Table 1.
Description of study sample (n = 22,213)
| Characteristics of participants at baseline a |
Women (n = 13,980) |
Men (n = 8233) |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nmissb | N | % | N | % | |
| Age (years; Median, IQR) | 58.3 | (50.7, 66.3) | 57.3 | (50, 65.9) | |
| Education: | |||||
| Primary school | 4,65 | 3.3% | 224 | 2.7% | |
| Some high school | 6906 | 49.4% | 2636 | 32% | |
| Completed high school | 2962 | 21.2% | 2278 | 27.7% | |
| Completed tertiary | 3647 | 26.1% | 3095 | 37.6% | |
| Alcohol consumptionc: | |||||
| Lifetime abstainer | 4228 | 30.2% | 982 | 11.9% | |
| Former drinker | 438 | 3.1% | 354 | 4.3% | |
| Low (women: < 20 g/d, men: > 40 g/d) | 7391 | 52.9% | 5654 | 68.7% | |
| Medium (women: 20-40 g/d, men: 40-60 g/d) | 1489 | 10.7% | 718 | 8.7% | |
| High (women: 40 + g/d, men: 60 + g/d) | 434 | 3.1% | 525 | 6.4% | |
| SBP > 140 or DBP > 90 | 37 | 4314 | 30.9% | 3224 | 39.2% |
| Self-reported history of: | |||||
| Angina | 21 | 336 | 2.4% | 188 | 2.3% |
| Asthma | 67 | 2382 | 17.1% | 1193 | 14.5% |
| Arthritisc | 4675 | 33.4% | 1677 | 20.4% | |
| Family history of heart attack | 6004 | 42.9% | 3154 | 38.3% | |
| Cholesterol (mmol/L; median (IQR))c | 57 | 5.4 | (4.8, 6.2) | 5.4 | (4.7, 6.0) |
| Living alone | 249 | 2968 | 21.5% | 1092 | 13.4% |
| BMI (kg/m2; median (IQR)) | 1513 | 24.7 | (22.4, 27.7) | 25.9 | (24, 28.1) |
| Smoking: | 19 | ||||
| Never | 9155 | 65.6% | 4063 | 49.4% | |
| Former | 3903 | 27.9% | 3556 | 43.2% | |
| Current | 908 | 6.5% | 609 | 7.4% | |
| Mediterranean Diet scored: | 2504 | ||||
| Low (0–3) | 4095 | 33.1% | 3157 | 42.9% | |
| Medium (4–5) | 5158 | 41.7% | 2936 | 39.9% | |
| High (6–9) | 3105 | 25.1% | 1258 | 17.1% | |
| Physical activitye: | 388 | ||||
| Low | 5073 | 37.0% | 2661 | 32.8% | |
| Medium | 6310 | 46.0% | 3348 | 41.2% | |
| High | 2324 | 17.0% | 2109 | 26.0% | |
a Study baseline is T1 (1995–1999); b Number of missing values; c Measured at T0 (1990–1994). IQR – inter-quartile range (i.e. 25th – 75th percentile). dMDS groups: low (scores 0–3), medium (4–5) and high (6–9); ePhysical activity groups: low (e.g. walking twice a week or less), medium (e.g. jogging twice a week), high (e.g. running three or more times a week)