Table 2.
Baseline characteristics by tertiles of flavonoid intake (the first the lower; the third, the higher)
| First tertile | Second tertile | Third tertile | P | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | 552 | 551 | 555 | ||||
| Median intake (mg/day) | 89.0 | 251.4 | 532.3 | ||||
| Current smoking (%) | 28.4 | 25.7 | 17.5 | <0.001 | |||
| Males (%) | 47.1 | 46.8 | 47.2 | 0.99 | |||
| Living in a rural area (%) | 36.8 | 36.8 | 47.4 | <0.001 | |||
| Alcohol | |||||||
| Alcohol abstainers (%) | 54.9 | 41.0 | 35.7 | ||||
| Moderate alcohol drinking (%) | 31.5 | 41.4 | 38.6 | ||||
| Heavy alcohol drinking (%) | 13.6 | 17.6 | 25.8 | <0.001 | |||
| Education | |||||||
| Primary school (%) | 78.6 | 69.9 | 75.3 | ||||
| Secondary school (%) | 14.5 | 21.8 | 17.5 | ||||
| University (%) | 6.9 | 8.4 | 7.2 | 0.02 | |||
| History of hypertension (%) | 56.5 | 47.0 | 50.5 | 0.006 | |||
| History of diabetes mellitus (%) | 8.5 | 4.0 | 4.5 | 0.002 | |||
| History of CV disease (%) | 6.5 | 5.3 | 5.1 | 0.52 | |||
| Estrogen use (%) | 4.2 | 5.1 | 5.1 | 0.72 | |||
| Supplements use (%) | 3.3 | 3.3 | 3.4 | 0.98 | |||
| Statin use (%) | 3.8 | 3.8 | 4.7 | 0.70 | |||
| Aspirin use (%) | 6.0 | 6.0 | 4.1 | 0.29 | |||
| Mean | SD | Mean | SD | Mean | SD | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| METS (h/week) | 20.5 | 9.4 | 21.7 | 9.5 | 21.9 | 9.6 | 0.04 |
| Age (years) | 54.8 | 5.8 | 54.3 | 5.5 | 54.6 | 5.5 | 0.37 |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 27.2 | 5.3 | 26.3 | 4.3 | 26.3 | 4.3 | <0.001 |
| Waist circumference (cm) | 92.9 | 13.0 | 90.2 | 12.4 | 90.9 | 13.4 | 0.002 |
| Total caloric intake (kcal/day) | 1,917.0 | 722.7 | 2,142.7 | 583.2 | 2,149.3 | 667.1 | <0.001 |
| CHO intake (% total kcal) | 47.6 | 7.6 | 48.4 | 6.8 | 49.5 | 6.8 | <0.001 |
| Total fat intake (kcal/day) | 35.6 | 6.1 | 35.2 | 5.9 | 34.7 | 5.7 | 0.03 |
| Saturated fat (% total kcal) | 12.3 | 3.4 | 12.1 | 2.8 | 11.6 | 3.0 | 0.001 |
| Polyunsaturated fat (% total kcal) | 4.3 | 1.3 | 4.3 | 1.6 | 4.3 | 1.4 | 0.95 |
| Fiber intake (g/day) | 16.5 | 7.3 | 22.4 | 8.3 | 23.3 | 10.2 | <0.001 |
| Beta-carotene (µg/day) | 2,768.7 | 1,658.9 | 3,571.5 | 1,840.2 | 3,914.8 | 2,292.4 | <0.001 |
| Vitamin C (mg/day) | 134.9 | 44.5 | 142.4 | 55.0 | 142.8 | 49.4 | 0.01 |
| Vitamin E (mg/day) | 8.1 | 3.0 | 8.1 | 2.3 | 8.2 | 2.6 | 0.62 |
| Systolic blood pressure (mmHg) | 135.4 | 16.6 | 132.3 | 15.0 | 133.3 | 16.0 | 0.007 |
| Diastolic blood pressure (mmHg) | 84.3 | 9.1 | 82.6 | 9.2 | 82.9 | 9.6 | 0.005 |
| Fasting glucose (mg/dl) | 109.0 | 38.7 | 102.2 | 24.3 | 103.5 | 26.6 | <0.001 |
| Fasting insulin | 9.3 | 6.1 | 8.3 | 3.9 | 8.2 | 4.4 | <0.001* |
| Total cholesterol | 217.9 | 39.5 | 215.2 | 40.0 | 217.7 | 42.2 | 0.46 |
| HDL cholesterol | 57.9 | 12.5 | 60.9 | 13.1 | 62.4 | 14.1 | <0.001 |
| Triglycerides | 149.1 | 82.9 | 131.7 | 99.9 | 137.0 | 92.4 | <0.001* |
| CRP (mg/l) | 3.3 | 7.0 | 2.4 | 4.7 | 2.3 | 5.2 | <0.001* |
| Uric acid | 3.4 | 1.0 | 3.3 | 1.1 | 3.3 | 1.0 | 0.14 |
| CV risk score | 12.6 | 8.3 | 10.6 | 6.8 | 10.5 | 7.1 | <0.001 |
CHO carbohydrates, CRP C-reactive protein, CV cardiovascular.
*Kruskall–Wallis test for not-normally distributed variables.