Table 1.
Characteristics of the study participants stratified by sex in rural areas of Ningbo, China between March and May 2013.
| Variable | Male | Female | p |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age † | 60.0 (50.0–67.0) | 58.0 (50.0–65.0) | 0.004 |
| Marital Status | |||
| Married | 1595 (83.5) | 2291 (86.4) | <0.001 |
| Unmarried | 250 (13.1) | 166 (6.3) | |
| Divorced/Remarried | 64 (3.4) | 193 (7.3) | |
| Education | |||
| Illiterate/semi–illiterate | 40 (2.1) | 169 (6.4) | <0.001 |
| Primary school | 1053 (55.4) | 1679 (63.7) | |
| Secondary school | 669 (35.2) | 686 (26.0) | |
| Tertiary | 140 (7.3) | 103 (3.9) | |
| Smoking | |||
| Non/Ex–smoker | 937 (50.1) | 2492 (96.1) | <0.001 |
| Current smoker | 933 (49.9) | 101 (3.9) | |
| Alcohol | |||
| Non/Ex–drinker | 912 (49.0) | 2027 (78.3) | <0.001 |
| Current drinker | 951 (51.0) | 563 (21.7) | |
| Physical activity | |||
| Less than 1 day/week | 699 (37.7) | 944 (36.7) | 0.095 |
| 1–4 days/week | 445 (24.0) | 690 (26.8) | |
| 5–7 days/week | 711 (38.3) | 937 (36.5) | |
| Diet | |||
| Meat–based | 124 (6.6) | 121 (4.7) | <0.001 |
| Vegetable–based | 31 (1.6) | 147 (5.6) | |
| Meat and vegetables balanced | 1727 (91.8) | 2338 (89.7) | |
| Hypertension | |||
| No | 603 (34.8) | 834 (35.2) | 0.751 |
| Yes | 1132 (65.2) | 1533 (64.8) | |
| BMI | |||
| <24 | 1155 (60.6) | 1585 (60.3) | 0.001 |
| 24–28 | 640 (33.6) | 813 (31.0) | |
| ≥28 | 110 (5.8) | 228 (8.7) | |
| Height † | 1.7 (1.6–1.7) | 1.6 (1.5–1.6) | <0.001 |
| Weight † | 65.0 (58.6–71.0) | 57.0 (51.6–62.1) | <0.001 |
| SBP † | 136.0 (124.0–148.0) | 136.0 (123.0–148.0) | 0.436 |
| DBP † | 83.0 (76.0–90.0) | 81.0 (74.0–88.0) | <0.001 |
| TG † | 1.2 (0.9–1.7) | 1.4 (1.0–2.0) | <0.001 |
| TC † | 4.7 (4.2–5.3) | 5.0 (4.4–5.6) | <0.001 |
| LDL-C † | 2.8 ± 0.8 | 3.0 (2.5–3.5) | <0.001 |
| HDL-C † | 1.2 (1.0–1.4) | 1.3 (1.1–1.4) | <0.001 |
The column subtotals did not always equal the total because of missing data. † Continuous variables. Continuous variables were tested for normality, and they were presented as mean ± standard deviation (if they were normally distributed) or presented as median ± quartiles (if they were not normally distributed). BMI, body mass index; SBP, systolic blood pressure; DBP, diastolic blood pressure; TG, triglyceride; TC, total cholesterol; LDL-C, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol; HDL-C, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol.