Table 1. Demographic and clinical characteristics at baseline.
| Characteristics | Total (n = 1365) | Healthya (n = 342) | At riskb (n = 774) | Hyper-tensionc (n = 249) | p value* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. with characteristics (%) | |||||
| Gender | |||||
| Male | 603 | 100 (16.6) | 369 (61.2) | 134 (22.2) | <0.001 |
| Female | 762 | 242 (31.8) | 405 (53.1) | 115 (15.1) | |
| Ethnicity | |||||
| Malay | 1075 | 240 (22.3) | 633 (58.9) | 202 (18.8) | |
| Chinese | 112 | 53 (47.3) | 49 (43.8) | 10 (8.9) | <0.001 |
| Indian | 148 | 40 (27.0) | 74 (50.0) | 34 (23.0) | |
| Others | 30 | 9 (30.0) | 18 (60.0) | 3 (10.0) | |
| Occupation | |||||
| Academic | 342 | 129 (37.7) | 174 (50.9) | 39 (11.4) | <0.001 |
| Support I | 179 | 46 (25.7) | 117 (65.4) | 16 (8.9) | |
| Support II | 467 | 110 (23.6) | 279 (59.7) | 78 (16.7) | |
| Smoking | |||||
| Current smoker | 147 | 25 (7.3) | 94 (63.9) | 28 (19.0) | <0.001 |
| Former smoker | 168 | 25 (14.9) | 95 (56.5) | 48 (28.6) | |
| Never smoke | 1050 | 292 (27.8) | 585 (55.7) | 173 (16.5) | |
| Mean characteristics (±SD) | |||||
| Mean age, y | 46.2 ± 5.8 | 44.5 ± 5.4 | 46.0 ±5.5 | 49.0 ± 5.7 | <0.001 |
| BMI, kg/m2 | 26.7 ± 4.5 | 24.7 ± 4.3 | 26.8 ±4.3 | 28.8 ± 4.7 | <0.001 |
| Blood pressure | |||||
| Systolic, mmHg | 128.6±18.0 | 108.9±7.7 | 132.0±12.6 | 144.3±18.9 | <0.001 |
| Diastolic, mmHg | 80.1±11.2 | 68.5±6.4 | 82.4 ±8.2 | 88.9±12.1 | <0.001 |
aNo self-reported medical history of hypertension and had a measured systolic <120 mmHg and diastolic <80 mmHg at baseline.
bNo self-reported medical history of hypertension and had a measured systolic ≥120 mmHg and/or diastolic ≥80 mmHg at baseline.
c self-reported clinical diagnosis of hypertension at baseline.
* Chi-square test for categorical variables; Mann-Whitney U test for continuous variables.