TABLE 2.

Descriptive characteristics of NIH-AARP* Diet and Health Study participants based on upper (quintile 5) and lower (quintile 1) index scores for the Healthy Eating Index-2005, Alternate Healthy Eating Index, Mediterranean Diet Score, and Recommended Food Score

	No.	Range of index (points)	Colorectal cancer (cases)	Age (years)	Ethnicity (% white)	Education (% college graduates)	Body mass index (kg/m2)	Smoking (% never)	Physical activity (% ≥5 times/week)	Energy intake (calories)
	Men
Healthy Eating Index-2005
Quintile 1	58,723	21–55	520	61.5	93.0	33.5	27.3	20.3	15.6	2,350
Quintile 5	58,723	76–97	360†	62.8†	92.3†	52.6†	26.9†	36.7†	28.2†	1,786†
Alternate Healthy Eating Index
Quintile 1	58,723	15–41	509	61.9	93.0	33.5	27.6	26.8	13.2	1,580
Quintile 5	58,723	56–88	370†	62.3†	94.1†	54.8†	26.7†	33.4†	31.1†	2,451†
Mediterranean Diet Score
Quintile 1	50,217	0–2	431	61.5	93.6	33.4	27.7	23.9	15.5	2,258
Quintile 5	75,210	6–9	443†	62.6	92.6†	54.3†	26.7†	29.3†	27.5†	1,865
Recommended Food Score
Quintile 1	62,472	0–6	529	61.6	90.7	34.3	27.6	23.4	14.2	1,660
Quintile 5	60,008	16–38	404‡	62.6†	91.9†	51.5†	27.0†	36.2†	29.3†	2,411†
	Women
Healthy Eating Index-2005
Quintile 1	39,753	20–60	218	61.2	89.5	21.8	27.1	36.1	10.5	1,756
Quintile 5	39,753	79–94	167†	62.5†	89.7†	35.8†	26.5†	49.8†	21.2†	1,484†
Alternate Healthy Eating Index
Quintile 1	39,753	13–41	220	61.9	89.4	20.4	27.0	42.2	9.4	1,563
Quintile 5	39,753	56–88	173	62.0†	88.8†	39.2†	25.9†	46.0†	24.1†	1,966†
Mediterranean Diet Score
Quintile 1	32,197	0–2	168	61.4	91.1	21.2	27.6	40.5	10.6	1,706
Quintile 5	44,438	6–9	197§	62.1†	89.1†	39.2†	25.9†	46.1†	22.3†	1,510†
Recommended Food Score
Quintile 1	38,024	0–6	176	61.3	88.0	22.2	27.1	37.2	10.0	1,214
Quintile 5	38,539	17–38	181	62.2†	86.8†	33.8†	26.7†	51.7†	22.5†	2,063†

^*NIH-AARP, National Institutes of Health-AARP.

^†Difference between quintile 1 and quintile 5 (t test or chi-square statistic) is statistically significant at p < 0.0001.

^‡Difference between quintile 1 and quintile 5 (t test or chi-square statistic) is statistically significant at p = 0.0005.

^§Difference between quintile 1 and quintile 5 (t test or chi-square statistic) is statistically significant at p = 0.0092.