Table 1. Characteristics of the participants according to age, sex, and flexibility.
| Young | Middle-aged | Older | ||||
| High | Poor | High | Poor | High | Poor | |
| Men | n = 105 | n = 105 | n = 91 | n = 92 | n = 71 | n = 72 |
| Age, y | 24±1 | 24±1 | 49±1* | 49±1* | 68±1* † | 68±1* † |
| Height, cm | 171.6±0.6 | 171.4±0.6 | 172.0±5.8 | 169.8±0.6‡ | 165.7±0.8* † | 164.8±0.9* † |
| Weight, kg | 67.2±1.0 | 65.6±1.0 | 72.8±1.1* | 70.4±1.0* | 65.1±1.0† | 64.2±1.0† |
| BMI, kg/m2 | 22.8±0.3 | 22.3±0.3 | 24.6±0.4* | 24.4±0.3* | 23.7±0.3* | 23.6±0.3* |
| HR, beats/min | 64±1 | 64±1 | 65±1 | 65±1 | 66±1* | 69±2* |
| SBP, mmHg | 126±1 | 125±1 | 134±2* | 130±2* | 137±2* † | 137±2* † |
| DBP, mmHg | 73±1 | 73±1 | 86±1* | 84±1* | 84±1* | 84±1* |
| MBP, mmHg | 91±1 | 91±1 | 102±1* | 99±1* | 102±1* | 102±1* |
| PP, mmHg | 53±1 | 52±1 | 47±1* | 46±1* | 53±2† | 53±2† |
| Current smoker, n/% | 4/3.8 | 13/12.3 | 13/14.2 | 7/7.6 | 4/5.6 | 5/6.9 |
| A-hypertensive, n/% | 0/0.0 | 0/0.0 | 7/7.7 | 6/6.5 | 15/21.1* | 25/34.7* † |
| A-hyperlipidemic, n/% | 0/0.0 | 0/0.0 | 1/1.1 | 4/4.3 | 3/4.2 | 5/6.9 |
| Handgrip, N/kg | 6.7±0.1 | 6.6±0.1 | 6.0±0.1* | 6.0±0.1* | 6.1±0.1* | 5.7±0.1* ‡ |
| n = 95 | n = 94 | n = 74 | n = 87 | n = 68 | n = 70 | |
| PA, MET·h/week | 46.5±3.8 | 37.3±3.4 | 28.6±3.2* | 27.4±3.1* | 37.8±4.0 | 33.1±3.8 |
| Women | n = 99 | n = 101 | n = 108 | n = 110 | n = 98 | n = 98 |
| Age, y | 24±1 | 25±1 | 50±1* | 50±1* | 69±1* † | 70±1* † |
| Postmenopausal, n/% | 0/0.0 | 0/0.0 | 55/50.9 | 57/51.8 | 98/100.0 | 98/100.0 |
| Height, cm | 159.9±0.5 | 158.1±0.5‡ | 158.3±0.5 | 158.0±0.5 | 152.4±0.5* † | 151.6±0.6* † |
| Weight, kg | 54.0±0.8 | 51.7±0.7 | 52.4±0.8 | 53.5±0.8 | 51.6±0.7 | 51.9±0.7 |
| BMI, kg/m2 | 21.1±0.3 | 20.7±0.2 | 20.9±0.3 | 21.4±0.3 | 22.2±0.3* † | 22.6±0.3* † |
| HR, beats/min | 65±1 | 68±1 | 65±1 | 66±1 | 69±1† | 71±1† |
| SBP, mmHg | 115±1 | 114±1 | 123±2* | 124±1* | 134±2* † | 135±2* † |
| DBP, mmHg | 69±1 | 69±1 | 79±1* | 78±1* | 80±1* | 81±1* |
| MBP, mmHg | 84±1 | 84±1 | 93±1* | 93±1* | 98±1* † | 99±1* † |
| PP, mmHg | 46±1 | 45±1 | 44±1 | 46±1 | 53±1* † | 54±1* † |
| Current smoker, n/% | 1/1.0 | 3/3.0 | 8/7.4 | 8/7.3 | 0/0.0 | 3/3.1 |
| A-hypertensive, n/% | 0/0.0 | 0/0.0 | 2/1.9 | 5/4.5 | 25/25.5* † | 26/26.5* † |
| A-hyperlipidemic, n/% | 0/0.0 | 0/0.0 | 0/0.0 | 6/5.5 | 13/13.3* † | 14/14.3* |
| Handgrip, N/kg | 5.1±0.1 | 5.1±0.1 | 5.3±0.1 | 5.2±0.1 | 4.8±0.1* † | 4.4±0.1* † ‡ |
| n = 89 | n = 88 | n = 98 | n = 102 | n = 93 | n = 94 | |
| PA, MET·h/week | 26.3±3.1 | 31.5±3.4 | 39.8±4.3 | 30.4±3.4 | 39.1±3.8 | 36.8±3.8 |
Data are means ± SE. BMI, body mass index; HR, Heart rate; SBP, Systolic blood pressure; DBP, diastolic pressure; MBP, mean blood pressure; PP, pulse pressure; A-hypertensive, Anti-hypertensive medication; A-hyperlipidemic, Anti-hyperlipidemic medication; Handgrip, Handgrip strength; PA, amount of physical activity.
*P<0.05 vs. young;
†
P<0.05 vs. middle-aged;
‡
P<0.05 vs. high-flexibility within the same age and sex category.
ANOVA showed a significant difference in height between groups of middle-aged men and young women with high- and poor-flexibility, but ANCOVA did not.