Table 1. Characteristics of the participants in the POLA Study.
| Characteristics of the Participants in the POLA Study | N = 1224 Included | N = 969 Not included* | P value |
| Age, y, median (in terquartile range) | 69.3 [64.4–72.9] | 71.7 [66.2–75.9] | 0.001 |
| Male (% ) | 41.3 | 41.9 | 0.63 |
| Diabetes (% ) | 11.3 | 9.1 | 0.10 |
| Hypertension (% ) | 60.0 | 62.0 | 0.24 |
| Smoking | |||
| Never (% ) | 60.3 | 60.2% | 0.33 |
| Current (% ) | 9.7 | 11.2% | |
| Past (% ) | 30.0 | 28.7% | |
| Body mass index, kg/m2, mean (SD) | 26.5 (4.1) | 26.1 (4.1) | 0.08 |
| Fasting blood glucose (mmol/l), mean (SD) | 5.75 (1.36) | 5.75 (1.45) | 0.21 |
| Total cholesterol (mmol/l), mean (SD) | 5.80 (1.12) | 5.74 (1.03) | 0.39 |
| HDL cholesterol (mmol/l), mean (SD) | 1.40 (0.38) | 1.38 (0.37) | 0.21 |
| Triglycerides (mmol/l), mean (SD) | 1.26 (0.74) | 1.28 (1.04) | 0.89 |
| eGFR (ml/min/1.73m2), mean (SD) | 72.8 (18.0) | 75.3 (39.2) | 0.15 |
| HsCRP (mg/l), mean (SD) | 3.62 (0.33) | 3.64 (0.41) | 0.93 |
| Orosomucoid (g/l), mean (SD) | 0.82 (0.21) | 0.81 (0.22) | 0.16 |
| SOD- 2, mean (SD) | 1.21 (0.31) | 1.24 (0.32) | 0.18 |
| GPx-3Activity, mean (SD) | 678.9 (233.1) | 665.1 (213.0) | 0.19 |
| Central retinal arteriolar caliber (micron), mean (SD) | 141.0 (16.7) | – | – |
| Central retinal venular caliber (micron), mean (SD) | 202.8 (21.1) | – | – |
SD: standard deviation; HDL: high-density-lipoprotein; eGFR: estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate from MDRD (Modification of the Diet in Renal Disease) formula; HsCRP: high-sensitivity C-reactive protein.
*
120 individuals were excluded due to missing data (10 for interview data, 110 for biochemical data). For 81 persons, photographs were not performed and for 307 the photographs were not available because of technical failure or opacities. For 461 participants, photographs were of insufficient quality for retinal vascular caliber measurement with semi-automated standardized software (rejection mainly due to default of centering on the optic disc).