Table 1.
Characteristics of the diabetes cases and matched controls: The Singapore Chinese Health Study
| Characteristics | Cases | Controls | p value* |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of participants | 571 | 571 | - |
| Age, years | 59.6 ± 6.1 | 59.7 ± 6.2 | 0.78 |
| Gender (Male) | 236 (41.3) | 236 (41.3) | - |
| Dialect (%) | - | ||
| Cantonese | 287 (50.3) | 287 (50.3) | |
| Hokkien | 284 (49.7) | 284 (49.7) | |
| Body mass index, kg/m2 | 24.8 ± 3.6 | 22.8 ± 3.3 | <0.001 |
| Level of education (%) | 0.15 | ||
| No formal education | 104 (18.2) | 99 (17.3) | |
| Primary school | 255 (44.7) | 233 (40.8) | |
| Secondary school or higher | 212 (37.1) | 239 (41.9) | |
| Cigarette smoking (%) | 0.08 | ||
| Never smokers | 410 (71.8) | 425 (74.4) | |
| Ever smokers | 161 (28.2) | 146 (25.6) | |
| History of hypertension (%) | 265 (46.1) | 148 (25.9) | <0.001 |
| Weekly moderate-to-vigorous activity (%) | 0.11 | ||
| < 0.5 hours/week | 456 (79.9) | 454 (79.5) | |
| 0.5–3.9 hours/week | 82 (14.4) | 68 (11.9) | |
| ≥ 4 hours/week | 33 (5.8) | 49 (8.6) | |
| Alcohol intake (%) | 0.81 | ||
| Abstainers | 498 (87.2) | 497 (87.0) | |
| Weekly drinkers | 55 (9.6) | 59 (10.3) | |
| Daily drinkers | 18 (3.2) | 15 (2.6) | |
| C-reactive protein, mg/L | 2.79 ± 2.65 | 1.86 ± 2.03 | <0.001 |
| HbA1c, % | 6.83 ± 1.44 | 5.55 ± 0.27 | <0.001 |
| Random glucose, mmol/L | 7.27 ± 3.65 | 4.84 ± 1.22 | <0.001 |
| Random insulin, mIU/L | 27.8 ± 33.8 | 18.0 ± 22.5 | <0.001 |
| Total cholesterol, mmol/L | 5.31 ± 0.95 | 5.20 ± 0.85 | 0.049 |
| HDL cholesterol, mmol/L | 1.08 ± 0.24 | 1.23 ± 0.32 | <0.001 |
| Triglyceride, mmol/L | 2.44 ± 1.53 | 1.80 ± 1.04 | <0.001 |
Data are expressed as mean ± standard deviation for continuous variables and n (percentage) for categorical variables
Cases and controls are matched on age at blood taken (±3 years), gender, dialect, and date of blood collection (±6 months)
* p values based on the chi-square test for categorical variables and Student’s t-test for continuous variables