Table 1B. Characteristics of participants (n=870), aged 40-79 years, across quartiles of HDL cholesterol concentration, 2006 - 2008, Kusatsu, Shiga, Japan.

Characteristic	Quartile of HDL-C				P trend

	1	2	3	4

Age, years	64.1 ± 9.5	63.7 ± 9.5	62.2 ± 10.6	63.4 ± 10.3	0.129
Body mass index, kg/m²	24.6 ± 3.0	23.9 ± 2.8	23.0 ± 2.9	21.9 ± 2.6	<0.001
SBP, mmHg	137 ± 17	136 ± 19	136 ± 18	135 ± 23	0.168
Hypertension, %^†	55.2	50.5	56.4	41.4	0.008
Diabetes, % (Type 2)	20.8	22.0	20.5	9.5	0.001
Current smoker, %	42.5	32.7	35.0	23.3	<0.001
Alcohol intake (g/day)	18.4 ± 23.8	19.0 ± 24.2	27.9 ± 30.0	30.9 ± 30.9	<0.001
Triglycerides, mmol/l	1.91 ± 1.01	1.49 ± 1.11	1.23 ± 0.63	0.96 ± 0.43	<0.001
LDL-C, mmol/l^‡	3.36 ± 0.85	3.47 ± 0.82	3.18 ± 0.72	3.02 ± 0.79	<0.001
HDL-P, μmol/l	28.9 ± 4.6	32.5 ± 4.2	36.4 ± 5.7	39.0 ± 7.1	<0.001

Values are mean ± SD, or % (as indicated).

^†

Hypertension is defined as SBP ≥140mmHg or DBP ≥ 90mmHg or use of anti- hypertensive medication. Diabetes is defined as glycated hemoglobin ≥ 6.5% (NGSP) or fasting glucose ≥ 6.99 mmol/l or use of anti-diabetic medication.

^‡

LDL-C was calculated by Friedewald equation. [LDL-C (mg/dl) = total cholesterol (mg/dl) - HDL cholesterol (mg/dl) -triglyceride(mg/dl)/5]

Quartiles of HDL-C are as follows (1): 0.67 to 1.19 mmol/l; n=212, (2): 1.22 to 1.45 mmol/l; n=214, (3): 1.46 to 1.78 mmol/l; n=234, and (4): 1.81 to 3.88 mmol/l; n=210. P-values for trend were obtained using linear regression (for continuous variables) or logisitc regression (for categorical variables) as per 1 unit increase in HDL-C.