Table 1. Characteristics of the study population.
| All (n=1477) Median (IQR) |
Men (n=623) Median (IQR) |
Women (n=854) Median (IQR) |
p* | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age (yr) | 63.2 | (21.0) | 62.9 | (19.4) | 63.5 | (21.8) | 0.037 |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 24.2 | (4.4) | 24.7 | (3.8) | 23.6 | (4.8) | <0.001 |
| Smoking statusa | |||||||
| Never | 1032 | (70.7) | 397 | (64.0) | 635 | (75.6) | |
| Previous | 87 | (6.0) | 52 | (8.4) | 35 | (4.2) | |
| Current | 341 | (23.4) | 171 | (27.6) | 170 | (20.2) | <0.001 |
| Educationa | |||||||
| Primary education | 800 | (57.7) | 325 | (55.5) | 475 | (59.4) | |
| Lower secondary or Vocational education |
383 | (27.6) | 148 | (25.3) | 235 | (29.4) | |
| Upper secondary education | 109 | (7.8) | 62 | (10.6) | 47 | (5.9) | |
| Tertiary education | 49 | (6.9) | 51 | (8.7) | 43 | (5.4) | <0.001 |
| FI | 0.077 | (0.095) | 0.071 | (0.083) | 0.083 | (0.107) | 0.007 |
| FI categorizeda | |||||||
| Relatively fit | 288 | (19.5) | 122 | (19.6) | 166 | (19.4) | |
| Less fit | 622 | (42.1) | 279 | (44.5) | 343 | (40.2) | |
| Least fit | 401 | (27.2) | 175 | (28.1) | 226 | (26.5) | |
| Frail | 166 | (11.2) | 47 | (7.5) | 119 | (13.9) | 0.002 |
| FI categorizeda younger individuals (<65 yrs) |
|||||||
| Relatively fit | 224 | (27.8) | 101 | (28.6) | 123 | (27.1) | |
| Less fit | 378 | (48.0) | 173 | (49.0) | 214 | (47.1) | |
| Least fit | 155 | (19.2) | 66 | (18.7) | 89 | (19.6) | |
| Frail | 41 | (5.0) | 13 | (3.7) | 28 | (6.2) | 0.422 |
| FI categorizeda older individuals (≥65 yrs) |
|||||||
| Relatively fit | 64 | (9.6) | 21 | (7.7) | 43 | (10.8) | |
| Less fit | 235 | (35.1) | 106 | (39.3) | 129 | (32.3) | |
| Least fit | 246 | (36.7) | 109 | (40.4) | 137 | (34.3) | |
| Frail | 125 | (18.7) | 34 | (12.6) | 91 | (22.8) | 0.003 |
| All-cause mortality | |||||||
| Died during follow-upa | 975 | (66.1) | 432 | (69.3) | 543 | (63.6) | 0.021 |
| Median time to death | 14.8 | (12.8) | 13.7 | (13.0) | 15.5 | (12.8) | 0.001 |
| Cancer mortality | |||||||
| Died during follow-upa | 232 | (15.7) | 143 | (23.0) | 89 | (10.4) | <0.001 |
| Median time to death | 12.2 | (11.4) | 11.5 | (12.7) | 13.1 | (9.6) | 0.223 |
| CVD mortality | |||||||
| Died during follow-upa | 347 | (23.5) | 160 | (25.7) | 187 | (21.9) | 0.090 |
| Median time to death | 13.7 | (12.3) | 13.2 | (12.7) | 14.6 | (12.0) | 0.081 |
| Dementia mortality | |||||||
| Died during follow-upa | 78 | (5.3) | 20 | (3.2) | 58 | (6.8) | 0.002 |
| Median time to death | 19.0 | (7.8) | 19.4 | (6.1) | 18.0 | (9.0) | 0.672 |
| Other causes of mortality | |||||||
| Died during follow-upa | 258 | (17.5) | 89 | (14.3) | 169 | (19.8) | 0.006 |
| Median time to death | 14.1 | (11.7) | 14.1 | (11.2) | 13.6 | (11.8) | 0.743 |
Note: n=1442 for information on BMI, n=1460 for smoking status and n=1386 for education. The follow-up time was 30 years for all-cause mortality and 27 years for cause-specific mortality. Other causes of mortality include those not dying of cancer, CVD or dementia
aValues are n (%)
*p for difference between men and women, Mann-Whitney's test for median values and χ2-test for dichotomous variables
Abbreviations: BMI, body mass index; CVD, cardiovascular disease; FI, frailty index; IQR, interquartile range