Table 1.
Sociodemographic, lifestyle, and self-reported comorbidities by vitamin C deficiency status.
| Deficiency in Vitamin C Concentration < 11 mol/L; n = 315 | Suboptimal Vitamin C Concentration ≥ 11–28 mol/L; n = 2410 | Adequate Vitamin C Concentration > 28 mol/L; n = 19,749 | Odds Ratio (Deficient vs. Adequate Vitamin C) | 95% CI | p-Value | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age (mean SD) | 62.5 | (9.5) | 60.7 | (9.6) | 59.0 | (9.2) | 1.04 | (1.03–1.06) | <0.01 | |
| BMI (median IQR) | 25.9 | (23.4–28.5) | 26.4 | (24.2–29.1) | 25.8 | (23.7–28.2) | 0.99 | (0.96–1.02) | 0.57 | |
| Number (%) | ||||||||||
| Sex | Male | 222 | (70.5) | 1554 | (64.5) | 8491 | (43) | 3.16 | (2.48–4.04) | <0.01 |
| Female | 93 | (29.5) | 856 | (35.5) | 11,258 | (57) | 1 | |||
| Smoking status | Current smoker | 120 | (38.7) | 638 | (26.7) | 1797 | (9.2) | 8.82 | (6.56–11.86) | <0.01 |
| Former smoker | 118 | (38.1) | 1045 | (43.8) | 8298 | (42.3) | 1.88 | (1.40–2.52) | <0.01 | |
| Non-smoker | 72 | (23.2) | 703 | (29.5) | 9510 | (48.5) | 1 | |||
| Physical activity | Inactive | 156 | (49.5) | 982 | (40.7) | 5643 | (28.6) | 3.22 | (2.20–4.72) | <0.01 |
| Moderately inactive | 75 | (23.8) | 581 | (24.1) | 5764 | (29.2) | 1.52 | (1.00–2.30) | 0.05 | |
| Moderately active | 52 | (16.5) | 464 | (19.3) | 4612 | (23.4) | 1.31 | (0.84–2.05) | 0.23 | |
| Active | 32 | (10.2) | 383 | (15.9) | 3729 | (18.9) | 1 | |||
| Alcohol intake | None | 101 | (33.3) | 568 | (24.7) | 3594 | (18.8) | 2.17 | (1.66–2.84) | <0.01 |
| 1 to ≤7 units a week | 115 | (38) | 1024 | (44.5) | 8882 | (46.4) | 1 | |||
| >7 to ≤14 units a week | 41 | (13.5) | 361 | (15.7) | 3812 | (19.9) | 0.83 | (0.58–1.19) | 0.31 | |
| >14 units a week | 46 | (15.2) | 349 | (15.2) | 2862 | (14.9) | 1.24 | (0.88–1.75) | 0.22 | |
| Sociodemographic | ||||||||||
| Townsend score | Least deprived (<−3.82) | 53 | (16.9) | 401 | (16.7) | 3994 | (20.3) | 1 | ||
| 2 (−3.82 to −2.96) | 38 | (12.1) | 421 | (17.5) | 4034 | (20.5) | 0.71 | (0.47–1.08) | 0.11 | |
| 3 (−2.96 to − 2.16) | 52 | (16.6) | 472 | (19.6) | 3922 | (19.9) | 1.00 | (0.68–1.47) | 0.99 | |
| 4 (−2.16 to −0.74) | 62 | (19.7) | 507 | (21.1) | 3917 | (19.9) | 1.19 | (0.82–1.73) | 0.35 | |
| Most deprived (> −0.74) | 109 | (34.7) | 605 | (25.1) | 3797 | (19.3) | 2.16 | (1.55–3.01) | <0.01 | |
| Education below | Lower than O-level | 160 | (50.8) | 1121 | (46.5) | 6959 | (35.3) | 4.48 | (2.59–7.75) | <0.01 |
| O-level | 23 | (7.3) | 224 | (9.3) | 2050 | (10.4) | 2.19 | (1.12–4.26) | 0.02 | |
| A-level or equivalent | 118 | (37.5) | 890 | (36.9) | 8003 | (40.5) | 2.87 | (1.65–5.01) | <0.01 | |
| Degree or equivalent | 14 | (4.4) | 174 | (7.2) | 2727 | (13.8) | 1 | |||
| Vitamin C supplementation | No supplementation | 242 | (77.3) | 1824 | (76.2) | 10,883 | (55.4) | 2.75 | (2.11–3.58) | <0.01 |
| Taking supplementation | 71 | (22.7) | 570 | (23.8) | 8772 | (44.6) | 1 | |||
| Social class | Non-manual occupations | 112 | (37.1) | 1116 | (47.9) | 12,030 | (62.1) | 1 | ||
| Manual | 190 | (62.9) | 1213 | (52.1) | 7337 | (37.9) | 2.78 | (2.20–3.52) | <0.01 | |
| Self-reported prevalent illness | Cerebrovascular incident | 7 | (2.2) | 61 | (2.5) | 242 | (1.2) | 1.83 | (0.86–3.91) | 0.12 |
| Myocardial infarction | 18 | (5.7) | 127 | (5.3) | 551 | (2.8) | 2.12 | (1.31–3.43) | 0.002 | |
| Cancer | 17 | (5.4) | 131 | (5.4) | 1053 | (5.3) | 1.01 | (0.62–1.66) | 0.96 | |
| Diabetes mellitus | 5 | (1.6) | 88 | (3.7) | 411 | (2.1) | 0.76 | (0.31–1.84) | 0.54 | |
| Asthma | 25 | (8) | 204 | (8.5) | 1664 | (8.4) | 0.94 | (0.62–1.42) | 0.76 | |
Linear trend between categories. Physical activity shows that there is statistical evidence for a linear trend and no evidence for education level.