Table 1.
Characteristics of the 2428 middle-aged men according to tertiles of hopelessness.
| Low | Middle | High | P value* | |
| N | 757 | 803 | 868 | |
| Age (years) | 51.8 (5.6) | 53.0 (5.0) | 54.0 (4.5) | < 0.001 |
| Body mass index (kg/m2) | 26.6 (3.3) | 26.8 (3.5) | 27.1 (3.8) | 0.011 |
| Waist to hip ratio | 0.94 (0.06) | 0.95 (0.06) | 0.96 (0.06) | < 0.001 |
| Waist girth (cm) | 89.7 (9.3) | 90.7 (9.7) | 92.8 (10.4) | < 0.001 |
| Systolic blood pressure (mmHg) | 132.7 (16.7) | 134.2 (16.7) | 135.2 (17.5) | 0.014 |
| Diastolic blood pressure (mmHg) | 88.3 (10.1) | 88.7 (10.7) | 89.2 (10.6) | 0.201 |
| Fasting blood glucose (mmol/l) | 4.7 (0.8) | 4.8 (1.2) | 4.9 (1.4) | 0.004 |
| HDL cholesterol (mmol/l) | 1.30 (0.29) | 1.29 (0.30) | 1.29 (0.31) | 0.864 |
| Serum triglyserides (mmol/l) | 1.28 (0.77, 1.52) | 1.29 (0.81, 1.61) | 1.36 (0.83, 1.60) | 0.090 |
| Fasting serum insulin (mU/l) | 11.1 (7.3, 13.1) | 11.7 (7.4, 13.7) | 12.0 (7.5, 14,0) | 0.048 |
| C-reactive protein (mg/l) | 2.10 (0.64, 2.11) | 2.28 (0.71, 2.35) | 2.87 (0.78, 2.88) | 0.001 |
| Fibrinogen (g/l) | 2.95 (0.54) | 3.03 (0.57) | 3.10 (0.59) | < 0.001 |
| Total LTPA (MET hours/year) | 1799 (793, 2313) | 1724 (759, 2179) | 1611 (607, 2074) | 0.041 |
| Total LTPA (minutes/week) | 466 (223, 602) | 455 (202, 591) | 449 (171, 601) | 0.704 |
| LTPA < 4.5 METs (minutes/week) | 274 (82, 364) | 287 (80, 362) | 284 (73, 385) | 0.728 |
| LTPA ≥ 4.5 METs (minutes/week) | 192 (48, 250) | 168 (43, 229) | 165 (21, 217) | 0.030 |
| LTPA ≥ 7.5 METs (minutes/week) | 56 (3, 74) | 49 (0, 57) | 33 (0, 35) | < 0.001 |
| VO2max (ml × kg-1 × min-1) | 32.1 (8.0) | 30.4 (7.7) | 28.5 (7.9) | < 0.001 |
| Alcohol consumption (g/week) | 76 (7, 91) | 67 (6, 83) | 83 (5, 103) | 0.096 |
| Smoker (%) | 26.2 | 21.2 | 36.6 | < 0.001 |
| Adult socioeconomic status | 7.2(4.4) | 9.3 (4.4) | 11.2 (4.0) | < 0.001 |
| Metabolic syndrome (NCEP†) (%) | 8.8 | 13.4 | 17.6 | < 0.001 |
| Cardiovascular disease (%) | 14.4 | 17.6 | 26.4 | < 0.001 |
| Diabetes (%) | 5.0 | 7.3 | 6.9 | 0.140 |
| Elevated depressive symptoms (points on the HPL scale) |
1.1 (0, 2.0) | 1.7 (0, 2.0) | 2.8 (1.0, 4.0) | < 0.001 |
Data are displayed as means ± SD, medians (interquartile ranges), or percentages.
*ANOVA for continuous variables; chi-square for categorical variables. †NCEP, National Cholesterol Education Program.