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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2009 Aug 11.
Published in final edited form as: Arch Intern Med. 2008 Aug 11;168(15):1629–1637. doi: 10.1001/archinte.168.15.1629

Table 1.

Baseline characteristics of 13,331 participants of NHANES III by 25(OH)D quartiles. Results presented as means or percents ± standard error.

25-hydroxyvitamin D levels (ng/ml)*

>32.1 24.4-32.1 17.8-24.4 <17.8 P-value
Characteristic (n=3359) (n=3242) (n=3344) (n=3386)
Age (years) 41.9 ± 0.5 45.2 ± 0.6 46.7 ± 0.6 45.5 ± 0.6 <0.001
Women (%) 45.0 ± 1.2 50.5 ± 1.0 56.1 ± 1.4 66.3 ± 1.4 <0.001
Race (%)
     Non-Hispanic white 91.4 ± 0.9 82.6 ± 1.2 69.3 ± 1.8 48.1 ± 2.5 <0.001
     Non-Hispanic black 2.1 ± 0.3 5.4 ± 0.5 13.3 ± 0.9 32.8 ± 1.9 <0.001
     Mexican-American 2.6 ± 0.3 4.8 ± 0.5 6.7 ± 0.6 7.2 ± 0.7 <0.001
     Other 3.9 ± 0.9 7.1 ± 0.9 10.7 ± 1.3 11.8 ± 1.3 <0.001
Diabetic (%) 3.8 ± 0.5 6.6 ± 0.5 8.2 ± 0.8 10.9 ± 0.8 <0.001
History of CVD (%) 6.0 ± 0.5 7.9 ± 0.8 9.5 ± 0.9 8.2 ± 0.9 0.002
Hypertension (%) 19.3 ± 1.1 23.8 ± 1.2 27.8 ± 1.2 28.9 ± 1.3 <0.001
BMI (kg/m2) 25.3 ± 0.1 26.4 ± 0.2 27.6 ± 0.2 28.1 ± 0.2 <0.001
Total cholesterol (mg/dl) 202.2 ± 1.0 202.8 ± 1.3 207.5 ± 1.3 203.5 ± 1.2 0.04
HDL cholesterol (mg/dl) 51.2 ± 0.5 49.8 ± 0.5 50.4 ± 0.5 51.8 ± 0.4 0.73
Cholesterol medication
use (%)
2.4 ± 0.3 2.7 ± 0.4 3.3 ± 0.4 3.7 ± 0.7 0.02
Systolic BP (mm Hg) 120.1 ± 0.6 122.3 ± 0.5 124.0 ± 0.5 124.4 ± 0.6 <0.001
Diastolic BP (mm Hg) 73.6 ± 0.2 74.2 ± 0.3 74.7 ± 0.3 75.0 ± 0.3 <0.001
Smoking (%)
     Former 28.3 ± 1.2 26.8 ± 1.1 25.3 ± 1.2 21.5 ± 1.3 0.001
     Current 29.0 ± 1.4 26.0 ± 1.4 26.9 ± 1.3 32.6 ± 1.3 0.26
Season (%)
     Winter (Jan.-March) 10.6 ± 2.1 15.3 ± 2.3 20.6 ± 3.6 27.3 ± 4.7 <0.001
     Spring (April-June) 22.0 ± 4.1 28.8 ± 4.6 28.8 ± 4.3 26.3 ± 4.3 0.04
     Summer (July-Sept.) 43.4 ± 5.5 33.1 ± 5.6 26.0 ± 4.2 19.2 ± 3.5 <0.001
     Fall (Oct.-Dec.) 24.0 ± 4.7 22.8 ± 4.5 24.7 ± 4.0 27.2 ± 4.1 0.34
eGFR <60
ml/min/1.73m2 (%)
3.3 ± 0.4 4.1 ± 0.4 4.8 ± 0.5 4.6 ± 0.6 <0.001
Albumin excretion ≥30
mg/g creatinine (%)
6.1 ± 0.4 7.4 ± 0.7 9.9 ± 0.6 12.6 ± 1.1 <0.001
C-reactive protein >0.21
mg/dl (%)
24.0 ± 1.5 26.6 ± 1.6 30.7 ± 1.6 37.0 ± 1.7 <0.001
Serum albumin (g/dl) 4.23 ± 0.02 4.21 ± 0.03 4.14 ± 0.02 4.08 ± 0.02 <0.001
Low SES (%) 29.8 ± 1.5 29.4 ± 1.4 35.7 ± 2.0 41.9 ± 1.6 <0.001
Vitamin D use (%) 35.2 ± 1.3 30.1 ± 1.2 25.2 ± 1.2 16.3 ± 1.3 <0.001
Physical Activity
     Moderate (%) 55.6 ± 1.3 56.4 ± 1.1 53.7 ± 2.0 48.1 ± 1.4 0.002
     High (%) 28.7 ± 1.5 20.9 ± 1.0 16.6 ± 1.1 11.7 ± 1.3 <0.001
*

To convert to SI units, multiply 25(OH)D value by 2.496.