Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of the whole sample and by anemia status.
| Total sample | WHO Anemia | p-value* | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NO | YES | |||
| N=1846 | N=1643 (89%) | N=203 (11%) | ||
| Age | 73.7±4.4 | 73.6±4.4 | 74.8±4.8 | <0.001 |
| Men | 758 (41.1) | 662 (40.3) | 96 (47.3) | 0.056 |
| African-Americans | 288 (15.6) | 247 (15.0) | 41 (20.2) | 0.056 |
| Body Mass Index (kg/m2) | 26.6±4.2 | 26.7±4.2 | 25.6±4.1 | 0.001 |
| Diabetes | 158 (8.6) | 135 (8.2) | 23 (11.3) | 0.138 |
| Current/former smoker | 932 (51.6) | 829 (51.6) | 103 (51.8) | 0.963 |
| Systolic blood pressure (mm hg) | 134.3±20.0 | 134.4±20.1 | 133.1±19.0 | 0.353 |
| Diastolic blood pressure (mm hg) | 71.1±10.9 | 71.5±11.0 | 67.7±9.7 | <0.001 |
| High blood pressure | 687 (32.2) | 616 (37.5) | 71 (35.0) | 0.484 |
| Dizziness | 40 (2.2) | 37 (2.3) | 3 (1.5) | 0.478 |
| Left ventricular hypertrophy by ECG | 69 (3.8) | 63 (3.9) | 6 (3.0) | 0.525 |
| Ankle-arm blood pressure | 1.1±0.2 | 1.1±0.2 | 1.1±0.1 | 0.229 |
| LDL (mg/dl) | 127.4±31.9 | 127.9±32.0 | 123.7±35.1 | 0.083 |
| HDL (mg/dl) | 54.1±14.7 | 54.3±13.8 | 53.3±13.6 | 0.380 |
| Factor VII % | 110.9±25.0 | 111.0±24.0 | 109.7±24.0 | 0.480 |
| Prevalent cardiovascular diseases | 335 (18.1) | 297 (18.1) | 38 (18.7) | 0.620 |
| History of stroke | 52 (2.8) | 41 (2.5) | 11 (5.4) | 0.018 |
| History of TIA | 36 (2.0) | 29 (1.8) | 7 (3.4) | 0.102 |
| Cystatin C (mg/L) | 1.05±0.24 | 1.04±0.22 | 1.15±0.34 | <0.001 |
| Inflammation | 710 (38.5) | 607 (36.9) | 103 (50.7) | <0.001 |
| Any lipid lowering medication | 147 (8.0) | 134 (8.2) | 13 (6.4) | 0.382 |
| Aspirin use | 649 (35.2) | 586 (35.7) | 63 (31.0) | 0.188 |
| Antihypertensive medications | 825 (44.7) | 729 (44.4) | 96 (47.3) | 0.438 |
| WMH grade at the initial MRI scan | 1.8±1.4 | 1.8±1.4 | 1.9±1.5 | 0.339 |
| WMH grade >1 at the initial MRI scan | 930 (50.4) | 819 (49.8) | 111 (54.7) | 0.194 |
| Infarcts at the initial MRI scan | 496 (26.9) | 444 (27.0) | 52 (25.6) | 0.669 |
| Time between the MRI scans, years | 5.0±0.6 | 5.0±0.6 | 5.0±0.7 | 0.766 |
*
Non-anemic Vs anemic participants
WMH: white matter hyperintensities.
High blood pressure: blood pressure ≥ 140/90; prevalent cardiovascular diseases any myocardial infarction, angina, congestive hearth failure or claudication; inflammation: any 2 among an albumin concentration in the bottom tertile, or C-reactive protein, white blood cell count or fibrinogen in the top tertile.