Table 2.
Adjusted Means and Proportions of Potential Confounders and Mediators Across Categories of Alcohol Consumption
| Variable | Alcohol Consumption | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| never | former | <1 | 1–2 | >2 | P | |
| drink/day | drinks/day | drinks/day | ||||
| Education: <high school (%) | 18.1 | 15.9 | 9.6 | 6.4 | 9.5 | <0.001 |
| Income: <$25,000 (%) | 35.7 | 36.5 | 22.1 | 16.6 | 19.2 | <0.001 |
| Body mass index (kg/m2) | 28.6+/−0.15 | 28.8+/−0.13 | 28.1+/−0.10 | 27.4+/−0.22 | 28.1+/−0.26 | <0.001 |
| Family history of MI (%) | 44.4 | 41.4 | 41.3 | 42.5 | 43.3 | 0.47 |
| Diabetes (%) | 14.6 | 14.4 | 8.8 | 7.3 | 6.7 | <0.001 |
| HDL (mg/dl) | 48.0+/−0.4 | 48.7+/−0.3 | 51.6+/−0.3 | 55.6+/−0.6 | 59.6+/−0.7 | <0.001 |
| LDL (mg/dl) | 118.0+/−1.0 | 116.1+/−0.8 | 117.5+/−0.6 | 118.0+/−1.4 | 116.1+/−1.4 | 0.47 |
| Lipid lowering medications | 15.2 | 14.8 | 15.9 | 13.2 | 15.2 | 0.55 |
| Hypertension (%) | 48.2 | 45.2 | 40.9 | 40.8 | 53.4 | <0.001 |
| Systolic bp (mmHg) | 128.0+/−0.6 | 126.7+/−0.5 | 125.5+/−0.4 | 127.2+/−0.9 | 128.8+/−1.0 | <0.001 |
| Diastolic bp (mmHg) | 72.1+/−0.3 | 71.3+/−0.2 | 71.6+/−0.2 | 72.8+/−0.4 | 73.8+/−0.5 | <0.001 |
| CRP (mg/l) | 3.6+/−0.2 | 4.1+/−0.2 | 3.7+/−0.1 | 3.3+/−0.2 | 3.5+/−0.2 | 0.020 |
| IL-6 (pg/l) | 1.52+/−0.03 | 1.70+/−0.03 | 1.53+/−0.02 | 1.39+/−0.05 | 1.47+/−0.05 | <0.001 |
| Fibrinogen (mg/dl) | 355+/−2.1 | 355+/−1.8 | 344+/−1.4 | 330+/−3.1 | 330+/−3.6 | <0.001 |
Numbers in cells are adjusted means+/− standard error of the mean, or adjusted percentages. Adjustment is for average age, gender, race and smoking status based on the whole MESA cohort. Alcohol consumption category determined based on applying cut points to the food frequency questionnaire data.