TABLE 3.
Baseline characteristics of the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) Observational Study cohort according to Dietary Modification Index (DMI) quintiles1
| Quintiles |
||||||
| 1: <14.0 (n = 16,246) | 2: 14.0–16.9 (n = 15,228) | 3: 17.0–20.9 (n = 21,983) | 4: 21.0–23.9 (n = 16,271) | 5: ≥ 24.0 (n = 20,279) | P for trend2 | |
| Median DMI score3 | 12.0 (10.0, 13.0) | 15.0 (14.0, 16.0) | 19.0 (18.0, 20.0) | 22.0 (21.0, 23.0) | 26.0 (25.0, 27.0) | |
| Age (y)4 | 63.0 (57.0, 69.0) | 64.0 (58.0, 70.0) | 64.0 (58.0, 70.0) | 64.0 (58.0, 69.0) | 63.0 (57.0, 69.0) | 0.042 |
| African American race [n (%)] | 1913 (11.8) | 1305 (8.6) | 1593 (7.2) | 987 (6.1) | 973 (4.8) | <0.001 |
| Diabetes [n (%)] | 982 (6.0) | 770 (5.1) | 841 (3.8) | 537 (3.3) | 503 (2.5) | <0.001 |
| Coronary artery disease [n (%)] | 556 (3.4) | 477 (3.1) | 721 (3.3) | 520 (3.2) | 736 (3.6) | 0.160 |
| BMI (kg/m2)4 | 28.0 (24.4, 32.6) | 27.0 (23.7, 31.1) | 26.1 (23.3, 29.9) | 25.6 (23.0, 29.1) | 24.8 (22.4, 28.0) | <0.001 |
| HDL cholesterol (mg/dL)5 | 58.0 (47.0, 72.0) | 61.0 (51.0, 76.0) | 60.0 (52.0, 77.0) | 62.0 (51.0, 71.5) | 62.0 (52.0, 73.0) | 0.116 |
| LDL cholesterol (mg/dL)5 | 124.0 (104.0, 148.0) | 123.0 (104.0, 147.0) | 123.0 (98.0, 147.0) | 122.0 (101.5, 148.0) | 124.0 (103.0, 146.0) | 0.515 |
| Triglycerides (mg/dL)5 | 135.0 (100.0, 108.0) | 130.0 (93.0, 186.0) | 133.0 (99.0, 187.0) | 124.5 (95.5, 177.0) | 120.0 (95.0, 158.0) | 0.013 |
| Systolic blood pressure (mm Hg)4 | 127.0 (116.0, 139.0) | 126.5 (115.0, 139.0) | 125.0 (114.0, 138.0) | 125.0 (113.0, 138.0) | 123.5 (112.0, 136.0) | <0.001 |
| Smoking status [n (%)]6 | <0.001 | |||||
| Never | 7824 (48.2) | 7692 (50.5) | 11105 (50.5) | 8243 (50.7) | 10155 (50.1) | |
| Past | 6160 (37.9) | 6166 (40.5) | 9432 (42.9) | 7180 (44.1) | 9314 (45.9) | |
| Current | 2029 (12.5) | 1144 (7.5) | 1143 (5.2) | 616 (3.8) | 530 (2.6) | |
| Physical activity (METs/wk)4 | 4.5 (0.0, 12.0) | 7.0 (1.8, 16.0) | 9.8 (3.5, 19.0) | 12.3 (5.0, 22.4) | 16.1 (7.5, 27.0) | <0.001 |
| Education [n (%)]7 | <0.001 | |||||
| ≤ High school diploma/GED | 5213 (32.1) | 3750 (24.6) | 4405 (20.0) | 2667 (16.4) | 2642 (13.0) | |
| Some school after high school | 6434 (39.6) | 5945 (39.0) | 8085 (36.8) | 5574 (34.3) | 6494 (32.0) | |
| College graduate | 4468 (27.5) | 5408 (35.5) | 9311 (42.4) | 7913 (48.6) | 10,977 (54.1) | |
| Energy intake (kcal/d)4 | 1560.7 (1145.6, 2052.6) | 1533.1 (1153.6, 2010.7) | 1459.4 (1117.9, 1875.8) | 1430.9 (1124.1, 1789.2) | 1464.5 (1188.7, 1778.3) | <0.001 |
| Fat intake (% of energy)4 | 40.8 (37.8, 44.3) | 35.3 (32.5, 38.4) | 30 (27.6, 32.8) | 26.0 (23.5, 28.3) | 20.6 (17.5, 23.7) | <0.001 |
