Skip to main content
. 2017 Jun 21;187(4):705–716. doi: 10.1093/aje/kwx250

Table 1.

Characteristics of Participants Free of Cancer and Cardiovascular Disease at Baseline, by Baseline Concentrations of Biomarkers of Inflammation (n = 27,071), Women’s Health Study, 1993

Characteristic hsCRP, mg/L Fibrinogen, mg/dL GlycA, μmol/L sICAM-1, ng/mL
Q1, % (median, 0.36) Q5, % (median, 7.74) Q1, % (median, 271.4) Q5, % (median, 457.9) Q1, % (median, 289.0) Q5, % (median, 463.0) Q1, % (median, 267.2) Q5, % (median, 455.8)
Age, yearsa 52.7 (6.7) 55.3 (6.9) 52.7 (3.1) 56.2 (7.7) 53.1 (6.8) 55.2 (7.0) 52.8 (6.3) 55.7 (7.4)
BMIb 22.9 (2.9) 29.4 (6.0) 23.9 (3.7) 28.7 (6.1) 23.4 (3.5) 28.9 (5.8) 24.4 (4.0) 27.5 (5.9)
BMI categoryb
 Normal (18.5–24.9) 79.8 25.8 69.0 31.0 75.0 27.3 65.0 38.7
 Overweight/obese (≥25.0) 20.2 74.3 31.0 69.0 25.0 72.7 35.0 61.3
Menopausal status
 Premenopausal 44.1 17.2 37.8 21.4 37.9 19.7 38.8 17.9
 Postmenopausal 39.8 61.9 45.6 61.1 43.9 60.5 42.2 62.0
 Unsure/perimenopause 11.5 16.5 14.8 12.9 13.7 15.1 13.9 15.2
Hormone therapy use
 Never 66.4 34.5 45.9 54.5 58.0 41.1 52.4 46.4
 Past 8.3 8.1 5.3 13.3 7.4 9.1 5.5 12.7
 Current 25.2 57.1 48.7 31.9 34.4 49.6 42.0 40.8
Hormone therapy type, among ever users
 Estrogen only 78.7 54.6 67.8 67.6 73.5 60.5 71.4 63.2
 Estrogen AND progestogen 13.6 38.7 25.1 24.3 18.7 32.6 21.7 29.9
Oral contraceptive use
 Never 27.6 30.0 23.0 37.6 26.9 30.9 24.8 33.6
 Ever 72.1 69.7 76.6 62.0 72.7 68.8 74.8 66.1
aHEI-2010 diet quality scorea 54.8 (10.3) 52.1 (10.1) 54.5 (10.3) 52.6 (10.2) 55.0 (10.4) 52.0 (10.1) 54.8 (10.3) 51.7 (10.2)
Alcohol consumption
 Never/rarely 38.5 52.2 33.0 54.4 36.5 52.8 37.1 51.6
 1–3 drinks/month 13.4 13.7 11.6 13.8 13.0 14.0 12.7 12.9
 1–6 drinks/week 35.8 26.6 38.0 25.5 38.3 26.0 37.4 26.6
 ≥1 drinks/day 12.4 7.5 17.4 6.3 12.2 7.2 12.9 8.9
Leisure-time physical activity level, MET-hours/weeka 17.9 (20.7) 11.4 (15.3) 16.9 (19.7) 12.0 (16.2) 18.1 (21.0) 11.5 (15.3) 16.7 (19.4) 11.9 (17.3)
Smoking status
 Never 53.9 50.0 53.2 47.9 56.1 48.2 56.9 38.0
 Past 36.0 36.7 39.1 35.2 36.6 35.7 39.2 29.9
 Current 10.0 13.2 7.6 16.8 7.3 16.0 3.9 32.0
Age at menarche, years
 ≤11 21.4 27.9 22.2 28.1 20.9 28.5 21.3 27.7
 12 27.0 28.7 27.7 27.9 28.4 29.8 28.9 27.8
 13 30.9 27.4 30.5 27.5 31.0 26.4 31.0 26.6
 ≥14 20.7 16.0 19.6 16.5 19.8 15.3 18.8 17.9
Parity
 Nulliparous 14.1 12.2 11.9 15.6 14.1 12.4 13.7 12.3
 Parous (pregnancy ≥6 months) 85.3 87.2 87.5 84.7 85.2 87.0 85.7 87.1
Parity among parous individuals 2.7 (1.2) 3.0 (1.3) 2.8 (1.2) 3.0 (1.3) 2.8 (1.2) 3.0 (1.3) 2.8 (1.2) 3.0 (1.3)
Age at first birth, years
 <30 87.1 90.1 88.1 89.3 86.1 89.9 87.6 88.9
 ≥30 12.9 9.9 11.9 10.7 13.9 10.1 12.4 11.1
History of benign breast disease 40.1 31.6 40.1 31.7 39.6 31.1 39.1 31.5
Family history of breast cancer in relative <60 years old 6.4 6.0 5.7 6.5 5.9 5.9 6.0 6.4
Mammography screening in past year 59.3 62.7 64.7 58.3 62.1 61.5 63.4 56.6
White race/ethnicity 94.5 94.5 96.1 92.8 93.7 94.5 91.7 95.5

Abbreviations: aHEI-2010, Alternative Healthy Eating Index 2010 dietary quality score; BMI, body mass index; GlycA, N-linked glycoproteins; hsCRP, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein; MET, metabolic equivalent of tasks; Q, quintile; sICAM-1, soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1.

a Values are presented as mean (standard deviation).

b Weight (kg)/height (m)2.