Table 1. Frequencies, percentages and prevalence ratios (with 95% confidence intervals, CI) of the participants belonging to the shortest decile of standardized relative mean leukocyte telomere length (LTL) at follow-up in relation to the categories of biological, socioeconomic, behavioural and medical covariates and exposure to unemployment days in the preceding three years.
| MEN | WOMEN | |||||||||
| Entity | Exposure | Category | Short LTL | Prevalence ratio and 95% CI | Short LTL | Prevalence ratio and 95% CI | ||||
| n | n | % | n | n | % | |||||
| a. Early biology | Paternal age at birth | 21–40 y (ref) | 2241 | 217 | 9.7 | 1.00 | 2396 | 248 | 10.4 | 1.00 |
| <21 y | 72 | 11 | 15.3 | 1.58 (0.90 to 2.76) | 81 | 16 | 19.8 | 1.91 (1.21 to 3.01) | ||
| >40 y | 323 | 35 | 10.8 | 1.12 (0.80 to 1.57) | 334 | 23 | 6.9 | 0.67 (0.44 to 1.00) | ||
| Birth weight | 2500–4000 g(ref) | 2142 | 226 | 10.6 | 1.00 | 2511 | 256 | 10.2 | 1.00 | |
| <2500 g | 76 | 6 | 7.9 | 0.75 (0.34 to 1.63) | 92 | 15 | 16.3 | 1.60 (0.99 to 2.58) | ||
| >4000 g | 495 | 40 | 8.1 | 0.77 (0.56 to 1.06) | 304 | 25 | 8.2 | 0.81 (0.54 to 1.20) | ||
| b. Social functioning | Education | Tertiary (>12 y, ref) | 692 | 67 | 9.7 | 1.00 | 778 | 86 | 11.1 | 1.00 |
| Secondary (10–12 y) | 1687 | 167 | 9.9 | 1.02 (0.78 to 1.34) | 1913 | 190 | 9.9 | 0.90 (0.71 to 1.14) | ||
| Basic (>10 y) | 334 | 38 | 11.4 | 1.18 (0.81 to 1.71) | 216 | 20 | 9.3 | 0.84 (0.53 to 1.33) | ||
| SES | Upper white collar (ref) | 526 | 52 | 9.9 | 1.00 | 511 | 59 | 11.5 | 1.00 | |
| Lower white collar | 526 | 51 | 9.7 | 0.98 (0.68 to 1.42) | 1429 | 154 | 10.8 | 0.93 (0.70 to 1.24) | ||
| Blue collar | 1225 | 137 | 11.2 | 1.13 (0.84 to 1.53) | 568 | 46 | 8.1 | 0.70 (0.49 to 1.01) | ||
| Farmer | 133 | 6 | 4.5 | 0.46 (0.20 to 1.04) | 82 | 4 | 4.9 | 0.42 (0.16 to 1.13) | ||
| Other | 232 | 22 | 9.5 | 0.96 (0.60 to 1.54) | 246 | 28 | 11.4 | 0.99 (0.65 to 1.51) | ||
| Marital status | Married/cohabiting (ref) | 1839 | 178 | 9.7 | 1.00 | 2210 | 217 | 9.8 | 1.00 | |
| Other | 842 | 90 | 10.7 | 1.10 (0.87 to 1.40) | 674 | 76 | 11.3 | 1.15 (0.90 to 1.47) | ||
| Family status | Child(ren) (ref) | 1415 | 127 | 9.0 | 1.00 | 2009 | 203 | 10.1 | 1.00 | |
| No child | 1235 | 139 | 11.3 | 1.25 (1.00 to 1.58) | 865 | 88 | 10.2 | 1.01 (0.79 to 1.28) | ||
| c. Behavioural health risks | BMI | 25–30 (ref) | 1096 | 113 | 10.3 | 1.00 | 660 | 76 | 11.5 | 1.00 |
| <25 | 1370 | 132 | 9.6 | 0.93 (0.74 to 1.19) | 1952 | 189 | 9.7 | 0.84 (0.65 to 1.08) | ||
| >30 | 227 | 25 | 11.0 | 1.07 (0.71 to 1.61) | 273 | 29 | 10.6 | 0.92 (0.62 to 1.38) | ||
| Alcohol consumption | no (ref) | 285 | 21 | 7.4 | 1.00 | 595 | 72 | 12.1 | 1.00 | |
| 1–40(m)1–20(w) g/day | 2179 | 227 | 10.4 | 1.41 (0.92 to 2.17) | 2094 | 202 | 9.6 | 0.80 (0.62 to 1.03) | ||
| >40(m)>20(w) g/day | 159 | 13 | 8.2 | 1.11 (0.57 to 2.16) | 129 | 14 | 10.9 | 0.90 (0.52 to 1.54) | ||
| Smoking | no (ref) | 1361 | 125 | 9.2 | 1.00 | 1785 | 181 | 10.1 | 1.00 | |
| 1–10 cigarettes | 485 | 47 | 9.7 | 1.06 (0.77 to 1.45) | 727 | 78 | 10.7 | 1.06 (0.82 to 1.36) | ||
| >10 cigarettes | 797 | 93 | 11.7 | 1.27 (0.99 to 1.64) | 347 | 33 | 9.5 | 0.94 (0.66 to 1.33) | ||
| Leisure-time physical activity | very active (ref) | 814 | 85 | 10.4 | 1.00 | 1186 | 119 | 10.0 | 1.00 | |
| active | 875 | 79 | 9.0 | 0.86 (0.65 to 1.16) | 920 | 97 | 10.5 | 1.05 (0.82 to 1.35) | ||
| moderately active | 362 | 34 | 9.4 | 0.90 (0.62 to 1.31) | 397 | 42 | 10.6 | 1.05 (0.76 to 1.47) | ||
| inactive | 627 | 72 | 11.5 | 1.10 (0.82 to 1.48) | 381 | 35 | 9.2 | 0.92 (0.64 to 1.31) | ||
| d. Medical conditions | Somatic | No(ref) | 2339 | 231 | 9.9 | 1.00 | 2450 | 246 | 10.0 | 1.00 |
| Yes | 374 | 41 | 11 | 1.11 (0.81 to 1.52) | 457 | 50 | 10.9 | 1.09 (0.82 to 1.45) | ||
| Psychiatric | No(ref) | 2617 | 264 | 10.1 | 1.00 | 2756 | 278 | 10.1 | 1.00 | |
| Yes | 96 | 8 | 8.3 | 0.83 (0.42 to 1.62) | 151 | 18 | 11.9 | 1.18 (0.76 to 1.85) | ||
| e. Unemployment | Days (5 per week) in previous three years | 0 (ref) | 2276 | 223 | 9.8 | 1.00 | 2510 | 251 | 10.0 | 1.00 |
| 1–260 | 277 | 28 | 10.1 | 1.03 (0.71 to 1.50) | 295 | 31 | 10.5 | 1.05 (0.74 to 1.50) | ||
| 261–500 | 90 | 10 | 11.1 | 1.13 (0.62 to 2.06) | 59 | 8 | 13.6 | 1.36 (0.70 to 2.61) | ||
| >500 | 48 | 10 | 20.8 | 2.13 (1.21 to 3.74) | 23 | 2 | 8.7 | 0.87 (0.23 to 3.29) | ||
| f. Total | 2713 | 272 | 10.0 | 2907 | 296 | 10.2 | ||||