TABLE 1.
Characteristics of the study sample1
| Women (n = 973) | Men (n = 677) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age (y) | 34.6 ± 8.82,3 | 33 (28–41)4 | 42.2 (9.8) | 41 (35–49) |
| Weight (kg) | 45.3 ± 7.93 | 44.3 (39.8–50) | 50.8 (9.1) | 49.3 (45–55.3) |
| Height (cm) | 149.6 ± 5.23 | 149.6 (146.2–152.9) | 161.6 (6.0) | 161.5 (157.6–165.5) |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 20.2 ± 3.23 | 19.8 (21.8–18.0) | 19.4 (3.0) | 18.7 (17.4–21.0) |
| Education (y) | 3.2 ± 3.63 | 2 (0–5) | 4.0 (4.2) | 3 (0–7) |
| Children in home (n) | 3.1 ± 1.7 | 3 (2–4) | — | — |
| Cigarette smokers (%) | 63 | 76 | ||
| Betelnut users (%) | 303 | 40 | ||
| Type of housing (%) | ||||
| Thatched | 5.9 | 5.9 | ||
| Corrugated tin | 78.5 | 78.3 | ||
| Cement | 13.8 | 13.4 | ||
| Other | 1.9 | 2.4 | ||
| Plasma tHcy (μmol/L) | 9.5 ± 4.73 | 8.6 (7–10.7) | 15.3 (9.5) | 12.8 (10.2–17.1) |
| Hyperhomocysteinemia (%)5 | 263 | 63 | ||
| Plasma folate (nmol/L) | 12.3 ± 7.63 | 10.4 (7.4–14.5) | 9.8 (6.5) | 8.3 (6.1–11.5) |
| Plasma folate < 9 nmol/L (%) | 393 | 57 | ||
| Plasma cobalamin (pmol/L) | 256 ± 1183 | 233.3 (180.4–306.2) | 281 (115) | 257.9 (200.1–339) |
| Plasma cobalamin < 151 pmol/L (%) | 136 | 8 | ||
| Urinary creatinine (mg/dL) | 55.8 ± 41.23 | 45.8 (25.2–76.1) | 69.8 (51.7) | 55.4 (30–95.1) |
1
tHcy, total homocysteine.
2
x̄ ± SD (all such values).
3, 6
Significantly different from men (Wilcoxon’s rank-sum test): 3P < 0.0001, 6P < 0.01.
4
Median:interquartile range in parentheses (all such values). For the interquartile range, the lower and upper 25th percentile values are reported.
5
Defined as ≥ 10.4 umol/L for women and ≥ 11.4 umol/L for men.