Table 1.

Characteristics and general health of the participants by the level of physical activity

	Persistently non-active	Became inactive	Became active	Persistently active	P value
General characteristics
n, %	1601 (36.9)	881 (20.3)	775 (17.9)	1082 (24.9)
Men, %	44.3	49.0	46.8	53.7	<0.001
Age, years	55.0±7.2	54.5±7.1	53.4±7.2	53.7±7.2	<0.001
Body mass index, kg/m2	27.6±5.2	27.1±4.9	27.1±4.8	27.0±4.4	0.007
Currently working, %	82.7	85.8	88.9	90.4	<0.001
Smoking history, %
Never	42.4	43.4	44.3	47.6	<0.001
Former	34.4	39.8	37.5	40.0
Current	23.2	16.9	18.2	12.4