Table 1.
Age-Standardized Characteristics of Participants at Baseline, by Categories of Optimism Scorea, Nurses’ Health Study, 2004
| Characteristic | Optimism Score Quartile | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1(n = 20,823), %b | 2 (n = 19,698), %b | 3 (n = 17,228), %b | 4(n = 12,272), %b | |
| Demographic factors | ||||
| Race | ||||
| White | 97.8 | 97.4 | 97.7 | 97.7 |
| Black | 0.9 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 1.6 |
| Asian | 1.0 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 0.3 |
| Other | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Marital status | ||||
| Married | 66.8 | 69.6 | 70.6 | 70.7 |
| Divorced/single | 8.4 | 7.8 | 7.0 | 7.2 |
| Widowed | 24.8 | 22.6 | 22.3 | 22.1 |
| Educational level | ||||
| Registered nurse | 75.3 | 69.6 | 65.0 | 63.4 |
| Bachelor degree | 17.9 | 20.6 | 22.6 | 23.0 |
| Master/doctoral degree | 6.9 | 9.8 | 12.4 | 13.7 |
| Husband's educational level | ||||
| Less than high school | 2.2 | 1.9 | 1.3 | 1.7 |
| Some high school | 4.5 | 3.9 | 3.1 | 3.3 |
| High school graduate | 42.5 | 38.8 | 38.0 | 36.2 |
| College graduate | 28.5 | 30.0 | 29.9 | 31.1 |
| Graduate school | 22.3 | 25.4 | 27.7 | 27.7 |
| Father's occupation | ||||
| None (including retired and deceased) | 9.7 | 9.3 | 9.1 | 8.9 |
| Craftsman, laborer, or farmer | 27.9 | 26.4 | 24.7 | 24.2 |
| Clerical, sales, or service | 38.9 | 38.7 | 38.5 | 38.0 |
| Professional or managerial | 23.6 | 25.6 | 27.7 | 28.9 |
| Health behaviors | ||||
| Smoking status | ||||
| Never smoker | 42.9 | 44.9 | 45.5 | 48.3 |
| Former smoker | 48.6 | 48.3 | 48.2 | 46.0 |
| Current smoker, 1–14 cigarettes/day | 4.2 | 3.7 | 3.4 | 3.1 |
| Current smoker, 15–24 cigarettes/day | 3.2 | 2.5 | 2.3 | 2.1 |
| Current smoker, ≥25 cigarettes/day | 1.1 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.6 |
| Physical activity level, METs/week | ||||
| <3.0 | 25.9 | 18.8 | 16.3 | 15.7 |
| 3.0–8.9 | 22.0 | 20.4 | 19.0 | 18.4 |
| 9.0–17.9 | 19.6 | 21.1 | 20.9 | 20.1 |
| 18.0–26.9 | 12.0 | 13.5 | 14.5 | 14.6 |
| ≥27.0 | 20.5 | 26.3 | 29.3 | 31.2 |
| Alcohol consumption, g/day | ||||
| 0.0 | 47.4 | 42.5 | 40.6 | 42.8 |
| 0.1–14.9 | 40.6 | 44.2 | 44.9 | 43.2 |
| ≥15.0 | 12.0 | 13.3 | 14.6 | 14.1 |
| Health conditions | ||||
| Physical examination for screening | 84.3 | 86.9 | 88.7 | 88.8 |
| High cholesterol | 72.4 | 69.0 | 66.8 | 64.6 |
| Hypertension | 63.1 | 59.2 | 57.3 | 54.3 |
| Type 2 diabetes mellitus | 13.8 | 10.8 | 9.2 | 8.9 |
| Myocardial infarction | 3.3 | 2.8 | 2.4 | 2.4 |
| Stroke | 3.1 | 2.7 | 2.6 | 2.2 |
| Cancer | 10.3 | 9.8 | 9.4 | 9.3 |
| Depression | 20.5 | 12.6 | 10.4 | 7.7 |
| Age, yearsc, d | 70.8 (7.1) | 70.3 (6.9) | 69.2 (6.7) | 69.0 (6.7) |
| Diet (AHEI)c | 54.5 (15.3) | 56.9 (14.6) | 58.4 (14.5) | 59.0 (14.8) |
| Body mass indexc, e | 26.9 (5.7) | 26.6 (5.3) | 26.3 (5.1) | 26.3 (5.1) |
Abbreviations: AHEI, Alternative Healthy Eating Index; MET, metabolic equivalent of task.
a Optimism was measured using the Life Orientation Test-Revised.
b Values of polytomous variables may not sum to 100% because of rounding.
c Values are expressed as mean (standard deviation).
d Value is not adjusted for age.
e Weight (kg)/height (m)2.