Table 1.

Baseline characteristics of the participants, grouped by sex, menstrual states and MS states

	Males (n = 2814)		Females (n = 4675)
			Premenopausal (n = 983)		Postmenopausal (n = 3692)
MS	Y (n = 973)	N (n = 1841)	Y (n = 237)	N (n = 746)	Y (n = 1763)	N (n = 1929)
Age (yrs)	59.4 ± 9.2	58.9 ± 9.1	47.7 ± 4.0***	46.0 ± 3.8	61.2 ± 7.5***	57.7 ± 7.6
Ht (cm)	169.1 ± 5.9***	167.4 ± 6.2	159.1 ± 5.3	158.5 ± 5.2	156.5 ± 5.6	156.6 ± 5.4
Wt (kg)	77.4 ± 8.2***	65.8 ± 8.4	67.3 ± 8.8***	57.6 ± 7.2	64.3 ± 8.4***	56.2 ± 7.5
BMI (kg/m2)	27.1 ± 2.4***	23.5 ± 2.5	26.6 ± 3.0***	22.9 ± 2.6	26.3 ± 3.0***	22.9 ± 2.8
WC (cm)	95.8 ± 5.3***	84.0 ± 6.9	87.7 ± 6.6***	76.8 ± 7.1	89.2 ± 7.2***	78.4 ± 8.1
HDL-C (mmol/L)	1.08 ± 0.25***	1.25 ± 0.31	1.16 ± 0.24***	1.39 ± 0.32	1.24 ± 0.28***	1.44 ± 0.37
LDL-C (mmol/L)	2.71 ± 0.76	2.72 ± 0.74	2.66 ± 0.71	2.62 ± 0.72	2.92 ± 0.82	2.93 ± 0.79
TG (mmol/L)	2.13 ± 1.50***	1.41 ± 0.99	2.09 ± 1.41***	1.09 ± 0.64	2.01 ± 1.28***	1.27 ± 0.76
TC (mmol/L)	4.66 ± 1.01	4.62 ± 0.94	4.66 ± 0.94	4.60 ± 0.92	5.07 ± 1.08	5.10 ± 1.02
FPG (mmol/L)	6.77 ± 1.84***	6.16 ± 1.73	6.30 ± 1.99***	5.39 ± 1.02	6.58 ± 1.80***	5.63 ± 1.14
SBP (mmHg)	138.04 ± 16.01***	129.23 ± 16.45	131.17 ± 18.96***	117.53 ± 13.21	137.96 ± 16.42***	124.12 ± 16.13
DBP (mmHg)	83.61 ± 10.09***	78.80 ± 10.35	82.31 ± 10.82***	73.88 ± 9.54	79.46 ± 9.75***	74.39 ± 9.64
Regular exercise (%)	41.7	45.3	40.9	40.2	41.9	39.6
Current smoking (%)	23.3	22.3	7.2	7.5	7.1	6.6
Current alcohol intake (%)	15.3	13.8	3.0	4.7	4.5	3.7

Continuous data are expressed as means ± SD, category data as indicated. MS metabolic syndrome; Ht height; Wt weight; BMI body max index; WC waist circumference; HDL-C high density lipoprotein cholesterol; LDL-C low density lipoprotein cholesterol; TG triglyceride; TC total cholesterol; FPG fasting plasma glucose; SBP systolic blood pressure; DBP diastolic blood pressure.

***p < 0.001 compared with subjects without MS.