Table 2.
Characteristics of participants by ethnic group
| White European (n = 632) | South Asian (n = 476) | Black Caribbean (n = 181) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age (years) | 69.9 ± 6.3 | 68.7 ± 5.9* | 70.7 ± 5.8* |
| Sex (% male) | 78.3 | 86.6 | 48.6* |
| Baseline | |||
| Manual labour: Manual | 51.9 | 68.7* | 66.9* |
| Home ownership: Own home | 87.0 | 95.0* | 70.2* |
| Smoking (%) | |||
| Ex/never | 79.1 | 89.9 | 84.0 |
| Current | 20.9 | 10.1* | 16.0 |
| Physical activity (hours/week) | 10.8 (7.0–16.0) | 9.3 (5.5–13.0) | 11.0 (7.0–15.1) |
| Waist:hip ratio | 0.90 ± 0.09 | 0.95 ± 0.08* | 0.89 ± 0.08* |
| Waist circumference (cm) | 88.0 ± 11.8 | 90.1 ± 9.4* | 87.7 ± 10.3* |
| Diabetes (%) | 2.5 | 13.4* | 10.5* |
| Coronary heart disease (%) | 5.9 | 5.9 | 8.9 |
| Stroke (%) | 0.2 | 0.2 | 1.0 |
| Hypertension (%) | 4.1 | 9.9* | 22.7* |
| Follow-up | |||
| Marital status (%) | |||
| Married/cohabiting | 67.7 | 85.9* | 54.2* |
| Single | 10.2 | 1.9 | 11.7 |
| Divorced/separated | 11.7 | 2.1 | 20.1 |
| Widowed | 10.4 | 10.2 | 14.0 |
| Depressive symptoms (%) | 9.7 | 15.5* | 17.7* |
| Antidepressant/anxiolytic medication (% taking) | 4.7 | 3.2 | 5.0 |
| Stressful life events (% reporting any) | 55.4 | 49.2* | 59.7 |
| Social contact (hours/week) | 9.0 (4.0–20.0) | 8.6 (3.9–20.0) | 6.5 (3.0–15.8)* |
| Smoking (%) | |||
| Ex/never | 92.7 | 95.8 | 95.6 |
| Current | 7.3 | 4.2* | 4.4 |
| Physical activity (hours/week) | 3.8 (1.8–5.8) | 3.8 (1.8–4.7)* | 3.8 (1.8–4.7)* |
| Alcohol intake (%) | |||
| Daily | 21.8 | 20.1 | 6.3 |
| Four/five times a week | 21.6 | 16.1 | 8.9 |
| Once/twice a week | 24.7 | 27.5 | 22.2 |
| Once/twice a month | 11.7 | 8.7 | 13.9 |
| Never/special occasions | 20.1 | 27.5* | 48.7* |
| Waist:hip ratio | 0.97 ± 0.07 | 1.00 ± 0.07* | 0.96 ± 0.08* |
| Waist circumference (cm) | 100.1 ± 13.3 | 97.8 ± 10.2* | 97.7 ± 12.1 |
| Diabetes (%) | 19.3 | 42.1* | 39.2* |
| Coronary heart disease (%) | 20.4 | 34.5* | 13.2 |
| Stroke (%) | 2.7 | 2.1 | 5.0 |
| Hypertension (%) | 55.2 | 75.2* | 77.9* |
| Functional limitation (%) | 14.7 | 32.8* | 29.8* |
| Cognitive function (no. of recalled words) | 6.1 ± 2.0 | 5.8 ± 2.0* | 5.1 ± 2.1* |
Data presented are unadjusted means (s.d.) and %, with exception of social contact and physical activity, presented as medians (interquartile range), due to skewed data.
*
p < 0.05 for age- and sex-adjusted group differences with White European as the reference category.