Table 3.
Demographic characteristics, educational level, smoking habit, alcohol use and prevalences of diseases according to ethnicity and age group among the 106 527 participants in The Malaysian Cohort (2006–12)a
| Baseline characteristics (N = 106 527) |
Men, by age (years)a N = 44 897 |
Women, by age (years)a N = 61 630 |
Total (%) |
Chi-square |
|||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 35–44 | 45–54 | 55–64 | 65–70 | 35–44 | 45–54 | 55–64 | 65–70 | χ2 | P-value | ||
| Place of residence | |||||||||||
| Urban | 81.8 | 73.8 | 62.0 | 59.8 | 78.9 | 68.4 | 66.1 | 73.4 | 71.4 | 6.8 | <0.001 |
| Rural | 18.2 | 26.2 | 38.0 | 40.2 | 21.1 | 31.6 | 33.9 | 26.6 | 28.6 | ||
| Ethnicity | |||||||||||
| Malay | 40.2 | 44.9 | 50.0 | 47.6 | 38.2 | 46.3 | 42.7 | 33.7 | 43.9 | 292.4 | <0.001 |
| Chinese | 31.4 | 29.2 | 28.6 | 36.3 | 34.5 | 32.6 | 37.6 | 54.4 | 32.5 | ||
| Indian | 17.8 | 17.0 | 14.6 | 10.1 | 16.5 | 13.6 | 13.5 | 7.7 | 15.2 | ||
| Others | 10.6 | 8.9 | 6.8 | 6.0 | 10.8 | 7.5 | 6.2 | 4.2 | 8.4 | ||
| Highest educational level | |||||||||||
| University/college | 39.5 | 27.0 | 20.6 | 10.3 | 31.0 | 20.1 | 16.9 | 4.5 | 24.8 | 1173.9 | <0.001 |
| Secondary school | 50.9 | 51.2 | 37.0 | 27.8 | 56.4 | 46.9 | 28.8 | 21.4 | 45.6 | ||
| Primary school | 9.2 | 20.8 | 40.3 | 59.0 | 11.5 | 29.3 | 45.4 | 53.5 | 26.6 | ||
| No schooling | 0.4 | 1.0 | 2.1 | 2.9 | 1.1 | 3.7 | 8.9 | 20.6 | 3.0 | ||
| Tobacco smoking | |||||||||||
| Yes | 59.6 | 58.4 | 56.6 | 55.1 | 5.2 | 3.2 | 2.9 | 4.5 | 26.6 | 39 178.0 | <0.001 |
| Alcohol drinking | |||||||||||
| Yes | 11.8 | 11.4 | 9.8 | 9.5 | 1.8 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 5.4 | 4731.5 | <0.001 |
| Prevalence | |||||||||||
| Hypertension | 32.3 | 46.7 | 62.1 | 70.9 | 25.5 | 47.4 | 65.0 | 80.1 | 46.5 | 100.4 | <0.001 |
| Malay | 30.7 | 45.3 | 60.5 | 72.0 | 29.6 | 52.1 | 69.2 | 83.6 | 49.2 | 608.8 | <0.001 |
| Chinese | 31.3 | 44.6 | 62.7 | 68.9 | 18.6 | 38.8 | 58.8 | 77.2 | 41.7 | ||
| Indian | 34.1 | 50.1 | 63.2 | 63.5 | 23.4 | 45.9 | 65.3 | 84.6 | 45.7 | ||
| Others | 38.7 | 54.2 | 69.9 | 86.4 | 35.9 | 58.7 | 73.8 | 81.0 | 52.9 | ||
| Diabetes mellitus | 9.9 | 18.3 | 26.7 | 27.3 | 7.3 | 15.3 | 23.3 | 27.3 | 16.6 | 310.3 | <0.001 |
| Malay | 9.8 | 18.6 | 27.0 | 29.2 | 8.4 | 19.1 | 29.2 | 32.7 | 19.2 | 3376.7 | <0.001 |
| Chinese | 5.7 | 10.9 | 18.6 | 22.7 | 3.3 | 6.7 | 12.2 | 22.2 | 9.1 | ||
| Indian | 19.9 | 33.4 | 45.6 | 41.9 | 13.9 | 25.2 | 38.0 | 48.7 | 28.3 | ||
| Others | 5.8 | 12.5 | 17.5 | 16.3 | 5.8 | 11.8 | 18.8 | 9.5 | 11.1 | ||
| High cholesterol | 38.7 | 47.8 | 51.3 | 56.5 | 25.2 | 45.8 | 61.6 | 64.4 | 44.9 | 112.1 | <0.001 |
| Malay | 44.9 | 54.0 | 56.6 | 60.9 | 30.4 | 51.5 | 66.4 | 66.7 | 51.0 | 1381.0 | <0.001 |
| Chinese | 34.0 | 42.3 | 46.3 | 54.7 | 21.7 | 41.4 | 59.1 | 63.4 | 40.8 | ||
| Indian | 37.8 | 47.6 | 49.5 | 52.7 | 22.2 | 40.7 | 58.6 | 68.4 | 41.6 | ||
| Others | 31.4 | 35.0 | 37.9 | 39.0 | 22.2 | 38.8 | 50.3 | 52.4 | 34.4 | ||
| Obesity | 16.4 | 14.6 | 12.1 | 7.0 | 19.8 | 21.3 | 19.0 | 10.8 | 17.7 | 650.2 | <0.001 |
| Malay | 18.8 | 17.7 | 15.1 | 10.9 | 25.7 | 29.1 | 26.8 | 17.5 | 22.9 | 3554.8 | <0.001 |
| Chinese | 11.4 | 7.8 | 6.7 | 1.9 | 7.8 | 7.3 | 7.4 | 5.1 | 7.8 | ||
| Indian | 20.2 | 18.3 | 14.0 | 9.3 | 29.6 | 27.9 | 26.9 | 23.1 | 23.4 | ||
| Others | 15.7 | 14.5 | 9.6 | 4.4 | 22.6 | 22.0 | 18.1 | 9.5 | 18.0 | ||
| Number of participants | 11 451 | 18 462 | 14 240 | 744 | 18 842 | 27 447 | 14 834 | 507 | 106 527 | ||
aAll data are column percentages.