Table 1. Baseline characteristics of water-pipe smokers and non-smokers.
| Water-pipe smokers | Non smokers | P-value | |
| (n = 325) | (n = 1,707) | ||
| n (%) * | n (%) * | ||
| Age at screening (years) | |||
| 30–39 | 64 (19.7) | 419 (24.6) | 0.05 |
| 40–49 | 77 (23.7) | 464 (27.2) | |
| 50–59 | 80 (24.6) | 359 (21.0) | |
| 60–75 | 104 (32.0) | 465 (27.2) | |
| Sex | |||
| male | 175 (53.8) | 864 (50.6) | 0.29 |
| female | 150 (46.2) | 843 (49.4) | |
| Social class | |||
| Professional | 71 (21.9) | 252 (14.8) | <0.01 |
| Non-manual workers | 137 (42.1) | 659 (38.6) | |
| Manual workers | 117 (36.0) | 796 (46.6) | |
| Waist circumference (cm), mean(s.d.) | 84.7 (12.6) | 80.6 (11.8) | <0.01 |
| HDL level, mean (s.d.) | 1.3 (0.41) | 1.3 (0.40) | 0.24 |
| Serum triglyceride level, mean (s.d.) | 1.6 (1.0) | 1.4 (0.90) | <0.01 |
| Blood pressure mmHg, mean (s.d.) | |||
| Systolic | 129.9 (21.9) | 124.4 (19.7) | <0.01 |
| Diastolic | 74.3 (9.9) | 71.9 (9.6) | <0.01 |
| Fasting glucose level mmols/l, mean (s.d.) | 5.2 (1.7) | 4.9 (1.18) | <0.01 |
Table presents numbers and percentage until stated otherwise.