Table 1.

Characteristics of Participants in Phase 1 (1985–1988) of the Whitehall II Study, by Sex, United Kingdom

	Men (n = 4,494)		Women (n = 1,990)		P Value
	No.	%	No.	%
Age, years
35–40	1,245	27.7	467	23.5	<0.001
41–45	1,260	28.0	494	24.8
46–50	905	20.1	446	22.4
51–55	1,084	24.1	583	29.3
Socioeconomic status
High	1,661	37.0	206	10.4	<0.001
Middle	2,367	52.7	843	42.4
Low	466	10.4	941	47.3
Ethnicity					<0.001
White	4,141	92.2	1,710	85.9
Other	349	7.8	280	14.1
Marital status					<0.001
Married/cohabiting	3,582	80.0	1,169	59.1
Other	895	20.0	808	40.9
Body mass indexa at age 25 years					<0.001
≤19.9	550	12.6	489	25.3
20–24.9	3,122	71.3	1,199	62.1
25–29.9	635	14.5	197	10.2
≥30	71	1.6	45	2.3
Quartile of hostility level					0.480
Highest	1,001	22.3	432	21.7
Middle highest	1,210	26.9	531	26.7
Middle lowest	1,143	25.4	508	25.5
Lowest	1,140	25.4	519	26.1

^aWeight (kg)/height (m)².