TABLE 1.
Participant characteristics by sex at baseline: the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study (1987–2012)1
| Men (N = 6341) | Women (N = 7741) | |
| Age, y | 54.5 ± 5.82 | 53.7 ± 5.7 |
| Race/ethnicity | ||
| Black | 1379 (21.7)3 | 2288 (29.6) |
| White | 4962 (78.3) | 5453 (70.4) |
| Education | ||
| Less than high school | 1489 (23.5) | 1747 (22.6) |
| High school | 2287 (36.1) | 3464 (44.7) |
| More than high school | 2553 (40.3) | 2520 (32.6) |
| Smoking | ||
| Current | 1700 (26.8) | 1858 (24.0) |
| Former | 2828 (44.6) | 1743 (22.5) |
| Never | 1812 (28.6) | 4132 (53.4) |
| Pack-years | 22.5 ± 24.7 | 9.9 ± 16.3 |
| Physical activity, 1–5 scale | 2.6 ± 0.8 | 2.3 ± 0.8 |
| Daily calorie intake, kcal | 1796.5 ± 645.1 | 1494.4 ± 535.6 |
| Alcohol, drinks/wk | 5.1 ± 9.3 | 1.5 ± 3.7 |
| Height, cm | 176.2 ± 6.6 | 162.4 ± 6.0 |
| Type 2 diabetes | 580 (9.2) | 737 (9.6) |
| Hypertension | 2121 (33.6) | 2663 (34.6) |
| HDL, mg/dL | 44.5 ± 13.9 | 57.6 ± 17.2 |
| LDL, mg/dL | 139.2 ± 37.1 | 135.5 ± 40.7 |
| Food groups, servings/d | ||
| Meat | 1.2 ± 0.8 | 0.9 ± 0.7 |
| Fish and seafood | 0.3 ± 0.3 | 0.3 ± 0.3 |
| Poultry | 0.3 ± 0.3 | 0.4 ± 0.3 |
| Dairy | 1.7 ± 1.4 | 1.5 ± 1.2 |
| Fruits | 1.8 ± 1.5 | 2.2 ± 1.6 |
| Vegetables | 2.0 ± 1.3 | 2.1 ± 1.2 |
| Whole grains | 1.3 ± 1.3 | 1.2 ± 1.1 |
| Refined grains | 2.8 ± 1.9 | 2.1 ± 1.5 |
| Nuts | 0.1 ± 0.3 | 0.1 ± 0.2 |
| Coffee | 2.0 ± 2.1 | 1.6 ± 2.0 |
| Tea | 0.5 ± 1.0 | 0.6 ± 1.1 |
| Sugar-sweetened beverages | 0.6 ± 1.0 | 0.5 ± 0.9 |
| Diet soda | 0.5 ± 0.9 | 0.6 ± 1.0 |
1
Some totals may not equal the total N for each group due to missing data.
2
Mean ± SD (all such values).
3
n; percentage in parentheses (all such values).