Table 1.
Characteristics of 2037 men and 649 women aged 65-85 years at baseline in 1996, according to allocation to treatment with vitamin D or placebo. Values are numbers (percentages) unless stated otherwise
| Baseline variables
|
All
|
Men
|
Women
|
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vitamin D (n=1345)
|
Placebo (n=1341)
|
Vitamin D (n=1019)
|
Placebo (n=1018)
|
Vitamin D (n=326)
|
Placebo (n=323)
|
|||
| Mean (SD) age at randomisation (years) | 74.8 (4.6) | 74.7 (4.6) | 75.2 (4.6) | 75.0 (4.6) | 73.7 (4.5) | 73.6 (4.6) | ||
| Mean (SD) body mass index (kg/m2) | 24.3 (3.4) | 24.4 (3.0) | 24.3 (3.3) | 24.4 (2.7) | 24.4 (3.8) | 24.3 (3.8) | ||
| History of heart disease* | 223 (16.6) | 208 (15.5) | 189 (18.5) | 181 (17.8) | 34 (10.4) | 27 (8.4) | ||
| History of stroke | 51 (3.8) | 57 (4.3) | 42 (4.1) | 48 (4.7) | 9 (2.8) | 9 (2.8) | ||
| History of cardiovascular disease† | 394 (29.3) | 367 (27.4) | 329 (32.3) | 312 (30.6) | 65 (19.9) | 55 (17.0) | ||
| History of cancer‡ | 82 (6.1) | 79 (5.9) | 67 (6.6) | 69 (6.8) | 15 (4.6) | 10 (3.1) | ||
| Current smokers | 59 (4.4) | 53 (4.0) | 39 (3.8) | 29 (2.8) | 20 (6.1) | 24 (7.4) | ||
| Current use of steroids | 60 (4.5) | 70 (5.2) | 42 (4.1) | 53 (5.2) | 18 (5.5) | 17 (5.3) | ||
| Current use of hormone replacement therapy | NA | NA | NA | NA | 21 (6.4) | 21 (6.5) | ||
| Alcohol intake§: | (n=1295) | (n=1279) | (n=972) | (n=968) | (n=323) | (n=311) | ||
| Never | 132 (10.2) | 115 (9.0) | 77 (7.9) | 64 (6.6) | 55 (17.0) | 51 (16.4) | ||
| Occasional | 197 (15.2) | 205 (16.0) | 102 (10.5) | 115 (11.9) | 95 (29.4) | 90 (28.9) | ||
| Regular | 966 (74.6) | 959 (75.0) | 793 (81.6) | 789 (81.5) | 173 (53.6) | 170 (54.7) | ||
| Physical activity§: | (n=1288) | (n=1276) | (n=969) | (n=963) | (n=319) | (n=313) | ||
| Active or moderately active | 1119 (86.9) | 1133 (88.8) | 840 (86.7) | 852 (88.5) | 279 (87.5) | 281 (89.8) | ||
NA=not applicable.
*
Self reported angina, myocardial infarction, or ischaemic heart disease.
†
Ischaemic heart disease, stroke, or other cardiovascular disease.
‡
Includes self reported skin cancers (including melanoma), which comprise about 80% of prevalent cancer; people reporting cancer after randomisation but before taking the first capsule are reported as prevalent cancer.
§
Excludes missing data.