; HTN: Hypertension; IHD: Ischemic heart disease; NSAIDS: Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs; PPI: Proton pump inhibitors.