Table 1. Characteristics of participating communities.
| Level of variable | Variable | Iwaizumi | Tako | Yamato | Kuze | Takasu | Wara | Sakuma | Hokudan | Sakugi | Ohkawa | Ainoshima | Akaike | P valuea | ||||||||||||
| Individual | Subjects | 1088 | 2837 | 2381 | 446 | 1403 | 1352 | 297 | 1119 | 386 | 205 | 133 | 629 | |||||||||||||
| Male (%) | 383 | (35.2) | 1142 | (40.3) | 732 | (30.7) | 163 | (36.5) | 607 | (43.3) | 608 | (45.0) | 99 | (33.3) | 532 | (47.5) | 162 | (42.0) | 90 | (43.9) | 68 | (51.1) | 221 | (35.1) | <0.001 | |
| Age, y (SD) | 57.2 | (8.0) | 55.5 | (8.6) | 51.7 | (13.3) | 57.5 | (8.6) | 53.6 | (14.4) | 58.2 | (13.0) | 62.6 | (9.5) | 54.1 | (13.3) | 57.0 | (9.0) | 58.6 | (8.2) | 59.2 | (7.1) | 54.7 | (9.5) | <0.001 | |
| Length of follow-up, y (SD) | 10.7 | (0.1) | 11.4 | (0.0) | 10.3 | (0.0) | 11.3 | (0.1) | 11.8 | (0.1) | 10.9 | (0.1) | 10.0 | (0.2) | 10.7 | (0.1) | 10.7 | (0.1) | 9.4 | (0.1) | 11.1 | (0.2) | 10.9 | (0.1) | <0.001 | |
| Stroke (per 1000 person-years) | 56 | (4.8) | 70 | (2.2) | 65 | (2.6) | 22 | (4.4) | 74 | (4.5) | 92 | (6.2) | 17 | (5.7) | 15 | (1.3) | 6 | (1.5) | 9 | (4.7) | 6 | (4.1) | 18 | (2.6) | <0.001 | |
| Cerebral infarction | 30 | (2.6) | 48 | (1.5) | 36 | (1.5) | 15 | (3.0) | 54 | (3.3) | 58 | (3.9) | 14 | (4.7) | 9 | (0.8) | 3 | (0.7) | 6 | (3.1) | 5 | (3.4) | 12 | (1.7) | ||
| Cerebral hemorrhage | 20 | (1.7) | 15 | (0.5) | 17 | (0.7) | 6 | (1.2) | 10 | (0.6) | 20 | (1.4) | 1 | (0.3) | 4 | (0.3) | 1 | (0.2) | 3 | (1.6) | 1 | (0.7) | 4 | (0.6) | ||
| Subarachnoid hemorrhage | 6 | (0.5) | 7 | (0.2) | 12 | (0.5) | 1 | (0.2) | 10 | (0.6) | 14 | (0.9) | 1 | (0.3) | 2 | (0.2) | 2 | (0.5) | 0 | (0.0) | 0 | (0.0) | 2 | (0.3) | ||
| Unclassified | 0 | (0.0) | 0 | (0.0) | 0 | (0.0) | 0 | (0.0) | 0 | (0.0) | 0 | (0.0) | 1 | (0.3) | 0 | (0.0) | 0 | (0.0) | 0 | (0.0) | 0 | (0.0) | 0 | (0.0) | ||
| Current Smoker (%) | 185 | (17.0) | 549 | (19.4) | 556 | (23.4) | 111 | (24.9) | 316 | (22.5) | 283 | (20.9) | 59 | (19.9) | 301 | (26.9) | 72 | (18.7) | 33 | (16.1) | 36 | (27.1) | 134 | (21.3) | <0.001 | |
| Diabetes (%)b | 47 | (4.3) | 53 | (1.9) | 105 | (4.4) | 28 | (6.3) | 56 | (4.0) | 67 | (5.0) | 15 | (5.1) | 20 | (1.8) | 14 | (3.6) | 10 | (4.9) | 2 | (1.5) | 25 | (4.0) | <0.001 | |
| Obesity (%)c | 446 | (41.0) | 625 | (22.0) | 556 | (23.4) | 106 | (23.8) | 319 | (22.7) | 199 | (14.7) | 43 | (14.5) | 254 | (22.7) | 69 | (17.9) | 49 | (23.9) | 26 | (19.5) | 137 | (21.8) | <0.001 | |
| Systolic blood pressure, mm Hg (SD) | 135.4 | (22.3) | 130.4 | (17.2) | 120.8 | (19.0) | 130.4 | (20.0) | 133.1 | (22.5) | 127.9 | (21.3) | 130.2 | (22.3) | 132.4 | (21.7) | 134.9 | (21.3) | 128.9 | (24.6) | 135.1 | (23.1) | 132.0 | (21.8) | <0.001 | |
| Total cholesterol, mg/dL (SD) | 188.5 | (32.5) | 192.5 | (34.5) | 187.2 | (34.9) | 194.9 | (36.2) | 187.6 | (35.3) | 191.8 | (32.7) | 197.0 | (35.1) | 197.4 | (36.3) | 206.9 | (33.1) | 190.0 | (34.9) | 192.0 | (36.3) | 204.2 | (36.9) | <0.001 | |
| Community | Annual rainfall (mm) | 1104.1 | 1401.5 | 2317.3 | 2202.4 | 3314.4 | 2691.4 | 3165.9 | 1147.4 | 1505.6 | 3239.1 | 1580.5 | 1726.9 | |||||||||||||
| Temperature (°C)d | 10.2 | 15.0 | 11.7 | 14.7 | 12.8 | 12.7 | 11.5 | 16.2 | 13.4 | 12.0 | 15.9 | 16.0 | ||||||||||||||
| Temperature gradient (°C)e | 10.2 | 8.9 | 8.2 | 10.8 | 8.6 | 10.1 | 9.1 | 8.1 | 10.3 | 9.2 | 8.2 | 9.4 | ||||||||||||||
| Cold days (days)f | 129.7 | 52.8 | 99.3 | 85.5 | 103.7 | 101.3 | 74.2 | 26.5 | 80.3 | 88.2 | 26.7 | 33.2 | ||||||||||||||
| Annual sunlight duration (h) | 1505.2 | 1816.9 | 1217.0 | 1564.9 | 1030.2 | 1515.3 | 1282.0 | 1992.9 | 1557.0 | 1335.0 | 1733.5 | 1861.2 | ||||||||||||||
aANOVA was used to compare continuous variables among communities; categorical variables were compared using the chi-square test.
bThose with currently-treated diabetes, plasma glucose ≥126 mg/dL after overnight fasting, or casual blood glucose ≥200 mg/dL.
cThose with a body mass index ≥25 kg/m2.
dMean daily temperature per year.
eGradient between the mean highest daily temperature and the mean lowest daily temperature per year.
fNumber of days per year when the lowest temperature was lower than 0 °C.