Table 2.
Descriptive Characteristics Stratified by Age and Muscle Strength
| Variables | < 50 years (N=5685)
|
P value | ≥ 50 years (N=1541)
|
P value | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low Muscle Strength (N=1137) | Moderate-High Muscle Strength (N=4548) | Low Muscle Strength (N=308) | Moderate-High Muscle Strength (N=1233) | |||
| Age (years) | 40.8 ± 5.6 | 37.6 ± 6.4 | <0.01 | 57.3 ± 5.6 | 55.2 ± 5.3 | 0.25 |
| Anthropometric measures | ||||||
| Weight (kg) | 90.1 ± 15.4 | 81.2 ± 11.3 | <0.01 | 88.9 ± 13.9 | 81.4 ± 10.4 | <0.01 |
| Waist girth (cm) | 98.9 ± 11.8 | 90.5 ± 9.2 | <0.01 | 100.7 ± 10.8 | 93.5 ± 8.6 | <0.01 |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 27.4 ± 4.3 | 25.4 ± 3.1 | <0.01 | 27.5 ± 3.8 | 25.8 ± 2.8 | <0.01 |
| Smoking and alcohol | ||||||
| Never smoked n (%) | 868 (76.3) | 3615 (79.4) | 0.02 | 217 (70.4) | 924 (74.9) | 0.10 |
| Former smoker n (%) | 67 (5.8) | 220 (4.8) | 0.14 | 37 (12.0) | 107 (8.6) | 0.72 |
| Current smoker n (%) | 202 (17.7) | 713 (15.6) | 0.08 | 54 (17.5) | 202 (16.3) | 0.62 |
| Alcohol intake (drinks/week) | 11.1 ± 16.2 | 10.7 ± 14.8 | <0.01 | 13.1 ± 18.4 | 11.2 ± 15.8 | <0.01 |
| Metabolic profile | ||||||
| Triglycerides (mg/dl) | 143.7 ± 95.1 | 121.1 ± 86.7 | <0.01 | 149.3 ± 93.7 | 141.7 ± 98.9 | 0.24 |
| HDL-cholesterol (mg/dl) | 44.1 ± 11.5 | 46.0 ± 11.8 | 0.18 | 45.5 ± 12.9 | 46.3 ± 12.3 | 0.32 |
| Glucose (mg/dl) | 101.5 ± 16.2 | 98.4 ± 10.9 | <0.01 | 107.8 ± 31.0 | 103.0 ± 14.9 | <0.01 |
| Systolic BP (mmHg) | 119.3 ± 12.0 | 117.4 ± 11.5 | 0.05 | 124.9 ± 14.1 | 122.9 ± 15.0 | 0.16 |
| Diastolic BP (mmHg) | 80.4 ± 9.3 | 78.1 ± 8.8 | <0.01 | 83.6 ± 9.3 | 81.8 ± 9.0 | 0.48 |
| Metabolic Syndrome n (%) | 380 (33.4) | 795 (17.4) | 0.01 | 137 (44.4) | 351 (28.4) | <0.01 |
| Relative muscle strength | ||||||
| Composite Strength (kg/body weight) | 2.0 ± 0.1 | 2.7 ± 0.3 | <0.01 | 1.7 ± 0.1 | 2.3 ± 0.2 | <0.01 |
| Cardiorespiratory Fitness / Leisure time physical activity | ||||||
| Maximal Fitness (METs) | 11.3 ± 2.1 | 13.0 ± 2.4 | <0.01 | 9.7 ± 2.1 | 11.4 ± 2.2 | 0.18 |
| Treadmill time (min) | 17.4 ± 4.5 | 20.8 ± 4.6 | 0.58 | 13.9 ± 4.4 | 17.6 ± 4.6 | 0.58 |
| Inactive n (%) | 331 (29.1) | 913 (20.0) | <0.01 | 91 (29.5) | 246 (19.9) | <0.01 |
| Moderate n (%) | 606 (53.3) | 2502 (55.0) | 0.29 | 170 (55.1) | 695 (56.3) | 0.71 |
| Vigorous n (%) | 200 (17.5) | 1133 (24.9) | <0.01 | 47 (15.2) | 292 (23.6) | <0.01 |
Data are presented as mean ± standard deviation for continuous variables and n (%) for categorical variables. Low muscle strength was relative composite strength dichotomized as ≤ 20th percentile or ≥ 20th percentile according to the American College of Sports Medicine.