Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of participants according to total cholesterol (TC) and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) levels a.
| Variables | TC | p-Value | LDL-C | p-Value | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| <200 mg/dL (n = 6593) |
≥200 mg/dL (n = 4720) |
<130 mg/dL (n = 7561) |
≥130 mg/dL (n = 3752) |
|||
| TC (mg/dL) | 171.49 ± 0.30 | 227.56 ± 0.43 | <0.001 | 177.97 ± 0.36 | 229.23 ± 0.49 | <0.001 |
| LDL-C (mg/dL) | 99.98 ± 0.29 | 144.07 ± 0.41 | <0.001 | 101.44 ± 0.26 | 152.72 ± 0.39 | <0.001 |
| Age (years) | 44.38 ± 0.16 | 47.08 ± 0.18 | <0.001 | 44.59 ± 0.15 | 47.38 ± 0.20 | <0.001 |
| Men, n (%) | 2443 (47.5) | 1754 (48.5) | 0.363 | 2761 (46.8) | 1436 (50.3) | 0.002 |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 23.46 ± 0.05 | 24.55 ± 0.06 | <0.001 | 23.52 ± 0.05 | 24.70 ± 0.06 | <0.001 |
| Education level, n (%) | ||||||
| ≤Elementary | 643 (8.0) | 644 (10.7) | <0.001 | 727 (7.8) | 560 (11.7) | <0.001 |
| Middle | 563 (7.7) | 555 (10.6) | 681 (8.2) | 437 (10.3) | ||
| High | 2385 (37.5) | 1695 (36.7) | 2774 (38.0) | 1306 (35.5) | ||
| ≥College | 3002 (46.8) | 1826 (42.0) | 3379 (45.9) | 1449 (42.5) | ||
| Household income, n (%) | ||||||
| Low | 513 (7.1) | 431 (8.4) | 0.081 | 586 (7.2) | 358 (8.6) | 0.136 |
| Low-middle | 1567 (24.3) | 1142 (23.3) | 1798 (24.0) | 911 (23.4) | ||
| Upper-middle | 2158 (33.3) | 1481 (32.1) | 2453 (32.8) | 1186 (32.7) | ||
| High | 2355 (35.4) | 1666 (36.2) | 2724 (36.0) | 1297 (35.2) | ||
| Smoking, n (%) | ||||||
| Never | 4245 (56.7) | 2984 (54.5) | 0.121 | 4839 (56.4) | 2390 (54.5) | 0.165 |
| Former | 1135 (19.8) | 847 (21.4) | 1312 (19.9) | 670 (21.7) | ||
| Current | 1213 (23.4) | 889 (24.1) | 1410 (23.7) | 692 (23.8) | ||
| Drinking, n (%) | 3681 (59.3) | 2577 (60.0) | 0.492 | 4349 (61.2) | 1909 (56.3) | <0.001 |
| Physical activity, n (%) | 3148 (49.2) | 2162 (46.5) | 0.024 | 3605 (48.9) | 1705 (46.3) | 0.026 |
| Dietary cholesterol (mg/day) | 253.84 ± 2.60 | 254.29 ± 2.91 | 0.905 | 256.52 ± 2.46 | 248.99 ± 3.12 | 0.050 |
| Energy (kcal/day) | 2061.49 ± 11.71 | 2059.26 ± 13.45 | 0.894 | 2074.57 ± 11.20 | 2032.19 ± 15.01 | 0.018 |
| Nutrients (% of energy) | ||||||
| Carbohydrate | 64.68 ± 0.13 | 64.47 ± 0.16 | 0.298 | 64.23 ± 0.12 | 65.33 ± 0.18 | <0.001 |
| Protein | 13.00 ± 0.04 | 12.93 ± 0.04 | 0.165 | 13.01 ± 0.03 | 12.90 ± 0.04 | 0.034 |
| Fat | 17.23 ± 0.09 | 17.10 ± 0.10 | 0.266 | 17.27 ± 0.09 | 16.97 ± 0.11 | 0.019 |
| SFA | 5.00 ± 0.03 | 4.96 ± 0.03 | 0.367 | 5.01 ± 0.03 | 4.93 ± 0.04 | 0.069 |
| MUFA | 5.26 ± 0.03 | 5.22 ± 0.03 | 0.348 | 5.28 ± 0.03 | 5.17 ± 0.04 | 0.016 |
| PUFA | 4.66 ± 0.03 | 4.62 ± 0.03 | 0.238 | 4.67 ± 0.02 | 4.58 ± 0.03 | 0.020 |
| Foods (servings/week) | ||||||
| Egg | 2.52 ± 0.03 | 2.54 ± 0.04 | 0.694 | 2.54 ± 0.03 | 2.51 ± 0.05 | 0.590 |
| White meat | 0.79 ± 0.01 | 0.77 ± 0.01 | 0.189 | 0.80 ± 0.01 | 0.74 ± 0.02 | 0.001 |
| Red meat | 3.38 ± 0.05 | 3.25 ± 0.01 | 0.050 | 3.40 ± 0.04 | 3.17 ± 0.06 | 0.001 |
| Processed meat | 0.63 ± 0.02 | 0.59 ± 0.02 | 0.089 | 0.63 ± 0.01 | 0.58 ± 0.02 | 0.033 |
a Continuous variables were expressed as means ± standard error of the mean (SEM), while categorical variables as subject number (percentage distribution). SFA, saturated fatty acid; MUFA, monounsaturated fatty acid; PUFA, polyunsaturated fatty acid.