Table 4. Baseline characteristics of study participants by dietary patterns.
| Characteristic | All participants* | DP1: High Red Meat | DP2: Low Meat | DP3: High Butter | p † |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n = 791 | n = 276 | n = 260 | n = 255 | ||
| Socio-demographic factors | |||||
| Women % (n) | 61.8 (489) | 57.6 (159) | 64.6 (168) | 63.5 (162) | |
| Marital status % (n) | 0.02 | ||||
| Not Married | 69.4 (548) | 66.9 (184) | 76.0 (233) | 65.5 (167) | |
| Married | 30.5 (241) | 33.1 (91) | 23.9 (62) | 34.5 (88) | |
| Years of education | <0.001 | ||||
| 0–9 | 64.1 (501) | 74.6 (203) | 51.9 (134) | 65.3 (164) | |
| 10–11 | 23.4 (183) | 19.1 (52) | 25.2 (65) | 26.3 (66) | |
| ≥12 | 12.4 (97) | 6.3 (17) | 22.9 (59) | 8.4 (21) | |
| Occupational class % (n) | <0.001 | ||||
| Routine/manual professions | 51.1 (305) | 58.1 (151) | 39.4 (100) | 56.1 (134) | <0.001 |
| Intermediate professions | 14.5 (109) | 14.2 (37) | 15.0 (38) | 14.2 (34) | |
| Higher managerial/administrative | 34.4 (259) | 27.7 (72) | 45.7 (116) | 29.7 (71) | |
| Index of multiple deprivation % (n) | 0.003 | ||||
| Poor areas | 24.3 (192) | 28.6 (79) | 16.5 (43) | 27.5 (70) | |
| Intermediate | 50.2 (397) | 48.9 (135) | 51.5 (134) | 50.2 (128) | |
| Affluent areas | 25.5 (202) | 22.5 (62) | 31.9 (83) | 22.4 (57) | |
| Type of home % (n) | <0.001 | ||||
| Rented | 34.1 (269) | 35.9 (99) | 29.5 (76) | 36.9 (94) | |
| Owned/mortgaged | 57.0 (450) | 50.7 (140) | 68.1 (177) | 52.2 (133) | |
| Live in institutions | 8.9 (70) | 13.4 (37) | 1.9 (5) | 11.0 (28) | |
| Lifestyle factors | |||||
| Diet change in past year % (n) | |||||
| Yes | 6.9 (53) | 5.7 (15) | 8.1 (21) | 6.7 (17) | |
| Supplement intake % (n) | 0.04 | ||||
| Yes | 42.6 (337) | 38.8 (107) | 48.8 (127) | 40.4 (103) | |
| Smoking % (n) | 0.04 | ||||
| Never | 35.3 (279) | 40.2 (111) | 33.1 (86) | 32.3 (82) | |
| Current smoker | 5.7 (45) | 3.6 (10) | 5.0 (13) | 8.7 (22) | |
| Former smoker | 59.0 (466) | 56.2 (155) | 61.9 (161) | 59.1 (150) | |
| Physical activity % (n) | 0.002 | ||||
| Low | 22.3 (176) | 27.3 (75) | 14.2 (37) | 25.2 (64) | |
| Moderate | 43.5 (343) | 42.5 (117) | 46.5 (121) | 41.3 (105) | |
| High | 34.2 (270) | 30.2 (83) | 39.2 (102) | 33.5 (85) | |
| Current alcohol intake % (n) | 0.002 | ||||
| Yes | 59.9 (474) | 54.3 (150) | 68.5 (178) | 57.3 (146) | |
| Health-related factors | |||||
| Number of chronic diseases % (n) | 0.001 | ||||
| 0–1 | 29.5 (233) | 24.6 (68) | 30.0 (78) | 34.1 (87) | |
| 2 | 30.1 (238) | 34.1 (94) | 26.9 (70) | 29.0 (74) | |
| 3 and more | 40.5 (320) | 41.3 (114) | 43.1 (112) | 36.9 (94) | |
| Number of disabilities % (n) | 0.001 | ||||
| Not known disabilities | 20.4 (161) | 17.0 (47) | 24.2 (63) | 20.0 (51) | |
| 1–6 | 52.1 (412) | 50.0 (138) | 56.9 (148) | 49.4 (126) | |
| 7–12 | 18.7 (148) | 21.4 (59) | 13.8 (36) | 20.8 (53) | |
| 13–17 | 8.8 (70) | 11.6 (32) | 5.0 (13) | 9.8 (25) | |
| BMI ‡ % (n) | 0.02 | ||||
| Underweight (<18.5) | 6.1 (48) | 4.3 (12) | 6.2 (16) | 7.8 (20) | |
| Normal (>18.5–25) | 55.0 (435) | 51.4 (142) | 57.3 (149) | 56.5 (144) | |
| Overweight (>25–30) | 29.8 (236) | 31.2 (86) | 30.4 (79) | 27.8 (71) | |
| Obese (>30) | 9.1 (72) | 13.0 (36) | 6.2 (16) | 7.8 (20) | |
| Depressive symptoms § % (n) | 0.009 | ||||
| 0-5/none | 75.3 (591) | 72.7 (197) | 81.5 (212) | 71.7 (182) | |
| 6-7/mild | 12.5 (98) | 13.3 (36) | 10.4 (27) | 13.8 (35) | |
| ≥8/severe | 7.8 (61) | 7.7 (21) | 6.9 (18) | 8.7 (22) | |
| MMSE <15 | 4.5 (35) | 6.3 (17) | 1.2 (3) | 5.9 (15) | |
| Cognitive status % (n) | <0.001 | ||||
| impaired (≤25 MMSE score) | 27.2 (214) | 34.4 (94) | 18.1 (47) | 28.6 (73) | |
| normal (26–30) | 72.8 (574) | 65.6 (179) | 81.9 (213) | 71.4 (182) |
BMI, body mass index; MMSE, Mini-Mental State Examination; COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
*Two participants with assigned dietary pattern did not have complete health assessments and GP records data, and were excluded from the analyses.
†Kruskal-Wallis test for ordered and non-normally distributed continuous variables and χ2 test for categorical variables. In the post hoc χ2 test analyses, adjusted residuals were used to determine which cells were major contributors to rejecting the null hypothesis at α = 0.05.
‡BMI was imputed with sex-specific means for 62 participants.
§Fifteen point Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS).