Skip to main content
. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2014 Sep 1.
Published in final edited form as: Cancer Prev Res (Phila). 2013 Jul 19;6(9):875–885. doi: 10.1158/1940-6207.CAPR-13-0169

Table 1.

Baseline Characteristics of Study Participants in the Nurses’ Health Study (1990) and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (1994)

Baseline characteristics Women
Men
Cases (n = 346) Controls (n = 686) P value Cases (n = 270) Controls (n = 519) P value
Mean age at blood draw (SD), year 59.0 (6.7) 59.0 (6.7) 0.57 65.8(8.3) 65.7(8.3) 0.28
Colorectal cancer in a parent or sibling, % 13.9 12.0 0.43 19.6 13.9 0.03
History of previous endoscopy, % 12.1 15.2 0.20 56. 7 67.1 0.004
History of polyp, % 7.51 4.96 0.11 14.1 14.8 0.75
Postmenopausal, % 85.8 86.9 0.51 - - -
 Current use of hormones, %a 38.1 46.3 0.03 - - -
Current multivitamin use, % 34.8 38.9 0.22 47.4 52.0 0.26
Regular aspirin use (≥2 tablets/week), %b 38.4 46.1 0.02 41.9 48.6 0.05
Regular NSAID use (≥2 tablets/week), % 17.2 18.3 0.73 11.5 12.1 0.87
Current smoker, % 14.5 12.3 0.31 5.00 4.87 0.95
Mean body mass index (SD), kg/m2 26.0 (4.93) 25.5 (4.72) 0.13 26.2 (3.05) 25.4 (2.71) <0.001
Mean waist circumference (SD), inch 31.9 (4.71) 31.3 (4.35) 0.05 38.6 (3.51) 37.5 (3.32) <0.001
Mean waist-to-hip ratio (SD) 0.79 (0.09) 0.78 (0.08) 0.24 0.96 (0.05) 0.94 (0.05) <0.001
Mean physical activity (SD), MET-hours/week 16.6 (19.0) 16.9 (21.3) 0.78 31.9 (27.0) 31.0 (25.1) 0.65
Mean daily intakes (SD)
 Alcohol, g 5.67 (9.63) 5.48 (9.44) 0.75 12.3 (14.9) 12.0 (14.8) 0.71
 Folate, μg 416 (204) 453 (239) 0.01 494 (210) 521 (228) 0.09
 Calcium, mg 995 (553) 1075 (565) 0.04 920 (387) 926 (342) 0.67
 Total fiber, g 18.6 (5.80) 18.9 (5.72) 0.37 22.0 (6.33) 22.6 (6.47) 0.18
 Red meat as main dish, servings 0.30 (0.18) 0.29 (0.17) 0.48 0.27 (0.22) 0.26 (0.18) 0.52
Mean DASH score (SD) 23.7 (4.14) 24.4 (4.37) 0.02 24.2 (4.62) 24.7 (4.55) 0.10
Median adiponectin (IQR), μg/mL 8.04 (5.31–11.08) 8.19 (5.85–10.64) 0.18 4.99 (3.30–6.89) 5.32 (3.71–7.70) 0.001
Median sOB-R (IQR), ng/mLc 32.6 (26.8–39.0) 32.0 (27.2–39.7) 0.82 25.1 (20.8–29.3) 26.3 (21.9–31.5) 0.001
Median CRP (IQR), mg/Lc 1.52 (0.65–3.28) 1.67 (0.71–3.61) 0.004 1.34 (0.67–2.62) 1.13 (0.60–2.21) 0.96
Median IL-6 (IQR), pg/mLc 1.16 (0.81–1.90) 1.15 (0.78–1.79) 0.27 1.60 (0.99–2.65) 1.40 (0.94–2.26) 0.54
Median sTNFR-2 (IQR), ng/mLc 2.65 (2.24–3.14) 2.58 (2.17–3.08) 0.80 2.73 (2.34–3.22) 2.73 (2.35–3.32) 0.18
Median C-Peptide (IQR), ng/mlc 1.93 (1.34–2.84) 1.82 (1.27–2.77) 0.98 2.32 (1.60–3.49) 2.09 (1.40–3.25) 0.36
Median 25(OH)D (IQR), ng/mLc 24.0 (17.5–30.0) 26.1 (19.6–32.1) <0.001 27.5 (22.4–33.4) 28.8 (23.1–34.2) 0.09
Median IGF-1/IGFBP-3 ratio (IQR)c 0.15 (0.11–0.18) 0.14 (0.11–0.18) 0.08 0.13 (0.07–0.16) 0.12 (0.07–1.16) 0.19

Abbreviations: 25(OH)D, 25-hydroxyvitamin D; CRP, C-reactive protein; DASH, Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension; NSAID, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug; IGF-1, insulin-like growth factor-1; IGFBP-3, insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3; IL-6, interleukin-6; IQR, inter-quartile range; MET, metabolic equivalent; SD, standard deviation; sOB-R, soluble leptin receptor; sTNFR-2, soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor 2.

a

Percentage is among postmenopausal women.

b

A standard tablet contains 325-mg aspirin.

c

In the Nurses’ Health Study, 340 cases and 371 controls were available for sOB-R analysis, and some paricipants had missing values on the measurements of other biomarkers (3 women for IL-6, 3 women for sTNFR-2, 15 women for C-peptide, 22 women for 25(OH)D, and 21 women for IGF-1/IGFBP-3 ratio). In the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, there were 1, 3 and 1 men without measurements of CRP, C-peptide, and IGF-1/IGFBP-3 ratio, respectively.