Table 1.

Cholesterol Efflux Capacity and Traditional Risk Factors for Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease.^*

Characteristic	All Participants (N = 2924)	Cholesterol Efflux Capacity				P Value for Trend
		Quartile 1 (N = 731)	Quartile 2 (N = 731)	Quartile 3 (N = 731)	Quartile 4 (N = 731)
Cholesterol efflux capacity†	0.21–3.93	0.21–0.83	0.84–0.99	1.00–1.18	1.19–3.93
Age (yr)						<0.001
Median	42	42	41	43	44
Interquartile range	36–51	35–50	35–50	35–51	37–52
Male sex (%)	43	41	43	43	46	0.05
Race (%)‡
Black	49	55	49	45	48	0.003
White	30	26	31	34	31	0.02
Other	21	19	20	21	21	0.31
Hypertension (%)	30	30	27	29	35	0.03
Diabetes (%)	10	11	9	12	11	0.65
Current smoking (%)	28	27	29	27	30	0.35
Total cholesterol (mg/dl)						<0.001
Median	177	170	173	178	185
Interquartile range	154–202	148–195	151–200	155–204	162–211
Triglycerides (mg/dl)						0.008
Median	96	95	92	101	99
Interquartile range	67–146	67–138	67–138	69–151	69–153
LDL cholesterol (mg/dl)						<0.001
Median	104	101	100	104	110
Interquartile range	83–126	80–121	82–125	82–127	88–133
Non-HDL cholesterol (mg/dl)						<0.001
Median	127	121	123	128	133
Interquartile range	103–154	101–147	101–152	102–155	108–163
LDL particle concentration (μmol/liter)						0.15
Median	1212	1200	1212	1206	1232
Interquartile range	971–1491	982–1475	961–1466	972–1513	959–1530
HDL cholesterol (mg/dl)						<0.001
Median	47	46	47	48	49
Interquartile range	40–57	39–55	41–56	39–59	40–60
HDL particle concentration (μmol/liter)						<0.001
Median	32.8	31.5	32.6	33.2	33.9
Interquartile range	28.9–37.0	27.8–35.9	28.5–36.4	29.1–36.8	30.0–39.0
Lipoprotein(a) (nmol/liter)						0.54
Median	48	47	51	46	49
Interquartile range	19–104	21–110	21–102	17–104	19–109
High-sensitivity CRP (mg/liter)						0.53
Median	2.7	2.7	2.7	2.7	2.8
Interquartile range	1.1–6.6	1.1–6.8	1.1–6.8	1.1–6.2	1.2–6.8
Exercise (MET × min/wk)						0.21
Median	120	120	68	159	122
Interquartile range	0–560	0–533	0–480	0–660	0–600
Alcohol intake (g/wk)						0.002
Median	3	2	4	4	4
Interquartile range	0–39	0–30	0–39	0–39	0–59
Coronary-artery calcium >10 Agatston units (%)§	19	18	17	19	20	0.31

^*All continuous measures are reported as medians with interquartile ranges, and categorical measures as percentages. To convert values for cholesterol to millimoles per liter, multiply by 0.02586. To convert values for triglycerides to millimoles per liter, multiply by 0.01129. CRP denotes C-reactive protein, HDL high-density lipoprotein, LDL low-density lipoprotein, and MET metabolic equivalent.

^†Cholesterol efflux capacity is expressed as a percentage of efflux in the sample, normalized to a reference sample.

^‡Race was self-reported.

^§A coronary-artery calcium level of more than 10 Agatston units indicates prevalent coronary calcium.¹⁴