Table 1.
Characteristics of diabetes cases and matched controls in men and women*
| Men | Women | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cases (n = 236) | Controls (n = 236) | P-value† | Cases (n = 335) | Controls (n = 335) | P-value† | |
| Age at blood taken, years | 60.3 ± 6.23 | 60.3 ± 6.32 | – | 59.2 ± 6.03 | 59.3 ± 6.11 | – |
| Dialect (%) | – | – | ||||
| Cantonese | 107 (45.3) | 107 (45.3) | 180 (53.0) | 180 (53.0) | ||
| Hokkien | 129 (54.7) | 129 (54.7) | 155 (46.3) | 155 (46.3) | ||
| Body mass index, kg/m2 | 24.6 ± 3.60 | 22.9 ± 3.26 | < 0.001 | 24.9 ± 3.64 | 22.7 ± 3.29 | < 0.001 |
| Menopausal status | – | 0.75 | ||||
| Premenopausal | – | – | 49 (14.6) | 52 (15.5) | ||
| Postmenopausal | – | – | 286 (85.4) | 283 (84.5) | ||
| Level of education (%) | 0.21 | 0.80 | ||||
| No formal education | 12 (5.08) | 11 (4.66) | 92 (27.5) | 88 (26.3) | ||
| Primary school | 119 (50.4) | 101 (42.8) | 136 (40.6) | 132 (39.4) | ||
| Secondary and above | 105 (44.5) | 124 (52.5) | 107 (31.9) | 115 (34.3) | ||
| History of hypertension (%) | 108 (45.8) | 62 (26.3) | < 0.001 | 157 (46.9) | 86 (25.7) | < 0.001 |
| Cigarette smoking (%) | 0.13 | 0.04 | ||||
| Never smokers | 100 (42.4) | 101 (42.8) | 310 (92.5) | 324 (96.7) | ||
| Former smoker | 52 (22.0) | 68 (28.8) | 11 (3.3) | 3 (0.9) | ||
| Current smokers | 84 (35.6) | 67 (28.4) | 14 (4.2) | 8 (2.4) | ||
| Weekly moderate activity (%) | 0.29 | 0.34 | ||||
| < 0.5 h/week | 182 (77.1) | 184 (78.0) | 274 (81.8) | 270 (80.6) | ||
| 0.5–3.9 h/week | 39 (16.5) | 30 (12.7) | 43 (12.8) | 38 (11.3) | ||
| ≥ 4 h/week | 15 (6.36) | 22 (9.32) | 18 (5.4) | 27 (8.1) | ||
| Alcohol intake (%) | 0.45 | 0.28 | ||||
| Abstainers | 183 (77.5) | 193 (81.8) | 315 (94.0) | 304 (90.8) | ||
| Weekly drinkers | 38 (16.1) | 33 (14.0) | 17 (5.1) | 26 (7.8) | ||
| Daily drinkers | 15 (6.36) | 10 (4.24) | 3 (0.9) | 5 (1.5) | ||
| Fasting status (yes, %) | 71 (30.1) | 68 (28.8) | 0.76 | 107 (31.9) | 88 (26.3) | 0.11 |
| RBP4, μg/mL | 30 (24–36) | 30 (25–34) | 0.93 | 27 (22–33) | 24 (21–30) | 0.001 |
| Ferritin, μg/L | 236 (151–337) | 179 (115–251) | < 0.001 | 150 (85–230) | 104 (63–160) | < 0.001 |
| ALT, IU/L | 30 (22–40) | 22 (17–29) | < 0.001 | 25 (19–34) | 19 (14–25) | < 0.001 |
| TC, mmol/L | 5.05 ± 0.82 | 5.12 ± 0.97 | 0.37 | 5.43 ± 0.91 | 5.31 ± 0.86 | 0.06 |
| HDL-C, mmol/L | 0.99 ± 0.19 | 1.10 ± 0.28 | < 0.001 | 1.15 ± 0.24 | 1.32 ± 0.32 | < 0.001 |
| TG, mmol/L | 2.2 (1.5–3.2) | 1.7 (1.2–2.4) | < 0.001 | 2.1 (1.5–2.8) | 1.5 (1.0–2.0) | < 0.001 |
| Adiponectin, μg/mL | 6.31 ± 2.40 | 7.67 ± 2.75 | < 0.001 | 7.48 ± 2.79 | 10.1 ± 4.05 | < 0.001 |
| Hs-CRP, mg/L | 1.5 (0.8–2.9) | 1.1 (0.4–2.1) | 0.001 | 2.3 (1.2–4.2) | 1.3 (0.7–2.5) | < 0.001 |
| Random insulin, mIU/L | 15.3 (7.6–37.8) | 8.5 (4.4–21.6) | < 0.001 | 14.4 (8.2–33.8) | 9.0 (4.5–21.7) | < 0.001 |
| Random glucose, mmol/L | 6.0 (4.8–8.8) | 4.5 (4.0–5.3) | < 0.001 | 6.1 (4.8–9.0) | 4.6 (4.1–5.4) | < 0.001 |
| HbA1c, % | 6.4 (5.9–7.0) | 5.6 (5.4–5.8) | < 0.001 | 6.5 (6.0–7.2) | 5.6 (5.4–5.8) | < 0.001 |
| HbA1c, mmol/mol | 46 (41–53) | 38 (36–40) | < 0.001 | 48 (42–55) | 38 (36–40) | < 0.001 |
*Data are expressed as mean ± standard deviation for continuous variables (normally distributed) and median (interquartile range) for continuous variables (skewed distributed), and n (percentage) for categorical variables. Cases and controls are matched on age at blood taken (±3 years), gender, dialect (Cantonese, Hokkien), and date of blood collection (±6 months).
†P values based on the chi-square test for categorical variables, student’s t-test for normally-distributed continuous variables and Mann-Whitney test for skewed continuous variable.
Abbreviations: ALT alanine aminotransferase, HbA1c hemoglobin A1c, HDL-C HDL cholesterol, hs-CRP high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, RBP4 retinol binding protein 4, TC total cholesterol, TG triglycerides