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. 2017 Sep 1;7(9):e013228. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2016-013228

Table 1.

Baseline characteristics of participants in the Mitchelstown cohort study, 2010–2011, stratified by self-reported adverse childhood experience (ACE) (n=1926)

Characteristics With ACE
(n=457; 23.7%)
Without ACE
(n=1469; 76.3%)
Group difference Missing data
Estimate* Test statistic† df p Value N (%)
Age (years) 53.6 (16.9) 56.6 (15.2) 3.54 1924 ≤0.001 0
Sex
  Male 234 (51.2) 707 (48.1) 1.32 1 0.25 0
  Female 223 (48.8) 762 (51.9)
Marital status
  Single (never married) 45 (10.0) 116 (8.0) 28.85 3 ≤0.001 18 (0.9)
  Cohabiting/married 334 (74.2) 1175 (80.6)
  Separated/divorced 52 (11.6) 73 (5.0)
  Widowed 19 (4.2) 94 (6.4)
Perceived social support
  Poor 86 (19.8) 148 (10.6) 27.10 2 ≤0.001 101 (5.2)
  Moderate 193 (44.5) 632 (45.4)
  Strong 155 (35.7) 611 (43.9)
Socioeconomic
 Education
  Primary 116 (26.9) 382 (27.7) 10.57 2 0.01 117 (6.1)
  Secondary 192 (44.4) 701 (50.9)
  Tertiary 124 (28.7) 294 (21.4)
 General Medical Services cover
  Yes 158 (34.6) 432 (29.4) 4.31 1 0.04 0
  No 299 (65.4) 1037 (70.6)
Personal health behaviours
 Smoking
  Never smoked 200 (45.0) 750 (52.9) 8.93 2 0.01 64 (3.3)
  Former smoker 175 (39.4) 462 (32.6)
  Current smoker 69 (15.5) 206 (14.5)
 Alcohol
  Non-drinker 56 (17.7) 202 (21.4) 3.07 2 0.22 667 (34.6)
  Moderate drinker 208 (65.6) 610 (64.8)
  Heavy drinker 53 (16.7) 130 (13.8)
 Physical activity
  Low 211 (49.8) 667 (47.7) 0.70 2 0.70 104 (5.4)
  Moderate 120 (28.3) 423 (30.3)
  High 93 (21.9) 308 (22.0)
Personal health history
 Self-rated health status
  Very good 123 (27.2) 435 (30.1) 12.06 4 0.02 30 (1.5)
  Good 235 (52.0) 804 (55.7)
  Fair 81 (17.9) 178 (12.3)
  Poor 11 (2.4) 20 (1.4)
  Very poor 2 (0.4) 7 (0.5)
 Long-term illness/disability
  Yes 74 (19.6) 144 (11.8) 14.66 1 ≤0.001 331 (17.2)
  No 304 (80.4) 1073 (88.2)
 Hypertension
  Hypertensive 198 (43.3) 699 (52.4) 2.62 1 0.11 2 (0.1)
  Non-hypertensive 259 (56.7) 768 (47.6)
 Diabetes
  Diabetic 39 (8.8) 121 (8.4) 0.05 1 0.90 44 (2.3)
  Non-diabetic 406 (91.2) 1316 (19.6)
 Body mass index
  Normal 97 (21.2) 329 (22.5) 2.82 3 0.28 4 (0.2)
  Overweight 196 (42.9) 669 (45.7)
  Obese 164 (35.9) 467 (31.9)
 Mental health
  Depression
   No symptoms 309 (71.2) 1153 (84.8) 44.34 2 ≤0.001 133 (6.9)
   Mild to moderate 64 (14.7) 125 (9.2)
   Possibility of major depression 61 (14.1) 81 (6.0)

*Estimates are reported as mean (SD) for continuous variables; and N (%) for categorical variables.

†Differences in means were tested using Student’s t-test)54; dependence between categorical variables was tested using Pearson’s χ2 test55.