Table 1.
Weighted sample characteristics by gender and sexual orientation, National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (N=12,451), a % (SE) unless otherwise noted
| Men (n=6438) | Women (n=6013) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gay or Bisexual (n=213) | Heterosexual (n=6225) | p-valuea | Lesbian or Bisexual (n=307) | Heterosexual (n=5706) | p-valuea | |
| 2.92% | 97.08% | 5.11% | 94.89% | |||
|
|
|
|||||
| Biomarker Outcomes | ||||||
| SBP (mean, mm/Hg) | 131.01 (1.28) | 129.74 (0.26) | 0.31 | 121.94 (0.91) | 120.20 (0.27) | 0.07 |
| DBP (mean, mm/Hg) | 84.06 (1.22) | 81.62 (0.20) | 0.048 | 77.73 (0.75) | 77.27 (0.21) | 0.55 |
| Pulse rate (mean, BPM) | 75.64 (1.65) | 72.48 (0.25) | 0.05 | 75.78 (0.96) | 75.47 (0.23) | 0.76 |
| CRP (mean, mg/L) | 2.16 (0.23) | 2.07 (0.05) | 0.69 | 2.28 (0.15) | 2.53 (0.05) | 0.13 |
| HbA1c (mean, %) | 5.54 (0.04) | 5.64 (0.02) | 0.02 | 5.60 (0.05) | 5.54 (0.02) | 0.32 |
| Age (years; M [SE]) | 29.04 (0.19) | 29.03 (0.12) | 0.94 | 28.52 (0.16) | 28.95 (0.12) | <.01 |
| Race | ||||||
| Black | 11.33 (3.36) | 14.56 (2.10) | 0.36 | 16.11 (2.86) | 16.45 (2.18) | 0.25 |
| Asian | 2.74 (1.46) | 3.12 (0.72) | 1.23 (0.82) | 3.03 (0.77) | ||
| Hispanic | 16.90 (4.22) | 11.04 (1.66) | 10.57 (2.55) | 11.00 (1.90) | ||
| Multiracial, Native American, other | 6.10 (2.00) | 5.54 (0.53) | 5.32 (1.47) | 5.30 (0.51) | ||
| White | 62.93 (5.31) | 65.74 (2.96) | 66.77 (4.19) | 64.22 (3.18) | ||
| Education | ||||||
| <High School | 6.65 (2.29) | 10.44 (0.95) | 0.02 | 14.89 (2.91) | 6.85 (0.70) | 0.001 |
| High school degree | 11.11 (3.28) | 21.61 (1.19) | 18.00 (2.96) | 14.31 (0.96) | ||
| Some college/technical degree | 41.95 (5.70) | 41.96 (1.18) | 46.66 (3.90) | 44.16 (1.11) | ||
| Bachelor’s degree | 29.72 (5.62) | 20.27 (1.31) | 17.11 (2.91) | 25.51 (1.34) | ||
| Graduate degree | 10.56 (2.70) | 5.72 (0.57) | 3.34 (1.35) | 9.18 (0.75) | ||
| Household Income ($ | ||||||
| Missing | 6.79 (2.42) | 7.05 (0.68) | 0.89 | 10.23 (2.80) | 6.97 (0.75) | 0.001 |
| 0–24,999 | 14.50 (2.67) | 13.79 (0.88) | 30.22 (3.56) | 17.83 (1.10) | ||
| 25,000–39,999 | 18.06 (3.22) | 14.72 (0.80) | 16.25 (3.10) | 15.04 (0.65) | ||
| 40,000–74,999 | 29.53 (4.65) | 34.31 (1.05) | 27.55 (3.31) | 33.71 (1.03) | ||
| 75,000–99,999 | 14.27 (4.10) | 15.23 (0.74) | 7.34 (1.74) | 13.02 (0.66) | ||
| ≥100,000 | 16.86 (3.52) | 14.90 (0.85) | 8.41 (2.30) | 13.43 (0.76) | ||
| Smoking Status | ||||||
| Current (smoked 30 days in past month) | 29.10 (4.25) | 27.23 (1.10) | 0.92 | 31.20 (3.82) | 20.83 (1.12) | <.0001 |
| Past/Intermittent | 23.57 (4.11) | 23.70 (0.76) | 32.45 (3.74) | 19.76 (0.87) | ||
| Never | 47.33 (5.22) | 49.07 (1.25) | 36.35 (3.77) | 59.41 (1.45) | ||
| Alcohol Consumptionb | ||||||
| Light to moderate drinker | 77.29 (4.00) | 73.00 (1.61) | 0.54 | 70.43 (3.51) | 67.33 (1.15) | 0.047 |
| Heavy drinker | 3.68 (1.93) | 4.07 (0.32) | 5.30 (2.24) | 1.23 (0.27) | ||
| Abstainer | 19.03 (3.51) | 22.93 (1.17) | 24.27 (3.31) | 31.44 (1.15) | ||
| Regular physical activityc | 66.82 (4.62) | 57.44 (1.06) | 0.06 | 51.33 (4.15) | 49.64 (1.12) | 0.68 |
| BMI (M [SE]) | 27.83 (0.64) | 29.06 (0.14) | 0.06 | 30.94 (0.89) | 29.09 (0.21) | 0.03 |
| Illness, past 2 weeksd | 37.30 (5.26) | 29.57 (0.80) | 0.14 | 40.84 (3.74) | 35.30 (0.91) | 0.16 |
| Aspirin and other anti- inflammatory medication | 25.79 (4.10) | 25.29 (0.86) | 0.90 | 39.30 (3.28) | 31.90 (0.94) | 0.04 |
| Antidiabetic medication | 0.67 (0.48) | 0.88 (0.18) | 0.69 | 1.83 (1.47) | 1.57 (0.25) | 0.86 |
| Cardiac medication e | 5.84 (2.23) | 3.73 (0.34) | 0.34 | 2.06 (1.06) | 3.31 (0.30) | 0.26 |
Table presents weighted M and % and SE, taking into account the complex sample design. P-values are derived from chi-square tests for categoric variables, and an ANOVA test for age (i.e., the only continuous variable). Demographic characteristics are presented for respondents with at least one valid outcome; sample sizes are slightly different across the outcomes: SBP and DBP n=12,295; pulse rate n= 12,224; CRP n=9900; HbA1c n=11,420.
Reflects consumption in the past 12 months; light to moderate alcohol consumptions includes individuals who drink up to 5 times per week; heavy drinkers refers to individuals who drink every day or almost every day.
Regular physical activity was defined as ≥5 bouts of moderate or vigorous physical activity during the past 7 days.
Illnesses in the past 2 weeks is an indicator variable to reflect self-reported cold or flu symptoms, fever, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, night sweats, blood in stool or urine, frequent urination, or skin rash in the past 2 weeks.
Cardiac medication included all classes of prescription medication that might lower blood pressure (reference=no). WC=waist circumference; SBP=systolic blood pressure; DBP=diastolic blood pressure; CRP=C-reactive protein; BPM=beats per minute; HbA1c=hemoglobin A1c.