Table 2.
Baseline Characteristics of the Study Sample by Gender and Marital Status, Dallas, Texas, 1987–2005a
| Men (N = 6,900) |
Pairwise Comparisonsb |
||||||||||||||
| Single (n = 363) |
Married (n = 6,129) |
Divorced (n = 381) |
Widowed (n = 27) |
P Valuec | S–M | S–D | S–W | M–D | M–W | D–W | |||||
| Age, years | 37.1 (0.4) | 46.0 (0.1) | 46.1 (0.4) | 56.3 (1.6) | <0.001 | < | < | < | NS | < | < | ||||
| Height, cm | 177.9 (0.4) | 179.6 (0.1) | 179.0 (0.3) | 178.4 (1.3) | <0.001 | < | NS | NS | NS | NS | NS | ||||
| Weight, kg | 81.9 (0.7) | 86.6 (0.2) | 85.4 (0.7) | 85.2 (2.5) | <0.001 | < | < | NS | NS | NS | NS | ||||
| Body mass index, kg/m2 | 25.8 (0.2) | 26.8 (0.0) | 26.6 (0.2) | 26.7 (0.7) | <0.001 | < | < | NS | NS | NS | NS | ||||
 O2max, mL/kg/minute |
43.5 (0.4) | 42.0 (0.1) | 42.3 (0.4) | 42.1 (1.4) | 0.003 | > | NS | NS | NS | NS | NS | ||||
| Physical inactivityde | 74 | 20.4 | 1,396 | 22.8 | 68 | 17.8 | 6 | 22.2 | 0.12 | ||||||
| Current smokere | 64 | 17.6 | 808 | 13.2 | 52 | 13.6 | 3 | 11.1 | 0.11 | ||||||
| Alcoholic consumptionde | 176 | 48.5 | 2,745 | 44.8 | 197 | 51.7 | 14 | 51.9 | 0.03 | NS | NS | NS | < | NS | NS |
| Chronic disease/conditionde | 147 | 40.5 | 2,756 | 45.0 | 174 | 45.7 | 9 | 33.3 | 0.23 | ||||||
| Women (N = 1,971) | Pairwise Comparisonsb | ||||||||||||||
| Single (n = 139) | Married (n = 1,660) | Divorced (n = 126) | Widowed (n = 46) | P Valuec | S–M | S–D | S–W | M–D | M–W | D–W | |||||
| Age, years | 36.2 (0.8) | 46.1 (0.2) | 45.5 (0.8) | 59.6 (1.3) | <0.001 | < | < | < | NS | < | < | ||||
| Height, cm | 165.0 (0.6) | 164.6 (0.2) | 164.3 (0.6) | 164.5 (1.0) | 0.86 | ||||||||||
| Weight, kg | 65.4 (0.9) | 62.9 (0.3) | 62.7 (0.9) | 62.3 (1.6) | 0.07 | ||||||||||
| Body mass index, kg/m2 | 24.1 (0.4) | 23.2 (0.1) | 23.3 (0.4) | 23.0 (0.6) | 0.15 | ||||||||||
|
O2max, mL/kg/minute |
34.2 (0.6) | 35.4 (0.2) | 35.2 (0.6) | 35.2 (1.0) | 0.22 | ||||||||||
| Physical inactivityde | 32 | 23.0 | 338 | 20.4 | 22 | 17.5 | 6 | 13.0 | 0.43 | ||||||
| Current smokere | 21 | 15.1 | 81 | 4.9 | 14 | 11.1 | 1 | 2.2 | <0.001 | > | NS | > | < | NS | NS |
| Alcoholic consumptionde | 50 | 36.0 | 528 | 31.8 | 48 | 38.1 | 13 | 28.3 | 0.35 | ||||||
| Chronic disease/conditionde | 53 | 38.1 | 770 | 46.4 | 64 | 50.8 | 24 | 52.2 | 0.15 | ||||||
Abbreviations: ANCOVA, analysis of covariance; D, divorced; M, married; NS, nonsignificant differences; S, single; W, widowed.
Data are means (standard errors) unless otherwise indicated.
We performed pairwise comparisons (with Bonferroni adjustment) in those cases where significant differences were found. The symbol, <, in the column S–M, for instance, indicates that the mean value for “single” is significantly (P < 0.05) lower than that for “married”; the symbol, >, indicates the opposite.
ANCOVA or chi-squared test as appropriate; for continuous variables (ANCOVA), the means and P values are adjusted for age (except when age is the dependent variable) and examination year.
Physical inactivity was defined as no activity in the 3 months before the examination; alcoholic consumption was considered if 5 or more drinks/week. Chronic disease/condition index was defined as the presence of ≥1 of the following diseases/pathologic conditions: cardiovascular disease, cancer, hypertension, diabetes, respiratory symptoms, or abnormal electrocardiogram at rest or exercise.
Data are number and percent.