Table 1.
Baseline Characteristics of the 25,871 VITAL Participants, According to Randomized Assignment to Marine Omega-3 Fatty Acids.a
| Baseline Characteristic |
All Participants | Treatment Group | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Omega-3s | Placebo | ||
| N | 25,871 | 12,933 | 12,938 |
| Sex, % female | 13085 (50.6) | 6547 (50.6) | 6538 (50.5) |
| Mean age ± SD, years | 67.1 ± 7.1 | 67.2 ± 7.1 | 67.1 ± 7.1 |
| Race/ethnicity, % | |||
| Non-Hispanic White | 18046 (71.3) | 9044 (71.5) | 9002 (71.2) |
| African American | 5106 (20.2) | 2549 (20.1) | 2557 (20.2) |
| Hispanic (not African American) | 1013 (4.0) | 491 (3.9) | 522 (4.1) |
| Asian/Pacific Islander | 388 (1.5) | 200 (1.6) | 188 (1.5) |
| American Indian/Alaskan Native | 228 (0.9) | 120 (0.9) | 108 (0.9) |
| Other/unknown | 523 (2.1) | 249 (2.0) | 274 (2.2) |
| Mean body mass index ± SD, kg/m2 | 28.1 (5.7) | 28.1 ± 5.7 | 28.1 ± 5.8 |
| Current smoking, % | 1836 ( 7.2) | 920 ( 7.2) | 916 ( 7.2) |
| Hypertension, treated with medication, %, | 12791 (49.8) | 6338 (49.3) | 6453 (50.2) |
| Cholesterol-lowering medication (current use), % | 9524 (37.5) | 4788 (37.7) | 4736 (37.2) |
| Diabetes, % | 3549 (13.7) | 1799 (13.9) | 1750 (13.5) |
a
Abbreviations: SD = standard deviation. There were no significant differences in the baseline characteristics between the groups.