Table 1. Associations between carotid atherosclerosis and socio-demographic, lifestyle and clinical characteristics.
| Variables | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | CA (+) | CA (-) | p | |
| Women number, n | 823 | 105 | 718 | - |
| Age, yearsa | 54.4 ± 5.4 | 56.6 ± 5.2 | 54.1 ± 5.4 | < 0.001 |
| Skin color, (n, %)b | ||||
| White | 251(30%) | 32 (30%) | 219 (31%) | - |
| Mulata | 406 (49%) | 59 (56%) | 374 (52%) | 0.728 |
| Black | 139 (174%) | 14 (13%) | 125 (17%) | 0.433 |
| Income, (n, %)b | ||||
| > 2 wages | 133(16%) | 22 (21%) | 111 (15%) | - |
| ≥ 1 and < 2 wages | 364(44%) | 43 (41%) | 321 (45%) | 0.955 |
| < 1 wages | 134(16%) | 20 (19%) | 114 (16%) | 0.717 |
| Lifestyleb | ||||
| Sedentary | 233(28%) | 34 (32%) | 199 (28%) | 0.977 |
| Current smokers, (n,%) | 84 (10%) | 18 (17%) | 66 (9%) | 0.014 |
| No Fruit / vegetable intake / day, (n, %) | 48 (6%) | 7 (7%) | 41 (6%) | 0.845 |
| Medical historyb | ||||
| Family dx CHD (n, %) | 308 (37%) | 46 (44%) | 262 (36%) | 0.156 |
| Hypertension (n, %) | 477 (58%) | 76 (72%) | 401 (48%) | 0.002 |
| Diabetes (n, %) | 81(10%) | 15 (2%) | 66 (8%) | 0.113 |
| Depressed (n, %) | 172 (21%) | 22 (14%) | 150 (56%) | 0.791 |
| Climacteric variablesb | ||||
| Post-menopausal | 634 (77%) | 86 (82%) | 548 (76%) | 0.222 |
| Hot flashes (n, %) | 485 (59%) | 57 (54%) | 428 (60%) | 0.286 |
| FRSb | ||||
| < 5% | 666 (81%) | 73 (70%) | 593 (83%) | - |
| 6–10% | 49 (6%) | 9 (9%) | 40 (6%) | 0.121 |
| >10% | 107 (13%) | 23 (22%) | 84 (12%) | 0.003 |
| Physical characteristicsa | ||||
| BMI, kg/m2 | 28.5 ± 4.9 | 28.3 ± 4.9 | 28.5 ± 4.9 | 0.647 |
| Waist circ., cm | 91 ± 11 | 91 ± 11 | 91 ± 11 | 0.581 |
| Systolic BP, mm Hg | 128 ± 20 | 133 ± 19 | 127 ± 20 | 0.003 |
| Diastolic BP, mm Hg | 83 ± 12 | 85 ± 12 | 83 ± 12 | 0.304 |
aContinuous variables are presented as the means ± SDs.
bNominal variables are presented as absolute numbers and percentages.
Abbreviations: CA: Carotid atherosclerosis, dx CHD: diagnosis of coronary heart disease, FRS: Framingham Risk Score, BMI: body mass index, Circ: circumference, BP: blood pressure.