TABLE 1.

Age-standardized baseline characteristics among women in the Nurses’ Health Study II according to quintile of dietary scores (1991)¹

	AMED			DASH			AHEI-2010
	Q1	Q3	Q5	Q1	Q3	Q5	Q1	Q3	Q5
Median score2	2.0	4.0	6.0	17.0	24.0	31.0	34.0	47.0	62.0
N	16,490	13,409	15,962	15,029	15,617	12,567	14,232	15,077	14,677
Age,3 y	35.8	36.2	36.7	36.0	36.2	36.4	35.5	36.2	37.0
White race, %	95.1	95.1	94.5	94.7	94.7	95.9	95.7	95.0	94.5
BMI, kg/m2	25.0	24.5	23.9	25.0	24.5	23.7	25.1	24.5	23.7
Waist circ. (1993), cm	79.1	78.1	76.5	79.3	78.0	76.2	80.1	78.0	75.9
Physical activity,4 METs	15.5	20.3	27.0	14.4	20.1	30.1	14.4	19.7	29.6
Smoking, %
Never	66.0	66.8	65.7	63.0	67.2	67.2	70.3	67.1	61.6
Past	19.2	22.5	25.9	18.7	22.9	26.4	16.0	21.6	29.5
Current	14.6	10.4	8.2	18.2	9.6	6.2	13.6	11.1	8.7
Hypertension, %	6.8	6.0	5.6	6.8	5.7	5.1	6.7	6.0	5.3
Diabetes, %	0.7	0.9	0.8	0.6	0.8	0.8	0.7	0.9	0.8
Tinnitus, %	8.6	9.2	9.1	8.7	8.9	9.2	9.4	8.5	8.9
Ibuprofen use,5 %	9.5	9.1	9.0	9.5	9.1	8.1	9.5	9.2	9.0
Acetaminophen use,5 %	8.1	7.6	6.9	8.5	7.6	6.4	9.4	7.5	5.7

¹Values are means or percentages and are standardized to the age distribution of the study population. Polytomous variables may not sum to 100% because of rounding. AHEI-2010, the Alternative Healthy Eating Index-2010 dietary pattern; AMED, the Alternate Mediterranean diet pattern; DASH, the Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension dietary pattern; MET, metabolic equivalent task from recreational and leisure-time activities; Q, quintile; Waist circ., waist circumference.

²Median dietary pattern adherence score at baseline in cumulative average diet analysis.

³Means.

⁴Medians not age-standardized.

⁵≥2 d/wk.