Table 1. Characteristics at baseline according to YKL-40 quartiles in MONICA-10.
| 1st quartile | 2nd quartile | 3rd quartile | 4th quartile | p-value | |
| YKL-40 range | ≤40 | >40, ≤57 | >57, ≤85 | >85 | |
| N | 677 | 672 | 633 | 660 | <0.0001 |
| Male | 302 (44.6) | 327 (48.7) | 316 (49.9) | 378 (57.3) | <0.0001 |
| 41–43 years | 266 (39.3) | 224 (33.3) | 142 (22.4) | 91 (13.8) | |
| 51–53 years | 226 (33.4) | 201 (29.9) | 169 (26.7) | 143 (21.7) | |
| 61–63 years | 134 (19.8) | 165 (24.6) | 166 (26.2) | 211 (32.0) | |
| 71–73 years | 51 (7.5) | 82 (12.2) | 156 (24.6) | 215 (32.6) | <0.0001 |
| BMI, kg/m2* | 25.2 (3.7) | 25.8 (3.9) | 26.2 (4.3) | 26.7 (4.6) | <0.0001 |
| WHR* | 0.86 (0.09) | 0.87 (0.08) | 0.89 (0.08) | 0.91 (0.09) | <0.0001 |
| Systolic BP, mmHg* | 125 (17) | 126 (18) | 131 (20) | 136 (19) | <0.0001 |
| Diastolic BP, mmHg* | 80 (10) | 81 (10) | 83 (11) | 84 (11) | <0.0001 |
| Hypertension | 220 (32.5) | 225 (33.5) | 275 (43.4) | 352 (53.3) | <0.0001 |
| BP lowering medicine | 64 (9.5) | 52 (7.7) | 101 (16.0) | 124 (18.8) | <0.0001 |
| Cholesterol, mmol/l* | 6.0 (1.0) | 6.1 (1.1) | 6.2 (1.1) | 6.4 (1.1) | <0.0001 |
| LDL, mmol/l* | 3.9 (1.0) | 4.0 (1.0) | 4.1 (1.0) | 4.1 (1.0) | 0.006 |
| HDL, mmol/l* | 1.5 (0.4) | 1.4 (0.4) | 1.4 (0.4) | 1.5 (0.5) | 0.063 |
| Triglycerides, mmol/l** | 1.0 (0.8–1.4) | 1.1 (0.8–1.6) | 1.3 (0.9–1.8) | 1.5 (1.0–2.2) | <0.0001 |
| Low HDL | 59 (8.7) | 82 (12.2) | 81 (12.8) | 92 (13.9) | 0.021 |
| Hypercholesterolemia | 311 (45.9) | 340 (50.6) | 345 (54.6) | 413 (62.6) | <0.0001 |
| hsCRP, mg/l** | 1.2 (0.6–2.5) | 1.4 (0.7–3.1) | 2.2 (1.0–4.4) | 2.8 (1.4–5.9) | <0.0001 |
Values are presented as *mean (SD), **median (IQR) or N (% within quartile) where not specified.
Abbreviations: BMI, body mass index; WHR, waist-hip-ratio; BP, blood pressure; LDL, low density lipoprotein; HDL, high density lipoprotein; hsCRP, high sensity C-reactive protein; SD, standard deviation; IQR, inter quartile range.