Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of EPIC-Oxford participants for men and women by diet group. Figures are numbers (percentage) of participants unless stated otherwise
| Men | Women | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Non-vegetarian (n=7400) | Vegetarian (n=3940) | Non-vegetarian (n=24 174) | Vegetarian (n=11 519) | ||
| Age at recruitment (years): | |||||
| 20-29 | 456 (6.2) | 614 (15.6) | 2467 (10.2) | 3218 (27.9) | |
| 30-39 | 1167 (15.8) | 1324 (33.6) | 4727 (19.6) | 3673 (31.9) | |
| 40-49 | 1900 (25.7) | 1029 (26.1) | 6557 (27.1) | 2480 (21.5) | |
| 50-59 | 1730 (23.4) | 488 (12.4) | 5945 (24.6) | 1237 (10.7) | |
| 60-69 | 1504 (20.3) | 243 (6.2) | 3279 (13.6) | 528 (4.6) | |
| 70-79 | 541 (7.3) | 167 (4.2) | 1038 (4.3) | 267 (2.3) | |
| 80-89 | 102 (1.4) | 75 (1.9) | 161 (0.7) | 116 (1.0) | |
| Median age (years) | 50 | 40 | 47 | 36 | |
| Smoking status: | |||||
| Never | 3662 (49.5) | 2327 (59.1) | 14752 (61.0) | 7503 (65.1) | |
| Former | 2660 (35.9) | 1169 (29.7) | 6704 (27.7) | 2887 (25.1) | |
| Light smoker (<15 cigarettes/day) | 700 (9.5) | 293 (7.4) | 1554 (6.4) | 784 (6.8) | |
| Heavy smoker (≥15 cigarettes/day) | 378 (5.1) | 151 (3.8) | 1164 (4.8) | 345 (3.0) | |
| Alcohol consumption (g/d): | |||||
| <1 | 730 (9.9) | 753 (19.1) | 4086 (16.9) | 2494 (21.7) | |
| 1-7 | 2275 (30.7) | 1228 (31.2) | 11160 (46.2) | 5021 (43.6) | |
| 8-15 | 1926 (26.0) | 914 (23.2) | 5836 (24.1) | 2629 (22.8) | |
| ≥16 | 2469 (33.4) | 1045 (26.5) | 3092 (12.8) | 1375 (11.9) | |
| Median alcohol consumption (g/day) | 10.5 | 7.7 | 5.3 | 4.9 | |
| Body mass index (BMI): | |||||
| <20 | 321 (4.5) | 416 (11.0) | 2628 (11.2) | 2199 (19.9) | |
| 20.0-22.4 | 1545 (21.6) | 1234 (32.7) | 7221 (30.8) | 4152 (37.5) | |
| 22.5-24.9 | 2430 (34.0) | 1201 (31.8) | 6411 (27.4) | 2693 (24.3) | |
| 25.0-27.4 | 1695 (23.7) | 601 (15.9) | 3652 (15.6) | 1119 (10.1) | |
| ≥27.5 | 1163 (16.3) | 324 (8.6) | 3528 (15.1) | 901 (8.1) | |
| Median BMI | 24.3 | 22.9 | 23.1 | 22.0 | |
| Physical activity: | |||||
| Inactive | 1725 (25.6) | 726 (20.0) | 5071 (25.4) | 2161 (21.1) | |
| Active | 5026 (74.4) | 2899 (80.0) | 14923 (74.6) | 8079 (78.9) | |
| Education: | |||||
| Some secondary school | 2304 (33.8) | 1019 (27.3) | 9637 (43.5) | 3547 (32.4) | |
| Higher secondary school | 1487 (21.8) | 864 (23.1) | 5400 (24.4) | 2933 (26.8) | |
| University degree or equivalent | 3021 (44.3) | 1854 (49.6) | 7128 (32.2) | 4461 (40.8) | |
| Townsend deprivation index: | |||||
| <−3.3 (richest) | 1821 (27.9) | 712 (20.6) | 5342 (25.9) | 2183 (21.7) | |
| −3.3-<−1.8 | 1707 (26.2) | 774 (22.4) | 5378 (26.0) | 2367 (23.5) | |
| −1.8-<0.3 | 1572 (24.1) | 869 (25.2) | 5105 (24.7) | 2493 (24.8) | |
| ≥0.3 (poorest) | 1426 (21.9) | 1100 (31.8) | 4839 (23.4) | 3008 (29.9) | |
| Self reported diabetes | 189 (2.7) | 49 (1.3) | 322 (1.5) | 60 (0.5) | |
| Self reported hypertension* | 1017 (14.2) | 265 (6.9) | 2892 (13.4) | 716 (6.5) | |
| Self reported hyperlipidaemia* | 772 (10.9) | 119 (3.2) | 1403 (6.6) | 245 (2.3) | |
| Long term medical treatment* | 2057 (28.2) | 702 (17.9) | 6024 (27.3) | 2181 (19.2) | |
| Use of oral contraceptives* | — | — | 17 451 (72.9) | 8971 (78.3) | |
| Use of HRT* | — | — | 5316 (22.3) | 868 (7.7) | |
HRT=hormone replacement therapy.
*Unknown for some men and women, respectively: self reported diabetes, n=447 and 3563; self reported hypertension, n=358 and 3058; self reported hyperlipidaemia, n=466 and 3510; receiving long term medical treatment, n=126 and 2221; use of oral contraceptives, n=302 (women only); use of HRT, n=494 (women only).