Table 1.

Characteristics of women at blood draw in 1990 ^a, by quartile of telomere length (n=2,092)

	Quartile 1	Quartile 2	Quartile 3	Quartile 4
Mean age, in years	65.0	64.5	64.6	64.5
Education, %
RN	76	76	73	73
BA	16	16	21	21
Graduate degree	8	8	6	6
Alcohol intake (g/day), % b
None	38	42	41	39
1–14	52	47	48	50
≥15	10	11	11	11
Smoking status, %
None	45	42	51	49
Past	41	44	37	42
Current	14	14	12	9
Antidepressant use, %	5	7	3	4
Median physical activity, MET-hrs	10.2	10.6	11.5	10.9
Body mass index (kg/m2), % b
<22	23	21	23	22
22–24	30	33	30	34
25–29	33	32	34	31
≥30	14	14	13	13
Vitamin E supplement use, % b	19	19	19	21
Multivitamin use, % b	39	45	41	43
History of high blood pressure, %	41	35	37	38
History of high cholesterol, %	44	48	53	50
History of diabetes, %	4	6	6	5
History of myocardial infarction, %	4	3	2	1
Mean scores at initial cognitive assessment
Global score	−0.07	−0.03	0.03	0.01
Verbal score	−0.06	−0.02	0.00	0.00
TICS	33.9	34.0	33.9	34.0

^aExcept that physical activity was reported in 1988 and antidepressant use was reported for the first time in 1996.

^bThese percentages are of non-missing values.