Table 1.
Baseline characteristics in subjects by quintiles of dietary choline.
| Parameters | Total (n = 4502) |
Total Choline * | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 (0.1–128.6 mg/d, n = 916) | Q2 (82.6–169.8 mg/d, n = 865) | Q3 (123.3–208.4 mg/d, n = 861) |
Q4 (164.0–261.6 mg/d, n = 911) |
Q5 (225.2–954.8 mg/d, n = 949) |
||
| Age (years) | 62.3 ± 6.2 | 61.9 ± 6.0 a | 62.2 ± 6.2 a | 62.0 ± 6.2 a | 62.1 ± 5.9 a | 63.1 ± 6.6 b |
| Gender | ||||||
| male | 2317 (51.5) | 422 (46.1) | 431 (49.8) | 415 (48.2) | 510 (56.0) | 539 (56.8) |
| female | 2185 (48.5) | 494 (53.9) | 434 (50.2) | 446 (51.8) | 401 (44.0) | 410 (43.2) |
| Educational level | ||||||
| ≤primary school | 2210 (49.1) | 554 (60.5) | 492 (56.9) | 438 (50.9) | 394 (43.3) | 332 (35.0) |
| middle school | 1127 (25.0) | 223 (24.3) | 201 (23.2) | 223 (25.9) | 242 (26.6) | 238 (25.1) |
| ≥high school | 1165 (25.9) | 139 (15.2) | 172 (19.9) | 200 (23.2) | 275 (30.2) | 379 (39.9) |
| Household income level # | ||||||
| low | 1382 (30.7) | 473 (51.6) | 322 (37.2) | 245 (28.5) | 197 (21.6) | 145 (15.3) |
| medium | 1504 (33.4) | 288 (31.4) | 319 (36.9) | 325 (37.8) | 319 (35.0) | 253 (26.7) |
| high | 1616 (35.9) | 155 (16.9) | 224 (25.9) | 291 (33.8) | 395 (43.4) | 551 (58.1) |
| Region | ||||||
| central | 1280 (28.4) | 310 (33.8) | 286 (33.1) | 260 (30.2) | 213 (23.4) | 211 (22.2) |
| eastern | 2031 (45.1) | 289 (31.6) | 315 (36.4) | 360 (41.8) | 472 (51.8) | 595 (62.7) |
| western | 1191 (26.5) | 317 (34.6) | 264 (30.5) | 241 (28.0) | 226 (24.8) | 143 (15.1) |
| Urbanization level # | ||||||
| low | 1469 (32.6) | 544 (59.4) | 341 (39.4) | 254 (29.5) | 203 (22.3) | 127 (13.4) |
| medium | 1541 (34.2) | 215 (23.5) | 332 (38.4) | 327 (38.0) | 347 (38.1) | 320 (33.7) |
| high | 1492 (33.1) | 157 (17.1) | 192 (22.2) | 280 (32.5) | 361 (39.6) | 502 (52.9) |
| Current smoking | ||||||
| yes | 1292 (28.7) | 266 (29.0) | 263 (30.4) | 214 (24.9) | 285 (31.3) | 264 (27.8) |
| no | 3210 (71.3) | 650 (71.0) | 602 (69.6) | 647 (75.2) | 626 (68.7) | 685 (72.2) |
| Alcohol intake | ||||||
| yes | 1421 (31.6) | 251 (27.4) | 272 (31.5) | 255 (29.6) | 314 (34.5) | 329 (34.7) |
| no | 3081 (68.4) | 665 (72.6) | 593 (68.6) | 606 (70.4) | 597 (65.5) | 620 (65.3) |
| Physical activity level # | ||||||
| low | 1278 (28.4) | 190 (20.7) | 207 (23.9) | 247 (28.7) | 278 (30.5) | 356 (37.5) |
| medium | 1569 (34.9) | 273 (29.8) | 271 (31.3) | 309 (35.9) | 341 (37.4) | 375 (39.5) |
| high | 1655 (36.8) | 453 (49.5) | 387 (44.7) | 305 (35.4) | 292 (32.1) | 218 (23.0) |
| CVD history | ||||||
| yes | 1089 (24.2) | 174 (19.0) | 190 (22.0) | 204 (23.7) | 252 (27.7) | 269 (28.4) |
| no | 3413 (75.8) | 742 (81.0) | 675 (78.0) | 657 (76.3) | 659 (72.3) | 680 (71.7) |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 23.8 ± 3.5 | 23.2 ± 3.7 a | 23.5 ± 3.6 a,b | 23.7 ± 3.5 b | 24.2 ± 3.4 c | 24.2 ± 3.2 c |
| Dietary intake | ||||||
| energy (kcal/d) | 2228.9 ± 597.6 | 2037.7 ± 569.8 a | 2127.2 ± 550.0 b | 2190.1 ± 536.3 c | 2305.7 ± 571.9 d | 2467.9 ± 650.3 e |
| choline (mg/d) | 188.0 ± 99.7 | 77.5 ± 28.2 a | 130.2 ± 22.2 b | 170.5 ± 21.8 c | 219.0 ± 22.3 d | 333.3 ± 88.7 e |
| PC (mg/d) | 126.7 ± 81.1 | 42.0 ± 22.7 a | 80.8 ± 23.5 b | 112.4 ± 24.4 c | 148.7 ± 26.0 d | 242.2 ± 78.5 e |
| GPC (mg/d) | 17.1 ± 10.8 | 8.7 ± 4.8 a | 12.8 ± 5.2 b | 16.2 ± 6.7 c | 20.3 ± 8.0 d | 26.8 ± 14.6 e |
| Global cognitive score | 17.3 ± 4.7 | 16.4 ± 4.6 a | 17.1 ± 4.5 b | 17.0 ± 4.5 b | 17.8 ± 4.7 c | 18.0 ± 4.9 c |
Continuous variables were presented as mean ± SD; otherwise, n (%) was shown. Different superscripted letters mean significant differences in distribution by quintiles of dietary choline intake. * Minimum and maximum of each quintile of cumulative average intake of total choline were shown. # Mean ± SD in low, medium and high groups were 3431.9 ± 3628.8 yuan, 10,589.0 ± 8669.8 yuan, and 25,065.6 ± 21,306.7 yuan for annual household income per capital, 21.6 ± 20.1 MET·h/w, 95.9 ± 55.9 MET·h/w, and 345.1 ± 182.6 MET·h/w for total physical activity, 46.7 ± 12.1, 71.9 ± 10.3, and 87.8 ± 7.5 for urbanization level, respectively.