Table 2.
Characteristics of the analytical sample (n = 23,655; EPIC-Norfolk Cohort)
| Quintile of accordance to DASH | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Least accordant |
2 | 3 | 4 | 5 Most accordant |
|
| Number | 5744 | 5227 | 3703 | 4800 | 4181 |
| Sociodemographic, behavioral and medical risk factors | |||||
| Mean age (years) | 59.7 | 59.4 | 58.9 | 59.1 | 58.0 |
| % Male | 58 | 50 | 44 | 40 | 33 |
| % Current smoker | 19 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 |
| % Overweight and obese | 62 | 62 | 62 | 59 | 55 |
| % Inactivea | 34 | 32 | 31 | 28 | 22 |
| Mean weekly units of alcohol | 7.2 | 7.4 | 7.2 | 7.3 | 6.7 |
| Semi- and non-skilled occupational social classb | 22 | 16 | 16 | 14 | 13 |
| % Single | 4.1 | 3.6 | 3.8 | 3.7 | 4.1 |
| % Diabetesc | 1.5 | 1.7 | 2.8 | 2.7 | 2.9 |
| % Anti-hypertensive medicationd | 17 | 19 | 20 | 19 | 18 |
| % Lipid lowering medicatione | 1.0 | 1.4 | 1.6 | 1.5 | 2.3 |
| % History of CVDf | 4.5 | 4.7 | 4.1 | 4.0 | 4.4 |
| Intermediate risk factors | |||||
| Systolic blood pressure (mmHg) | 136.8 | 136.1 | 134.7 | 135.0 | 133.5 |
| Diastolic blood pressure (mmHg) | 83.4 | 82.8 | 82.2 | 82.2 | 81.5 |
| Total cholesterol (mmol/L) | 6.23 | 6.19 | 6.18 | 6.19 | 6.07 |
| HDL cholesterol (mmol/L) | 1.35 | 1.39 | 1.42 | 1.45 | 1.49 |
| LDL cholesterol (mmol/L) | 4.02 | 3.98 | 3.97 | 3.97 | 3.84 |
| Outcomes | |||||
| Number of incident IHD events | 975 | 818 | 520 | 624 | 494 |
| Number of incident stroke events | 318 | 262 | 157 | 209 | 150 |
| Number of CVD deaths | 479 | 423 | 264 | 289 | 192 |
aLowest category of physical activity; blowest two occupational social groups, based on the Registrar General classification; cself-reported past diagnosis of diabetes; duse of any medications indicated for hypertension; euse of any medications indicated for high cholesterol or dislipidemia; frecorded cardiovascular disease event