Table 1.
Participants’ characteristics according to total cholesterol categories.
| Variables | Characteristics | Total | Desirable | Borderline | High |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| <200 mg/dL | 200–239 mg/dL | ≥240 mg/dL | |||
| N = 12,815,006 | n = 7,633,687 | n = 3,739,930 | n = 1,441,389 | ||
| Total cholesterol | mg/dLa | 194.2 ± 49.0 | 169.1 ± 20.8 | 216.6 ± 11.1 | 268.9 ± 92.3 |
| Age | years | 44.4 ± 14.2 | 42.1 ± 14.3 | 46.9 ± 13.5 | 49.8 ± 13.0 |
| Systolic blood pressure | mm Hg | 124.1 ± 17.3 | 122.0 ± 16.6 | 126.3 ± 17.4 | 129.4 ± 18.2 |
| Fasting serum glucose | mg/dLb | 94.9 ± 31.0 | 92.6 ± 27.9 | 96.7 ± 30.6 | 102.7 ± 43.4 |
| Body mass index | kg/m2 | 23.5 ± 3.2 | 22.9 ± 3.1 | 24.2 ± 3.1 | 24.8 ± 3.1 |
| Sex | Women | 7,292,064 (56.9) | 4,327,185 (56.7) | 2,178,135 (58.2) | 786,744 (54.6) |
| Men | 5,522,942 (43.1) | 3,306,502 (43.3) | 1,561,795 (41.8) | 654,645 (45.4) | |
| Smoking status | Never smoker | 3,653,334 (28.5) | 2,195,184 (28.8) | 1,063,607 (28.4) | 394,543 (27.4) |
| Past smoker | 7,425,581 (57.9) | 4,426,732 (58.0) | 2,152,551 (57.6) | 846,298 (58.7) | |
| Current smoker | 1,099,436 (8.6) | 619,146 (8.1) | 347,798 (9.3) | 132,492 (9.2) | |
| Missing | 636,655 (5.0) | 392,625 (5.1) | 175,974 (4.7) | 68,056 (4.7) | |
| Alcohol use frequency, days | None | 6,102,884 (47.6) | 3,538,707 (46.4) | 1,814,686 (48.5) | 749,491 (52.0) |
| 2/month-2/week | 4,980,284 (38.9) | 3,080,461 (40.4) | 1,409,936 (37.7) | 489,887 (34.0) | |
| 3–7/week | 1,237,846 (9.7) | 714,422 (9.4) | 375,968 (10.1) | 147,456 (10.2) | |
| Missing | 493,992 (3.9) | 300,097 (3.9) | 139,340 (3.7) | 54,555 (3.8) | |
| Physical activity | ≥1 times/week | 5,158,300 (40.3) | 3,028,392 (39.7) | 1,545,436 (41.3) | 584,472 (40.5) |
| History of heart disease | Yes | 107,365 (0.8) | 57,802 (0.8) | 33,851 (0.9) | 15,712 (1.1) |
| History of stroke | Yes | 48,669 (0.4) | 24,739 (0.3) | 16,087 (0.4) | 7,843 (0.5) |
| History of cancer | Yes | 49,237 (0.4) | 28,985 (0.4) | 14,213 (0.4) | 6,039 (0.4) |
| Age group, years | 18–34 | 3,729,737 (29.1) | 2,739,434 (35.9) | 785,022 (21.0) | 205,281 (14.2) |
| 35–44 | 3,256,771 (25.4) | 1,977,540 (25.9) | 957,884 (25.6) | 321,347 (22.3) | |
| 45–54 | 2,717,047 (21.2) | 1,388,813 (18.2) | 931,679 (24.9) | 396,555 (27.5) | |
| 55–64 | 1,863,363 (14.5) | 887,619 (11.6) | 655,108 (17.5) | 320,636 (22.2) | |
| 65–74 | 994,911 (7.8) | 502,150 (6.6) | 331,674 (8.9) | 161,087 (11.2) | |
| 75–99 | 253,177 (2.0) | 138,131 (1.8) | 78,563 (2.1) | 36,483 (2.5) | |
| Total cholesterol, mg/dL | <120 | 122,981 (1.0) | 122,981 (1.6) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) |
| 120–129 | 185,401 (1.4) | 185,401 (2.4) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | |
| 130–139 | 402,908 (3.1) | 402,908 (5.3) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | |
| 140–149 | 642,593 (5.0) | 642,593 (8.4) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | |
| 150–159 | 935,938 (7.3) | 935,938 (12.3) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | |
| 160–169 | 1,189,951 (9.3) | 1,189,951 (15.6) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | |
| 170–179 | 1,349,594 (10.5) | 1,349,594 (17.7) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | |
| 180–189 | 1,418,033 (11.1) | 1,418,033 (18.6) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | |
| 190–199 | 1,386,288 (10.8) | 1,386,288 (18.2) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | |
| 200–209 | 1,227,973 (9.6) | 0 (0.0) | 1,227,973 (32.8) | 0 (0.0) | |
| 210–219 | 1,037,227 (8.1) | 0 (0.0) | 1,037,227 (27.7) | 0 (0.0) | |
| 220–229 | 850,522 (6.6) | 0 (0.0) | 850,522 (22.7) | 0 (0.0) | |
| 230–239 | 624,208 (4.9) | 0 (0.0) | 624,208 (16.7) | 0 (0.0) | |
| 240–249 | 456,833 (3.6) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 456,833 (31.7) | |
| 250–259 | 342,597 (2.7) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 342,597 (23.8) | |
| 260–269 | 224,887 (1.8) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 224,887 (15.6) | |
| 270–279 | 136,285 (1.1) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 136,285 (9.5) | |
| ≥280 | 280,787 (2.2) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 280,787 (19.5) |
Data are expressed as mean ± SD or n (%).
The p values, which were calculated by the chi-square test and 1-way ANOVA across the cholesterol groups, were <0.001 for each variable.
aTo convert total cholesterol from mg/dL to mmol/L, multiply by 0.02586.
bTo convert glucose from mg/dL to mmol/L, multiply by 0.0555.
SD, standard deviation; ANOVA, analysis of variance.