Table 1.
Characteristics of participants included in the analyses by categories of pathogen burden and cumulative immune response in the Multi-ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (July 2000 —July 2002)
| Characteristics* | Number of Pathogens | Cumulative Immune Response (Participants seropositive for all 4 pathogens) | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 0–2 | 3–4 | DF | Value | p-value | Total | Low | High | DF | Value | p-value | |
| N§ | 999 | 356 | 643 | 307 | 236 | 71 | ||||||
| Age at baseline (years) | 59 ± 9.7 | 59 ± 9.5 | 59 ± 10.0 | 997 | −0.60 | 0.55 | 60 ± 9.5 | 59 ± 9.8 | 62 ± 8.3 | 305 | −1.99 | 0.05 |
| Male | 42.9 | 44.4 | 42.1 | 1 | 0.47 | 0.49 | 44.0 | 45.3 | 39.4 | 1 | 0.77 | 0.38 |
| Race/Ethnicity | 3 | 194.15 | <0.001 | 3 | 7.20 | 0.07 | ||||||
| White | 45.9 | 75.0 | 29.9 | 19.2 | 20.8 | 14.1 | ||||||
| Hispanic | 23.1 | 10.1 | 30.3 | 35.2 | 34.3 | 38.0 | ||||||
| Black | 21.0 | 10.1 | 27.1 | 30.3 | 27.5 | 39.4 | ||||||
| Chinese | 9.9 | 4.8 | 12.8 | 15.3 | 17.4 | 8.5 | ||||||
| Education | NA | 9.56 | <0.001 | NA | 2.49 | 0.01 | ||||||
| High School or Less | 34.4 | 18.8 | 43.1 | 52.0 | 47.2 | 67.6 | ||||||
| Some College, Associate’s Degree, or Technical School | 28.7 | 25.6 | 30.4 | 27.8 | 31.1 | 16.9 | ||||||
| Bachelor’s or Graduate Degree | 36.9 | 55.6 | 26.5 | 20.3 | 21.7 | 15.5 | ||||||
| Income (Annual) | NA | 7.35 | <0.001 | NA | 1.79 | 0.07 | ||||||
| <$25,000 | 27.1 | 15.6 | 33.6 | 42.1 | 38.7 | 53.7 | ||||||
| $25,000–50,000 | 28.4 | 25.5 | 30.0 | 26.3 | 28.3 | 19.4 | ||||||
| >$50,000 | 44.5 | 58.9 | 36.3 | 31.6 | 33.0 | 26.9 | ||||||
| Depressive Symptoms‡ | 14.0 | 11.5 | 15.4 | 1 | 2.89 | 0.09 | 17.3 | 15.7 | 22.5 | 1 | 1.76 | 0.19 |
| Chronic Burden of Stress‡ | 3 | 12.76 | 0.005 | NA | −3.04 | 0.002 | ||||||
| Level 0 | 48.8 | 41.6 | 52.8 | 56.0 | 60.8 | 40.0 | ||||||
| Level 1 | 30.1 | 33.7 | 28.0 | 26.8 | 24.6 | 34.3 | ||||||
| Level 2 | 13.9 | 17.3 | 12.0 | 11.3 | 9.9 | 15.7 | ||||||
| Level 3–4 | 7.3 | 7.4 | 7.2 | 6.0 | 4.7 | 10.0 | ||||||
| Cynical Distrust‡ | 21.5 | 11.5 | 27.4 | 1 | 31.67 | <0.001 | 31.1 | 30.7 | 32.8 | 1 | 0.10 | 0.75 |
| Number of Children in Household | NA | −1.88 | 0.06 | NA | 1.55 | 0.12 | ||||||
| None | 77.3 | 80.4 | 75.6 | 72.4 | 69.7 | 81.2 | ||||||
| 1 | 12.2 | 11.4 | 12.7 | 12.8 | 14.5 | 7.2 | ||||||
| ≥2 | 10.5 | 8.2 | 11.7 | 14.8 | 15.8 | 11.6 | ||||||
| Current smokers | 15.5 | 12.6 | 17.0 | 1 | 3.34 | 0.07 | 16.67 | 15.3 | 21.1 | 1 | 1.32 | 0.25 |
| Current drinkers | 58.5 | 70.9 | 51.6 | 1 | 35.11 | <0.001 | 46.41 | 48.1 | 40.8 | 1 | 1.15 | 0.28 |
| Height (cm) | 167 ± 9.9 | 169 ± 10.0 | 165 ± 9.6 | 997 | 5.29 | <0.001 | 165 ± 9.5 | 165 ± 9.7 | 164 ± 9.0 | 305 | 0.96 | 0.34 |
| BMI||, kg/m2 | 28 ± 5.6 | 28 ± 5.2 | 29 ± 5.8 | 997 | −2.30 | 0.02 | 29 ± 5.7 | 29 ± 5.5 | 29 ± 6.1 | 305 | −0.64 | 0.52 |
| Diabetes | 2 | 12.66 | 0.002 | 2 | 4.06 | 0.13 | ||||||
| Negative | 65.5 | 72.4 | 61.7 | 58.0 | 60.2 | 50.7 | ||||||
| Impaired Fasting Glucose | 21.9 | 18.9 | 23.6 | 24.8 | 22.0 | 33.8 | ||||||
| Positive | 12.5 | 8.7 | 14.6 | 17.3 | 17.8 | 15.5 | ||||||
| Ongoing Health Problems (self-rated) | 14.7 | 12.9 | 15.8 | 1 | 1.46 | 0.23 | 16.4 | 16.7 | 15.5 | 1 | 0.05 | 0.82 |
Note: Values in table are mean ± SD for continuous characteristics and percents for categorical characteristics. NA=Not applicable.
T-tests were used to compare continuous characteristics by pathogen burden and immune response categories, chi-squared tests for categorical characteristics, and trend tests for ordinal characteristics. The chronic stress variable was assessed using a chi-square test rather than a trend test for pathogen burden since the relationship did not follow a linear trend.
Cumulative immune response was measured among subjects seropositive for all four pathogens. A high cumulative immune response was defined as having above median antibody response to at least 3 of the 4 pathogens versus having high immune response to only 0 or 2 out of the four pathogens.
Depressive symptoms were defined as CES-D ≥ 16 versus < 16, chronic stress is presented categorically with level 0 representing no chronic stress, and high cynical distrust was defined as a score of ≥ 5 versus < 5 based on the median value in the study population.
Within the 0–2 category for number of pathogens: 14 participants were missing values on number of children in household, 2 on alcohol use, and 1 diabetes. Within the 3–4 category for number of pathogens: 19 were missing data on number of children in household, 3 on alcohol use, 2 on smoking, diabetes status, and ongoing health problems. Within the low cumulative immune response category: 8 participants were missing values on number of children in household, 1 on smoking status and alcohol use. Within the high cumulative immune response category: 2 were missing data on number of children in household and 2 for ongoing health problems.
BMI=Body Mass Index
NA: A trend test for ordinal characteristics doesn’t have degree of freedom.