Table 1.
Mean (SE) and frequency (%) of baseline characteristics stratified across quartiles of NEFAs, MESA, N = 5,697
| Characteristic | Quartiles of NEFAs | Ptrend | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quartile, n | 1 (n = 1,380) | 2 (n = 1,461) | 3 (n = 1,455) | 4 (n = 1,401) | |
| NEFA range | 0.13–0.39 | 0.40–0.52 | 0.53–0.67 | 0.68–2.11 | |
| Age, years, mean (SE) | 58.9 (0.28) | 60.8 (0.26) | 62.8 (0.26) | 64.3 (0.27) | <0.001 |
| Sex, % women | 28.3 | 45.3 | 61.4 | 79.3 | <0.001 |
| Race, n (%) | |||||
| Black | 370 (26.8) | 387 (26.5) | 380 (26.1) | 324 (23.1) | 0.11 |
| Chinese | 131 (9.5) | 164 (11.2) | 204 (14.0) | 188 (13.4) | <0.001 |
| Hispanic | 301 (21.8) | 330 (22.6) | 298 (20.5) | 262 (18.7) | 0.06 |
| White | 578 (41.9) | 580 (39.7) | 573 (39.4) | 627 (44.8) | 0.007 |
| Education, n (%) | |||||
| Less than HS | 233 (16.9) | 247 (16.9) | 246 (16.9) | 212 (15.1) | 0.46 |
| HS graduate | 237 (17.2) | 251 (17.2) | 262 (18.0) | 269 (19.2) | 0.53 |
| Some college | 381 (27.6) | 395 (27.0) | 447 (30.7) | 403 (28.8) | 0.16 |
| College graduate | 237 (17.2) | 267 (18.2) | 247 (17.0) | 269 (19.2) | 0.42 |
| Graduate school | 292 (21.1) | 301 (20.6) | 252 (17.4) | 248 (17.7) | 0.03 |
| Current smoking, % (SE) | 14.8 (0.01) | 12.4 (0.01) | 13.2 (0.01) | 12.0 (0.01) | 0.17 |
| Current alcohol use, % (SE) | 42.5 (0.01) | 43.9 (0.01) | 41.0 (0.01) | 41.1 (0.01) | 0.31 |
| BMI, kg/m2 | 27.0 (0.14) | 27.9 (0.13) | 28.4 (0.13) | 28.6 (0.14) | <0.001 |
| Waist circumference, cm | 94.5 (0.38) | 97.1 (0.35) | 97.69 (0.35) | 98.8 (0.37) | <0.001 |
| hs-CRP, mg/L | 3.08 (0.16) | 3.79 (0.15) | 3.77 (0.15) | 4.01 (0.16) | <0.001 |
| Glucose, mg/dL | 88.0 (0.28) | 89.2 (0.26) | 89.8 (0.26) | 91.4 (0.28) | <0.001 |
| Insulin, mU/L | 8.5 (0.15) | 9.5 (0.14) | 9.7 (0.14) | 10.3 (0.15) | <0.001 |
| n-3, % of total* | 5.79 (0.06) | 5.59 (0.05) | 5.61 (0.05) | 5.58 (0.06) | 0.03 |
| EPA, % of total | 0.99 (0.02) | 0.88 (0.02) | 0.87 (0.02) | 0.86 (0.02) | <0.001 |
| DHA, % of total | 3.86 (0.04) | 3.79 (0.03) | 3.80 (0.03) | 3.80 (0.04) | 0.56 |
Adjusted for age, sex, race, education, and field center.
n-3 FAs = EPA + DHA.
*Low n-3 FA category <75th percentile; high n-3 FA category ≥75th percentile. HS, high school.