Table 1.

Age-standardized characteristics by tetracycline use as a surrogate for severe acne among participants in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (HPFS), 1992

	Tetracycline use of at least two months duration
	None (n=33,437)	<4 years duration (n=966)	≥4 years duration (n=173)
Mean age (years)	59.4	56.7	57.4
Race/ethnicity (%):
Southern European	23.5	20.7	21.6
Scandinavian	10.4	11.9	9.7
Other white	57.6	60.5	59.7
African American	0.8	0.2	0.0
Asian	1.6	0.9	1.8
Other	6.1	5.8	7.2
Family history of prostate cancer (%)*	13.5	14.0	9.7
Mean height in 1986 (inches)	70.2	70.3	70.2
Smoked cigarettes in the past 10 years (%)	20.0	24.8	22.0
Mean intakes of:
Total energy (kcal/day)†	1926	1998	1987
Alcohol (g/day)†	10.3	10.9	16.1
Tomato sauce (servings/day) ‡	0.22	0.22	0.25
Red meat (servings/day) ‡	1.04	1.14	1.13
Fish (servings/day) ‡	0.34	0.33	0.34
Skim milk (servings/day) ‡	0.78	0.81	0.67
Whole milk (servings/day) ‡	0.12	0.13	0.07
Calcium (mg/day)†	870	908	807
Fructose (g/day)†,§	49.8	48.4	47.3
Alpha-linolenic acid (g/day)†,§	1.04	1.06	0.98
Vitamin E intake (≥15 mg/day mostly from supplements, %)†	39.7	39.1	44.5
Zinc supplementation (≥101 mg/day, %)†	0.4	0.6	0.6
Regular (≥2 times/week) use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (%)	40.5	44.8	49.4
Any vigorous leisure-time physical activity (%)	60.6	58.0	63.1
Screening prostate specific antigen test (%)||	88.2	89.1	89.8
Screening digital rectal examination (%)||	85.7	85.9	88.2
Vasectomy (%)	25.0	25.2	27.0
Diabetes mellitus type 2 (%)	4.7	3.8	5.9
Vertex baldness (%)	30.6	27.1	19.8
History of periodontal disease with bone loss (%)	18.9	19.8	16.0
History of prostatitis (%):
No	83.4	74.7	74.0
Young-onset prostatitis**	2.0	2.8	4.3
Other prostatitis	13.6	20.9	17.8
Mean body mass index at age 21 (kg/m2)††	23.0	22.8	22.5
Body habitus, ages 20 to 21‡‡,§§:
Lean|| ||	70.8	73.0	74.7
Muscular***	17.9	17.5	16.3
Fat†††	2.6	1.7	1.6
Smoked cigarettes before age 30 (%)††	46.9	51.5	49.0
Consumed alcohol, ages 18 to 22 (%)‡‡	65.2	64.1	69.4
Mean intakes in high school of‡‡:
Skim milk (servings/day)	0.15	0.19	0.18
Whole milk (servings/day)	1.99	2.05	2.03
Hard cheese (servings/day)	0.32	0.33	0.31
Butter (servings/day)	1.28	1.31	1.19
Milk shakes (servings/day)	0.17	0.17	0.16
Ice cream (servings/day)	0.33	0.33	0.34
Cookies (servings/day)	0.94	0.96	0.84
Fried potatoes (servings/day)	0.28	0.30	0.27
Any vigorous physical activity (%) in:
High school	88.4	87.6	86.1
College	80.0	79.4	76.2
Residence in a Southern state or territory at age (%):
15	22.2	24.9	26.4
25	25.9	28.9	30.8
Average time spent outdoors as a teenager in a swimsuit during the summer (%):
Less than once/week	23.2	24.0	17.8
Once or twice/week	31.6	31.0	25.2
More than twice/week	43.5	43.3	49.4
Number of times had a blistering sunburn on the face (%):
0	40.0	35.4	37.7
1–5	32.1	33.5	22.4
≥6	16.9	19.8	28.6
Mean ejaculation frequency, ages 20 to 29 (times/month)	14.0	14.2	14.5
History of gonorrhea (%)	2.7	2.5	1.5
History of syphilis (%)	0.2	0.4	0.5

^*Assessed in 1990 through 1996.

^†Assessed in 1990.

^‡Cumulative mean intake between 1986 and 1990.

^§Adjusted for total energy intake.

^||Assessed through 2002.

^**Defined as prostatitis of less than one years duration and treated before the age of 30.

^††Assessed in 1986.

^‡‡Assessed in 1988.

^§§Percentages do not sum to 100 due to missing responses.

^||||Defined by a body mass index <24.4 (75^th percentile) at age 21.

^***Defined by a body mass index ≥24.4 at age 21 and the lowest five of nine possible body pictograms at age 20.

^†††Defined by the highest four of nine possible body pictograms at age 20.