TABLE 1.

Descriptive characteristics for each of the included cohorts¹

	BWHHS (n = 4286)		MIDSPAN (n = 1477)		Ten Towns (n = 1531)		BRHS (n = 3945)		EPIC (n = 7563)
Variables	n	Values	n	Values	n	Values	n	Values	n	Values
Women, %	4286	100	1477	54.91	1531	44.74	3945	0	7563	50.64
Age, y	4284	68.88 ± 5.512	1477	45.39 ± 6.04	1531	15.06 ± 0.58	3945	68.74 ± 5.49	7563	59.50 ± 9.22
l-ascorbic acid, μmol/L	3606	43.25 ± 28.04	1364	49.20 ± 25.27	1531	50.36 ± 23.92	3811	30.21 ± 27.55	7106	52.70 ± 20.40
SBP, mm Hg	3964	147.13 ± 25.23	1464	127.53 ± 15.69	1527	120.82 ± 12.96	3942	142.78 ± 19.56	7552	136.08 ± 18.25
DBP, mm Hg	3964	79.39 ± 11.66	1464	74.75 ± 11.17	1527	66.91 ± 7.34	3942	81.42 ± 12.80	7552	83.00 ± 11.16
WHR	3946	0.82 ± 0.07	1462	0.84 ± 0.09	1528	0.76 ± 0.06	3918	0.95 ± 0.06	7556	0.86 ± 0.09
BMI, kg/m2	3957	27.62 ± 5.01	1467	26.19 ± 4.52	1525	20.93 ± 3.64	3926	26.88 ± 3.68	7563	26.48 ± 3.90
Cholesterol, mmol/L	3851	6.64 ± 1.21	1452	5.29 ± 0.97	1523	4.22 ± 0.72	3927	6.31 ± 1.03	7329	6.18 ± 1.18
Glucose, mmol/L	3829	6.06 ± 1.66	1454	5.35 ± 1.54	1500	5.09 ± 0.81	3925	5.56 ± 1.25	5842	4.51 ± 2.22
HDL cholesterol, mmol/L	3845	1.66 ± 0.45	1279	1.42 ± 0.37	1523	1.45 ± 0.30	3813	1.15 ± 0.25	7026	1.40 ± 0.42
LDL cholesterol,3 mmol/L	3762	4.14 ± 1.09	1276	3.20 ± 0.87	1523	2.32 ± 0.62	3832	3.90 ± 0.98	6957	3.65 ± 1.04
Triglycerides, mmol/L	3851	1.87 ± 1.19	1448	1.60 ± 1.26	1523	1.01 ± 0.41	2805	2.03 ± 1.29	7329	1.89 ± 1.15
Prevalent hypertension4	2226	30.14	1477	13.20	1404	0.28	3942	53.53	6062	28.04

¹BRHS, British Regional Heart Study; BWHHS, British Women's Heart and Health Study; DBP, diastolic blood pressure; EPIC, European Prospective Investigation into Cancer; SBP, systolic blood pressure; WHR, waist-hip ratio.

²Mean ± SD (all such values).

³Derived by using Friedewald's equation (with the exclusion of individuals with triglyceride concentrations ≥4 mmol/L) (28).

⁴Hypertension was defined as SBP ≥ 140 mm Hg and DBP ≥ 90 mm Hg.