Table 1. Population characteristics.
| Characteristics | Baseline | Follow-up |
| N = 2,906 | N = 636 | |
| Age, years | 66.1 (7.3) | |
| Female, % | 56.7 | |
| Education level, % | ||
| Primary | 7.3 | |
| Lower | 36.6 | |
| Middle | 29.4 | |
| High | 25.9 | |
| Hypertension, % | 47.5 | |
| Hypercholesterolemia, % | 55.5 | |
| Diabetes, % | 8.2 | |
| Smoking, % | ||
| Never | 32.1 | |
| Former | 52.4 | |
| Current | 15.0 | |
| Physical activity, MET-hours per week | 48.0 (IQR: 19.7-86.6) | |
| Baseline hearing thresholds | ||
| Overall frequency hearing loss, dB | 24.1 (12.1) | |
| Low frequency hearing loss, dB | 14.5 (9.3) | |
| High frequency hearing loss, dB | 32.6 (17.4) | |
| Hearing thresholds for participants with 2 hearing assessments (N = 636) | ||
| Overall frequency hearing loss, dB | 30.0 (10.8) | 32.5 (11.3) |
| Low frequency hearing loss, dB | 17.6 (9.1) | 18.1 (10.0) |
| High frequency hearing loss, dB | 41.4 (15.7) | 46.2 (15.9) |
| Body composition | ||
| Length, cm | 170.0 (9.3) | |
| Weight, kg | 79.1 (14.4) | |
| Body mass index, kg/m2 | 27.3 (4.1) | |
| Fat mass index, kg/m2 | 9.9 (3.2) | |
| Fat free mass index, kg/m2 | 17.4 (2.1) | |
| Dietary characteristics | ||
| Energy intake* | 2,119 (1,706-2,600) | |
| Dietary guideline adherence score* | 7 (6-8) |
Values are based on imputed data. Numbers of missings per variable were 360 for formerly smoking, 314 for never smoking and 207 for physical activity. Values are mean (standard deviation) for continuous variables or median (interquartile range) when indicated (*), percentages for dichotomous variables. MET: metabolic equivalent of task. dB: decibel. cm: centimeter. kg: kilogram. m: meter. IQR: interquartile range.