TABLE 2.

Basel ine Sociodemographic Characteristics by AL Category^a at Baseline and at Year 5

	Baseline			Year 5
	Low AL (<6) (n = 530)	High AL (≥6) (n = 203)	p	Low AL (<6) (n = 458)	High AL (≥6) (n = 275)	p
Age, y	56.5 (7.2)	57.7 (7.6)	.04	56.2 (7.2)	57.8 (7.5)	.004
Women	73.4	66.0	.048	72.5	69.5	.38
Income-to-poverty ratio	125 (118)	128(109)	.77	125 (119)	126 (110)	.94
≤8th grade educational attainment	47.5	45.3	.61	48.5	44.2	.26
Currently employed	19.6	13.8	.07	20.5	13.8	.02
Born outside continental US	98.3	94.6	.01	96.9	97.8	.64
Household size	2.3 (1.4)	2.2 (1.4)	.17	2.3 (1.4)	2.3 (1.5)	.78
Years living in US	33.4 (11.5)	34.2 (12.4)	.40	33.2 (11.6)	34.2 (12.0)	.29
Language acculturation scoreb	23.4 (21.5)	22.6 (22.5)	.67	23.2 (21.7)	23.1 (22.0)	.96
SNAP participation	35.2	36.7	.71	35.4	36.0	.88
Smoking status
Never	47.7	43.8		47.8	44.7
Former	28.7	31.0	.64	27.7	32.0	.47
Current	23.6	25.1		24.5	23.3
Alcohol intake status
Never	30.4	27.1		30.5	27.7
Former	28.1	34.5	.24	26.8	35.0	.06
Current	41.6	38.4		42.8	37.2
Perceived stress scorec	23.7 (9.3)	23.7 (8.9)	.98	23.7 (9.5)	23.8 (8.7)	.96
Food insecured	34.3	32.5	.64	32.5	36.0	.34
Physical activity scoree	31.8 (4.8)	30.8(3.6)	.004	31.8(4.7)	31.1 (4.1)	.03
Total HEI-2005 scoref	71.8 (10.0)	72.0 (8.5)	.86	71.3 (10.1)	72.5 (8.8)	.085

US = United States; SNAP = Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program; HEI-2005 = Healthy Eating Index-2005; AL = allostatic load.

Analyses included t tests for continuous variables (M (SD)) and χ² (or Fisher exact test when appropriate) for categorical variables (%).

^aLow AL defined as <4 dysregulated systems. High AL defined as ≥4 dysregulated systems. Definition included clinical cutoffs and medication usage.

^bHigher scores on the language acculturation assessment (range = 0–100) indicated greater acculturation (more use of English).

^cHigher scores on the PSS (range = 0–40) indicated higher perceived stress in life.

^dFI at least once at baseline or 5-year follow-up using the United States Department of Agriculture 10-item adult food security survey module.

^ePhysical activity scores were a sum of reported hours spent in typical activities over a 24-hour period, multiplied by appropriate weighting factors associated with activity intensity/oxygen consumption. Higher scores indicated greater level of physical activity.

^fThe HEI-2005 was a 12-component measure of overall diet quality relative to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, and higher scores indicated better diet quality (range = 0–100).