TABLE 1.

Age-standardized baseline characteristics in 1992 of women in the Nurses’ Health Study by quintile of the AHEI-2010¹

	AHEI-2010
	Quintile 1 (median = 38,n = 9748)	Quintile 2 (median = 45,n = 10,707)	Quintile 3 (median = 50,n = 10,874)	Quintile 4 (median = 56,n = 11,535)	Quintile 5 (median = 64,n = 11,898)
Age,2 y	53.9 ± 6.9	55.0 ± 7.0	55.8 ± 7.0	56.6 ± 6.9	57.8 ± 6.8
BMI, kg/m2	25.3 ± 4.7	25.4 ± 4.6	25.3 ± 4.6	25.2 ± 4.6	24.7 ± 4.3
Physical activity, METs/wk	15.9 ± 19.2	18.7 ± 22.2	20.8 ± 23.7	23.2 ± 24.8	27.8 ± 29.4
SF-36 Mental Health Index	76.9 ± 14.2	77.7 ± 13.7	78.2 ± 13.4	78.5 ± 13.2	79.0 ± 13.1
Smoking, %
Never	48.6	47.9	46.4	43.9	40.7
Past	31.7	36.8	39.5	44.3	50.7
Current
1–14 cigarettes/d	7.0	6.2	6.1	6.0	4.7
15–24 cigarettes/d	8.6	6.6	5.7	4.4	3.1
≥25 cigarettes/d	4.2	2.5	2.3	1.4	0.8
Alcohol intake (g/d), %
0	52.4	41.6	35.4	30.6	24.6
1–14	34.9	48.0	54.8	60.1	67.5
≥15	12.7	10.4	9.9	9.3	7.9
Education, %
Registered nurse	76.2	72.3	68.8	64.2	59.0
Bachelor’s	17.4	19.3	21.3	22.5	24.9
Master’s/doctoral	6.4	8.4	9.9	13.3	16.1
Hypertension, %	28.5	28.3	28.9	27.8	26.3
High cholesterol, %	40.5	42.2	42.8	42.4	42.4
Myocardial infarction, %	0.7	0.7	0.7	0.8	0.5
Stroke, %	0.5	0.6	0.6	0.6	0.5
Type 2 diabetes, %	3.8	3.7	3.6	3.5	3.2
Total energy intake, kcal/d	1825 ± 511	1770 ± 515	1742 ± 515	1712 ± 515	1699 ± 511
Baseline PFS score	93.9 ± 5.3	94.2 ± 5.3	94.5 ± 5.2	94.7 ± 5.1	95.0 ± 5.1

¹Values are means ± SDs or percentages. Values of polytomous variables may not sum to 100% because of rounding. AHEI-2010, Alternative Healthy Eating Index-2010; MET, metabolic equivalent of task; PFS, Physical Function Score; SF-36, Medical Outcomes Short Form-36.

²Value is not age adjusted.