Table 1. Sociodemographic and metabolic characteristics of study participants.
| All N= 919 | Males N= 483 | Females N= 436 | P-value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Socio-demographic and life-style variables | ||||
| Age at assessment (years) | 67.9 ± 4.2 | 68.0 ± 4.1 | 67.7 ± 4.3 | 0.433 |
| Marital Status | <0.001 | |||
| Married | 649 (70.8) | 394 (81.9) | 255 (58.5) | |
| Living with long-term partner | 49 (5.3) | 24 (5.0) | 25 (5.7) | |
| Single | 131 (14.3) | 26 (5.4) | 105 (24.1) | |
| Widowed | 88 (9.6) | 37 (7.7) | 51 (11.7) | |
| Education (highest level attained) | 0.077 | |||
| University/College | 148 (16.1) | 87 (18.0) | 61 (14.0) | |
| Other professional qualification | 265 (28.8) | 143 (29.6) | 122 (28.0) | |
| Secondary School | 500 (54.4) | 248 (51.3) | 252 (57.8) | |
| Primary School | 6 (0.7) | 5 (1.0) | 1 (0.2) | |
| Employment status | <0.001 | |||
| Worker | 134 (14.6) | 94 (19.5) | 40 (9.2) | |
| Retired | 740 (80.5) | 367 (76.0) | 373 (85.6) | |
| Other: housewife, unemployed | 45 (4.9) | 22 (4.6) | 23 (5.3) | |
| Ethnic group | 0.091 | |||
| Caucasian | 876 (95.3) | 455 (94.2) | 421 (96.6) | |
| Other | 43 (4.7) | 28 (5.8) | 15 (3.4) | |
| Current smoking | 120 (13.1) | 73 (15.1) | 47 (10.8) | |
| Alcohol consumption (frequency) | <0.001 | |||
| Never | 187 (20.5) | 59 (12.3) | 128 (29.6) | |
| 1-4 times/month | 402 (44.0) | 185 (38.5) | 217 (50.1) | |
| 2-5 times/week | 229 (25.1) | 162 (33.7) | 67 (15.5) | |
| 6 or more times/week | 96 (10.5) | 75 (15.1) | 21 (4.8) | |
| Depressive symptoms | ||||
| HADS- Depression score | 3.8 ± 2.8 | 3.5 ± 2.7 | 4.0 ± 3.0 | 0.015 |
| Depression (HADS-D≥8) | 100 (10.9) | 45 (9.3) | 55 (12.6) | 0.111 |
| Obesity measures | ||||
| Weight (kg) | 86.2 ± 15.9 | 90.0 ± 15.2 | 82.1 ± 15.7 | <0.001 |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 31.3 ± 5.6 | 30.2 ± 4.8 | 32.4 ± 6.2 | <0.001 |
| Waist (cm) | 106.4 ± 12.6 | 107.7 ± 11.9 | 105.0 ± 13.2 | 0.001 |
| Plasma measurements | ||||
| Glucose (mmol/l) | 7.6 ± 2.1 | 7.6 ± 2.1 | 7.5 ± 2.1 | 0.275 |
| HbAlc (%) | 7.4 ± 1.1 | 7.4 ± 1.1 | 7.4 ± 1.0 | 0.591 |
| Total Cholesterol (mmol/L) | 4.3 ± 0.9 | 4.1 ± 0.8 | 4.5 ± 0.9 | <0.001 |
| HDL-Cholesterol (mmol/L) | 1.3 ± 0.4 | 1.2 ± 0.3 | 1.4 ± 0.3 | <0.001 |
| Cortisol (nmol/L) | 731 ±190.4 | 731 ±181.8 | 732 ±199.9 | 0.917 |
| Diabetes and cardiovascular variables | ||||
| Duration of DM (years) | 9.1 ± 6.5 | 9.5 ± 6.8 | 8.7 ± 6.3 | 0.057 |
| Systolic blood pressure (mmHg) | 133.2 ± 16.3 | 133.4 ± 15.5 | 132.8 (17.2) | 0.917 |
| Diastolic blood pressure (mmHg) | 69.1 ± 9.1 | 70.6 ± 8.8 | 67.4 ± 9.2 | <0.001 |
| Ischaemic heart disease (angina or MI) | 278 (30.3) | 175 (36.2) | 103 (23.6) | <0.001 |
| Ankle Brachial Index | 0.98 ± 0.21 | 1.01 ± 0.24 | 0.96 ± 0.16 | <0.001 |
| Treatments | ||||
| Treatment of DM | 0.920 | |||
| Diet alone | 171 (18.6) | 88 (18.2) | 83 (19.0) | |
| Oral hypoglycaemic agents | 590 (64.2) | 313 (64.8) | 277 (63.5) | |
| Insulin ± Oral hypoglycaemic agents | 158 (17.2) | 82 (17.0) | 76 (17.4) | |
| Lipid-lowering drugs | 777 (84.5) | 402 (83.2) | 375 (86.0) | 0.244 |
| Anti-hypertensive treatment | 725 (78.9) | 380 (78.7) | 345 (79.1) | 0.866 |
| Antidepressant(s) | 108 (11.8) | 43 (8.9) | 65 (14.9) | 0.005 |
Values are mean ± SD or n(%)
HADS – Hospital anxiety and depression Scale; HADS-D ≥8 = score indicating high risk of depression