Table 1.
Baseline characteristics between participants who did and did not have an incident stroke during follow-up: REGARDS, 2003–2013
| No Incident Stroke (n=23,057) | Incident Stroke (n=515) | P-value | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
| |||
| Variable | |||
|
| |||
| Socio-demographics | |||
|
| |||
| Age, years, mean (SD) | 64.2 (9.2) | 68.3 (8.4) | <0.001 |
|
| |||
| Women, n (%) | 12,902 (56) | 261 (51) | 0.017 |
|
| |||
| Blacks, n (%) | 8,731 (38) | 209 (41) | 0.21 |
|
| |||
| Education, n (%) | 0.012 | ||
|
| |||
| <high school | 2,386 (10) | 62 (12) | |
|
| |||
| High school graduate | 5,836 (25) | 155 (30) | |
|
| |||
| Some college | 6,268 (27) | 138 (27) | |
|
| |||
| ≥College graduate | 8,567 (37) | 160 (31) | |
|
| |||
| Region, n (%) | 0.43 | ||
|
| |||
| Non Belt | 10,202 (44) | 238 (46) | |
|
| |||
| Stroke Buckle | 4,918 (21) | 98 (19) | |
|
| |||
| Stroke Belt | 7,937 (34) | 179 (35) | |
|
| |||
| Urban/Rural, n (%) | 0.7 | ||
|
| |||
| Mixed | 2,349 (10.2) | 58 (11.3) | |
|
| |||
| Rural | 2,360 (10.2) | 47 (9.1) | |
|
| |||
| Urban | 16,154 (70.1) | 359 (69.7) | |
|
| |||
| Missing | 2,194 (9.5) | 51 (9.9) | |
|
| |||
| Income, n (%) | <0.001 | ||
|
| |||
| <$20,000 | 3,659 (16) | 105 (20) | |
|
| |||
| $20,000–$34,999 | 5,441 (24) | 147 (29) | |
|
| |||
| $35,000–$74,999 | 7,243 (31) | 152 (30) | |
|
| |||
| ≥$75,000 | 4,043 (18) | 47 (9) | |
|
| |||
| refused/missing | 2,671 (12) | 64 (12) | |
|
| |||
| Married, n (%) | 14,067 (61) | 281 (55) | 0.003 |
|
| |||
| Vascular Risk Factors | |||
|
| |||
| Cigarette smoking, n (%) | 0.022 | ||
|
| |||
| Never | 10,660 (46) | 220 (43) | |
|
| |||
| Past | 9,229 (40) | 203 (39) | |
|
| |||
| Current | 3,168 (14) | 92 (18) | |
|
| |||
| Alcohol use, n (%) | 0.09 | ||
|
| |||
| None | 14,090 (61) | 339 (66) | |
|
| |||
| Moderate | 8,019 (35) | 158 (31) | |
|
| |||
| Heavy | 948 (4) | 18 (4) | |
|
| |||
| Physical activity, n (%) | 0.4 | ||
|
| |||
| None | 8,474 (37.2) | 186 (36.8) | |
|
| |||
| 1 – 3 days per week | 6,781 (29.8) | 139 (27.5) | |
|
| |||
| ≥4 days per week | 7,509 (33.0) | 181 (35.8) | |
|
| |||
| Systolic blood pressure, mm Hg, mean (SD) | 126.9 (16.3) | 133.3 (17.9) | <0.001 |
|
| |||
| Diastolic blood pressure, mm Hg, mean (SD) | 76.4 (9.6) | 77.0 (9.9) | 0.18 |
|
| |||
| Diabetes, n (%) | 4,658 (20) | 160 (31) | <0.001 |
|
| |||
| Waist circumference, cm, mean (SD) | 95.9 (15.3) | 97.5 (13.5) | 0.02 |
|
| |||
| Body mass index (kg/m2), n (%) | 0.18 | ||
|
| |||
| <18.5 | 204 (1) | 3 (1) | |
|
| |||
| 18.5–24.9 | 5,419 (24) | 116 (23) | |
|
| |||
| 25–29.9 | 8,509 (37) | 214 (42) | |
|
| |||
| ≥30 | 8,828 (38) | 181 (35) | |
|
| |||
| Hyperlipidemia, n (%) | 13,297 (59) | 339 (67) | <0.001 |
|
| |||
| Atrial fibrillation, n (%) | 1,835 (8) | 61 (12) | 0.001 |
|
| |||
| Clinical factors | |||
|
| |||
| Self-reported stroke before enrollment, n (%) | 1,172 (5) | 76 (15) | <0.001 |
|
| |||
| 4-item CES-D score, mean (SD) | 1.06 (2.0) | 1.30 (2.2) | 0.006 |
| 25th percentile | 0 | 0 | |
| 50th percentile | 0 | 0 | |
| 75th percentile | 1 | 2 | |
|
| |||
| Self-reported health status, n (%) | <0.001 | ||
|
| |||
| Excellent | 3,893 (17) | 61 (12) | |
|
| |||
| Very good | 7,380 (32) | 134 (26) | |
|
| |||
| Good | 7,987 (35) | 199 (39) | |
|
| |||
| Fair | 3,153 (14) | 95 (18) | |
|
| |||
| Poor | 644 (3) | 26 (5) | |
|
| |||
| Glomerular filtration rate, mL/min/1.73 m2, mean (SD) | 85.7 (19.4) | 80.4 (21.5) | <0.001 |
|
| |||
| History of MI, n (%) | 2,626 (12) | 108 (22) | <0.001 |
|
| |||
| Baseline cognitive scores | |||
|
| |||
| Six-Item Screener score, mean (SD) | 5.8 (0.4) | 5.7 (0.4) | 0.04 |
|
| |||
| Word List Learning score, mean (SD) | 17.9 (4.9) | 16.0 (4.8) | <0.001 |
|
| |||
| Word List Delayed Recall score, mean (SD) | 6.7(2.0) | 5.8 (2.0) | <0.001 |
|
| |||
| Animal Fluency Test score, mean (SD) | 17.6 (5.8) | 15.9 (4.8) | 0.002 |
REGARDS over-sampled residents of the stroke belt (defined as the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and the noncoastal regions within the states of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia) and the stroke buckle (defined as the coastal regions within the states of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia).
Alcohol use was defined as heavy (7+ drinks per week for women and 14+ drinks per week for men), moderate (0–7 drinks per week for women and 0–14 drinks per week for men), and none (0 drinks per week).
4-item CES-D score measures depressive symptoms on a scale from 0 to 12. Higher scores indicate greater depressive symptoms.
Six-Item Screener scores range 0 to 6. Word List Learning scores range 0 to 30. Word List Delayed Recall scores range 0 to 10. Animal Fluency Test scores range ≥0. For all cognitive tests, higher scores indicate better performance.