| Saturated fat intake (% of energy) | 13.9 (12.6, 15.5) | 11.8 (10.7, 13.2) | 9.9 (8.9, 11.0) | 8.3 (7.4, 9.3) | 6.4 (5.3, 7.4) | <0.001 |
| Polyunsaturated fat intake (% of energy)4 | 7.8 (6.6, 9.2) | 7.0 (5.9, 8.4) | 6.2 (5.2, 7.3) | 5.5 (4.6, 6.5) | 4.7 (3.8, 5.6) | <0.001 |
| Monounsaturated fat intake (% of energy)4 | 15.6 (14.2, 17.1) | 13.4 (12.0.2, 14.8) | 11.3 (10.2, 12.6) | 9.6 (8.5, 10.7) | 7.5 (6.2, 8.8) | <0.001 |
| trans Fat intake (% of energy)4 | 2.9 (2.3, 3.7) | 2.4 (1.9, 3.1) | 1.9 (1.5, 2.4) | 1.5 (1.2, 1.9) | 1.1 (0.8, 1.4) | <0.001 |
| Cholesterol intake (% of energy)4 | 162.0 (133.1, 202.4) | 134.9 (111.7, 164.4) | 118.9 (97.9, 114.9) | 105.3 (85.4, 128.4) | 85.2 (66.5, 106.1) | <0.001 |
| Glycemic load, available carbohydrates4 | 78.8 (57.3, 106.4) | 87.1 (65.5, 115.4) | 89.9 (68.6, 116.7) | 93.7 (73.5, 118.1) | 104.0 (83.8, 127.9) | <0.001 |
| Glycemic index, available carbohydrates4 | 53.5 (51.0, 55.9) | 52.9 (50.5, 55.3) | 52.2 (49.9, 54.6) | 51.5 (49.2, 53.8) | 51.0 (48.8, 53.2) | <0.001 |
| Fruit and vegetable intake (servings/d)4 | 2.3 (1.7, 3.1) | 3.3 (2.4, 4.5) | 4.0 (2.9, 5.3) | 4.7 (3.6, 6.1) | 5.9 (4.7, 7.3) | <0.001 |
| Nuts and soy protein (servings/d)4 | 0.08 (0.03, 0.25) | 0.08 (0.03, 0.28) | 0.08 (0.03, 0.25) | 0.08 (0.02, 0.25) | 0.08 (0.02, 0.28) | <0.001 |
| White:red meat4 | 0.58 (0.37, 0.96) | 0.76 (0.48, 1.28) | 1.04 (0.63, 1.83) | 1.4 (0.8, 2.6) | 2.21 (1.18, 4.96) | <0.001 |
| Cereal fiber (g/d)4 | 11.0 (8.2, 14.7) | 13.5 (10.2, 17.9) | 15.1 (11.4, 19.6) | 17.0 (13.3, 21.2) | 20.5 (16.6, 25.1) | <0.001 |
| Whole grain (g/d)4 | 3.3 (2.3, 4.8) | 3.8 (2.7, 5.4) | 3.9 (2.8, 5.5) | 4.1 (2.9, 5.7) | 4.8 (3.5, 6.5) | <0.001 |
| Alcohol, current drinkers [n (%)] | 10,443 (64.3) | 10,423 (68.4) | 15,806 (71.9) | 11,810 (72.6) | 14,711 (72.5) | <0.001 |
| Alcohol (servings/d)4 | 0.12 (0.03, 0.51) | 0.15 (0.06, 0.65) | 0.20 (0.06, 0.75) | 0.20 (0.06, 0.75) | 0.20 (0.06, 0.75) | <0.001 |
| Multivitamin use for >5 y [n (%)] | 2860 (17.6) | 3096 (20.3) | 5085 (23.1) | 4178 (25.7) | 5604 (27.6) | <0.001 |
1
Quintile 1 represents the least healthy quintile, whereas quintile 5 represents the healthiest quintile. GED, General Education Development; METs, metabolic equivalents.
2
Values derived from a linear (continuous variables) or logistic (categorical variable) regression model with the variable of interest as a function of DMI quintiles.
3
Values are medians; interquartile ranges in parentheses.
4
Values are means; 95% CIs in parentheses.
5
Data available only from blood subsample (n = 1014).
6
Testing done on dichotomous variable of current smoking vs never/past smoking.
7
Testing done on dichotomous variable of college graduate vs nongraduate.