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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2018 Feb 1.
Published in final edited form as: Ann Behav Med. 2017 Feb;51(1):94–104. doi: 10.1007/s12160-016-9831-7

Table 1.

Mean values and population-specific high-risk cut points for allostatic load parameters in the MIDUS Biomarker Substudy

System and representative
biomarkers
Number Mean SD Min Max High-risk cut point by
population-specific
quartile
Cardiovascular
 Resting SBP (mmHg) 1254 131.5 18.3 83.0 222.0 ≥144.0 (n = 309)
 Resting heart rate (bpm) 1253 71.1 11.2 36.0 111.0 ≥79.0 (n = 314)
 Resting pulse pressure (mmHg) 1254 55.8 14.7 24.0 114.0 ≥65.0 (n = 312)
Metabolic lipids
 BMI (kg/m2) 1254 29.8 6.63 15.0 65.1 ≥33.1 (n = 313)
 WHR 1253 0.89 0.10 0.62 1.72 ≥0.97 (n = 316)
 Triglycerides (mg/dL) 1244 132.5 131.8 25.0 3299.0 ≥156.0 (n = 312)
 HDL cholesterol (mg/dL) 1242 55.4 18.0 19.0 121.0 ≤42.0 (n = 310)
 LDL cholesterol (mg/dL) 1242 105.5 35.4 6.00 283.0 ≥128.0 (n = 310)
Metabolic glucose metabolism
 Glycosylated hemoglobin (%) 1235 6.10 1.16 3.58 19.7 ≥6.24 (n = 314)
 Fasting glucose (mg/dL) 1236 102.1 28.4 5.00 418.0 ≥105.0 (n = 314)
 Insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) 1236 3.58 3.98 0.04 53.7 ≥4.36 (n = 310)
Inflammation
 CRP (mg/L) 1235 3.02 4.78 0.14 61.7 ≥3.66 (n = 309)
 IL6 (pg/mL) 1243 3.04 3.04 0.16 23.0 ≥3.48 (n = 310)
 Fibrinogen (mg/dL) 1235 348.9 87.8 45.0 857.0 ≥399.0 (n = 313)
 sE-selectin (ng/MI) 1242 43.4 22.7 0.09 178.1 ≥51.9 (n = 310)
 sICAM-1 (ng/MI) 1242 288.5 115.6 44.0 1076.6 ≥335.8 (n = 310)
Sympathetic nervous system
 Urine epinephrine (μg/g creatine) 1233 1.96 1.28 0.09 10.6 ≥2.47 (n = 308)
 Urine norepinephrine (μg/g creatine) 1243 27.4 13.9 3.50 187.1 ≥33.0 (n = 311)
Hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis
 Urine cortisol (μg/g creatine) 1252 15.8 24.6 0.40 725.0 ≥20.0 (n = 308)
 Blood DHEA-S (μg/dL) 1239 105.1 77.0 0.90 685.0 ≤51.0 (n = 313)
Parasympathetic nervous system
 SDRR (msec) 1148 35.6 17.2 5.56 138.8 ≤23.7 (n = 287)
 RMSSD 1148 22.9 17.7 2.64 209.7 ≤12.1 (n = 287)
 Low frequency spectral power 1148 424.3 607.5 1.60 10,943.6 ≤114.6 (n = 287)
 High frequency spectral power 1148 316.5 729.4 2.45 15,731.7 ≤58.8 (n = 287)
Allostatic load 1233 1.72 1.03 0 5.03
Allostatic load (with medication data) 1233 1.94 1.10 0 5.37

Allostatic Load was defined in accordance with previous studies conducted within this population using a score that captured dysregulation across seven systems, including multiple markers of cardiovascular pathways, sympathetic nervous system, parasympathetic nervous system, HPA axis, inflammation, lipid and general metabolic activity, and glucose metabolism, and could range from 0 to 7

BMI body mass index, CRP C-reactive protein, DHEA-S dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate, PNS parasympathetic nervous system, HPA hypothalamic pituitary axis, IL-6 interleukin-6, RMSSD root mean square of successive differences, SBP systolic blood pressure, SDRR the standard deviation of R-R (heartbeat to heartbeat) intervals, sE-selectin soluble adhesion molecule E-selectin, sICAM soluble intracellular adhesion molecule-1, SNS sympathetic nervous system