Table 1. Baseline characteristics of study population categorized by trajectory of leukocyte telomere length over five years.
| VARIABLE | Shortened N = 276 | Maintained N = 192 | Lengthened N = 140 | P |
| Age | 67±11 | 65±10 | 66±10 | 0.39 |
| Male (%) | 241(87) | 145(76) | 113(81) | 0.004 |
| Baseline Telomere Length (T/S) | 1.06±0.19 | 0.86±0.15 | 0.71±0.14 | <0.001 |
| Ethnicity (%) | 0.20 | |||
| - Hispanic | 20 (7) | 19 (10) | 19 (14) | |
| - Asian | 28 (10) | 26 (14) | 19 (14) | |
| - Black | 55 (20) | 26 (14) | 17 (12) | |
| - White | 167 (61) | 115 (60) | 80 (57) | |
| - Other | 6 (2) | 6 (3) | 5 (4) | |
| Education > High School (%) | 199(72) | 137(71) | 108(77) | 0.49 |
| Income ≥ $50000 (%) | 56(20) | 49(26) | 32(23) | 0.1 |
| Hypertension (%) | 200(73) | 130(68) | 95(68) | 0.45 |
| Prior MI (%) | 146(53) | 93(48) | 78(56) | 0.39 |
| Prior CHF (%) | 44(16) | 26(14) | 20(15) | 0.77 |
| Prior Stroke (%) | 30(11) | 23(12) | 22(16) | 0.35 |
| Type II Diabetes (%) | 62(22) | 49(26) | 35(24) | 0.71 |
| Prior Revascularization (%) | 175(63) | 121(64) | 70(50) | 0.02 |
| Current Smoking (%) | 50(18) | 26(14) | 25(18) | 0.38 |
| Past Smoking (%) | 144(52) | 95(50) | 68(49) | 0.74 |
| LVEF | 0.63±0.09 | 0.62±0.09 | 0.61±0.09 | 0.06 |
| BMI | 28±5.1 | 28±5.0 | 29±5.4 | 0.56 |
| Waist-to-hip ratio | 0.96±0.08 | 0.94±0.08 | 0.95±0.08 | 0.003 |
| Physically Active (%) | 190(69) | 131(69) | 90(64) | 0.59 |
| Exercise Capacity (Mets) | 8.1±3.2 | 8.1±3.1 | 7.5±3.4 | 0.19 |
| Statin use (%) | 187(68) | 140(73) | 96(69) | 0.47 |
| Beta-blocker use (%) | 161(58) | 113(59) | 77(55) | 0.75 |
| ACE/ARB use (%) | 140(51) | 100(52) | 69(49) | 0.88 |
| Aspirin use (%) | 227(82) | 147(77) | 101(72) | 0.05 |
| Vitamin use (%) | 73(27) | 31(16) | 24(17) | 0.01 |
| Log Fasting Glucose | 4.7±0.2 | 4.7±0.3 | 4.7±0.2 | 0.85 |
| Log HDL | 3.8±0.3 | 3.8±0.3 | 3.8±0.3 | 0.27 |
| Log LDL | 4.6±0.3 | 4.6±0.3 | 4.6±0.3 | 0.14 |
| Log CRP | 0.58±1.3 | 0.54±1.3 | 0.60±1.3 | 0.89 |
| Log Insulin | 5.6±0.7 | 5.7±0.6 | 5.7±0.5 | 0.30 |
| Log TNF-alpha | 1.2±0.8 | 1.2±1.0 | 1.1±0.9 | 0.71 |
| Log IL-6 | 0.9±0.7 | 0.8±0.7 | 0.9±0.7 | 0.61 |
| Log Adiponectin | 16.8±0.8 | 16.9±0.8 | 16.8±0.7 | 0.55 |
| Log Leptin | 8.9±1.1 | 9.0±1.0 | 9.1±1.1 | 0.18 |