Table 1.
Sample characteristics at baseline overall and in relation to smoking status and level of physical activity
| Whole sample (N=6425) |
Smoking status | Physical activity | ||||||
| Never smoker (n=2387) | Former smoker (n=3141) | Current smoker (n=897) | P value | High (n=4233) | Low (n=2192) |
P value | ||
| Age in years, mean (SD) | 65.88 (9.34) | 65.55 (9.17) | 66.95 (9.60) | 63.04 (8.12) | <0.001 | 64.77 (8.54) | 68.03 (10.38) | <0.001 |
| Sex, % (n) | ||||||||
| Men | 45.2 (2902) | 34.1 (813) | 53.1 (1667) | 47.0 (422) | <0.001 | 47.5 (2011) | 40.6 (891) | <0.001 |
| Women | 54.8 (3523) | 65.9 (1574) | 46.9 (1474) | 53.0 (475) | – | 52.5 (2222) | 59.4 (1301) | – |
| Ethnicity, % (n) | ||||||||
| White | 98.8 (6345) | 98.1 (2342) | 99.3 (3118) | 98.7 (885) | 0.001 | 98.7 (4180) | 98.8 (2165) | 0.944 |
| Non-white | 1.2 (80) | 1.9 (45) | 0.7 (23) | 1.3 (12) | – | 1.3 (53) | 1.2 (27) | – |
| Wealth quintile, % (n) | ||||||||
| 1 (poorest) | 14.6 (940) | 11.5 (275) | 13.0 (408) | 28.7 (257) | <0.001 | 10.7 (451) | 22.3 (489) | <0.001 |
| 2 | 18.5 (1188) | 17.1 (407) | 17.8 (559) | 24.7 (222) | – | 15.6 (661) | 24.0 (527) | – |
| 3 | 20.8 (1338) | 21.3 (508) | 20.9 (656) | 19.4 (174) | – | 21.4 (905) | 19.8 (433) | – |
| 4 | 22.3 (1432) | 22.9 (546) | 23.7 (743) | 15.9 (143) | – | 24.4 (1034) | 18.2 (398) | – |
| 5 (richest) | 23.8 (1527) | 27.3 (651) | 24.7 (775) | 11.3 (101) | – | 27.9 (1182) | 15.7 (345) | – |
| Alcohol intake, % (n) | ||||||||
| Never/rarely | 18.9 (1213) | 21.5 (513) | 14.9 (468) | 25.9 (232) | <0.001 | 15.4 (651) | 25.6 (562) | <0.001 |
| Regularly | 45.3 (2909) | 48.0 (1145) | 44.3 (1393) | 41.4 (371) | – | 45.0 (1905) | 45.8 (1004) | – |
| Frequently | 35.8 (2303) | 30.5 (729) | 40.8 (1280) | 32.8 (294) | – | 39.6 (1677) | 28.6 (626) | – |
| BMI, mean (SD) | 27.91 (4.87) | 27.84 (4.84) | 28.19 (4.85) | 27.14 (4.93) | <0.001 | 27.48 (4.44) | 28.75 (5.51) | <0.001 |
| Fair/poor self-rated health*, % (n) | 24.5 (1575) | 19.7 (469) | 24.5 (770) | 37.5 (336) | <0.001 | 16.8 (709) | 39.5 (866) | <0.001 |
| Limiting long-standing illness*, % (n) | 32.9 (2111) | 28.0 (668) | 34.5 (1082) | 40.2 (361) | <0.001 | 23.7 (1004) | 50.5 (1107) | <0.001 |
| Coronary heart disease*, % (n) | 8.6 (553) | 6.7 (159) | 10.3 (324) | 7.8 (70) | <0.001 | 6.8 (286) | 12.2 (267) | <0.001 |
| Stroke*, % (n) | 2.4 (152) | 1.6 (39) | 2.9 (91) | 2.5 (22) | 0.009 | 1.5 (64) | 4.0 (88) | <0.001 |
| Cancer*, % (n) | 7.7 (496) | 7.2 (171) | 8.4 (263) | 6.9 (62) | 0.154 | 7.2 (303) | 8.8 (193) | 0.019 |
| Chronic lung disease*, % (n) | 7.3 (466) | 4.4 (105) | 7.7 (241) | 13.4 (120) | <0.001 | 5.4 (228) | 10.9 (238) | <0.001 |
| Clinically relevant depressive symptoms*, % (n) | 13.5 (860) | 11.5 (273) | 13.2 (411) | 19.8 (176) | <0.001 | 9.7 (408) | 20.8 (452) | <0.001 |
| Smoking status, % (n) | ||||||||
| Never smoker | 37.2 (2387) | 100 (2387) | – | – | – | 38.2 (1616) | 35.2 (771) | <0.001 |
| Former smoker | 48.9 (3141) | – | 100 (3141) | – | – | 49.3 (2085) | 48.2 (1056) | – |
| Current smoker | 14.0 (897) | – | – | 100 (897) | – | 12.6 (532) | 16.7 (365) | – |
| Level of physical activity, % (n) | ||||||||
| High | 65.9 (4233) | 67.7 (1616) | 66.4 (2085) | 59.3 (532) | <0.001 | 100 (4233) | – | – |
| Low | 34.1 (2192) | 32.3 (771) | 33.6 (1056) | 40.7 (365) | – | – | 100 (2192) | – |
*Complete data on all health variables at baseline were not a prerequisite for inclusion, so there was a small amount of missing data across these variables. Valid percentages are presented for the ease of interpretation.
BMI, body mass index.