Table 3. Baseline characteristics of the participants in the EPIC study according to quintiles of total flavonoids intake.
| Total flavonoid intake | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Characteristics | All (n=477 312) | Q1 (n=95 462) | Q2 (n=95 463) | Q3 (n=95 462) | Q4 (n=95 463) | Q5 (n=95 462) | P-value |
| Median flavonoid intake (mg day–1) | 332.4 | 123.9 | 225.4 | 332.4 | 514.6 | 933.4 | |
| Sex, men (%) | 29.8 | 29.7 | 29.8 | 29.1 | 29.5 | 30.9 | <0.001 |
| Age at enrolment (years)a | 51.2 (9.9) | 50.9 (9.1) | 51.2 (9.6) | 50.9 (9.6) | 51.3 (9.9) | 51.8 (11.3) | <0.001 |
| BMI (kg m–2)a | 25.4 (4.3) | 25.7 (4.4) | 25.8 (4.4) | 25.6 (4.3) | 25.3 (4.2) | 24.8 (4.0) | <0.001 |
| Energy intake (kcal day–1)a | 2074 (619) | 1791 (545) | 2010 (569) | 2142 (598) | 2211 (638) | 2217 (635) | <0.001 |
| Alcohol intake (g day–1)a | 11.9 (17.1) | 7.5 (12.2) | 10.6 (15.4) | 12.4 (16.9) | 14.5 (18.7) | 14.7 (20.1) | <0.001 |
| Educational level (%) | <0.001 | ||||||
| No formal education | 4.4 | 5.0 | 5.9 | 5.5 | 3.9 | 1.7 | |
| Primary school | 25.6 | 33.4 | 29.2 | 26.3 | 23.0 | 16.1 | |
| Technical/professional school | 22.3 | 27.2 | 22.1 | 19.0 | 20.0 | 23.1 | |
| Secondary school | 20.4 | 18.3 | 20.0 | 22.8 | 22.4 | 18.6 | |
| University degree | 23.8 | 15.0 | 21.1 | 24.3 | 26.9 | 31.6 | |
| Not specifiedb | 3.5 | 1.1 | 1.7 | 2.1 | 3.8 | 8.9 | |
| Smoking status and intensity (%) | <0.001 | ||||||
| Never smoker | 43.0 | 36.4 | 43.0 | 44.3 | 44.6 | 46.8 | |
| Current, <15 cigarretes day–1 | 11.6 | 17.0 | 12.7 | 11.1 | 9.4 | 7.8 | |
| Current, 15–25 cigarretes day–1 | 6.3 | 11.2 | 6.9 | 5.5 | 4.4 | 3.2 | |
| Current, 25 cigarretes day–1 | 1.8 | 2.9 | 2.3 | 1.8 | 1.3 | 0.8 | |
| Former, from ⩽10 years | 9.6 | 9.9 | 9.5 | 9.4 | 9.7 | 9.3 | |
| Former, from 11 to 20 years | 8.2 | 6.8 | 7.7 | 8.1 | 9.0 | 9.2 | |
| Former, from >20 years | 7.9 | 6.6 | 7.0 | 6.8 | 8.2 | 10.9 | |
| Current, pipe/cigar/occas | 8.4 | 5.3 | 7.8 | 10.2 | 10.6 | 8.1 | |
| Current/former, missing | 1.6 | 1.7 | 1.5 | 1.3 | 1.5 | 2.1 | |
| Not specifiedb | 1.6 | 2.2 | 1.6 | 1.5 | 1.3 | 1.8 | |
| Physical activity (%) | <0.001 | ||||||
| Inactive | 20.7 | 20.0 | 22.5 | 22.0 | 19.5 | 19.3 | |
| Moderately inactive | 31.3 | 24.8 | 31.2 | 33.7 | 34.2 | 32.8 | |
| Moderately active | 22.2 | 16.4 | 21.1 | 23.5 | 24.9 | 25.2 | |
| Active | 17.0 | 12.4 | 15.4 | 16.9 | 19.3 | 20.9 | |
| Not specifiedb | 8.8 | 26.4 | 9.8 | 3.9 | 2.1 | 1.8 | |
Abbreviations: BMI=body mass index; Current, pipe/cigar/occas=current occasional smoker of pipe, cigarettes or other types of tobacco; EPIC=European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition study.
a
Mean (s.d.).
b
Not specified: details of educational level, smoking or physical activity not known.