Table 1.
Descriptive and biochemical characteristics of healthy, postmenopausal women assigned to calcium supplementation or to placebo. Values are means (standard deviations) unless stated otherwise
| Characteristics | Calcium group (n=732) | Placebo group (n=739) |
|---|---|---|
| Age (years) | 74.2 (4.2) | 74.3 (4.3) |
| Weight (kg) | 66.8 (11.1) | 67.0 (11.4) |
| Body mass index (kg/m2) | 26.5 (4.3) | 26.4 (4.2) |
| Serum creatinine (mmol/l) | 0.087 (0.015) | 0.086 (0.014) |
| Glomerular filtration rate* (ml/min/1.73 m2) | 61 (10) | 61 (11) |
| Adjusted calcium (mmol/l) | 2.32 (0.071) | 2.30 (0.065) |
| Glucose (mmol/l) | 5.1 (0.7) | 5.1 (0.7) |
| Total cholesterol (mmol/l)† | 6.73 (1.20) | 6.56 (1.04) |
| High density lipoprotein cholesterol (mmol/l)† | 1.65 (0.45) | 1.59 (0.40) |
| Low density lipoprotein cholesterol (mmol/l)† | 4.39 (1.16) | 4.26 (0.98) |
| Ratio of high density lipoprotein to low density lipoprotein† | 0.42 (0.19) | 0.40 (0.17) |
| Triglycerides (mmol/l)† | 1.55 (0.83) | 1.57 (0.73) |
| Dietary calcium (mg/day) | 861 (390) | 853 (381) |
| Physical activity (METS) | 33.6 (4.6) | 33.5 (4.3) |
| No (%) current smokers | 25 (3.4) | 19 (2.6) |
| No (%) former smokers | 295 (40.3) | 275 (37.2) |
| Systolic blood pressure (mm Hg) | 136 (23) | 135 (23) |
| Diastolic blood pressure (mm Hg) | 71 (11) | 70 (10) |
| No (%) with previous hypertension | 220 (30.1) | 207 (28.0) |
| No (%) with previous ischaemic heart disease | 59 (8.1) | 54 (7.3) |
| No (%) with previous dyslipidaemia | 67 (9.2) | 56 (7.6) |
| No (%) with diabetes | 19 (2.6) | 20 (2.7) |
| No (%) with previous stroke or transient ischaemic attack | 12 (1.6) | 7 (1.0) |
METS=metabolic equivalent intensity level.
*Estimated as recommended by the Australasian Creatinine Consensus Working Group.18
†Lipids were measured in a subset of 223 postmenopausal women (111 assigned to calcium supplementation and 112 assigned to placebo). Blood samples were taken fasting.