Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of patients between the shorten and lengthen groups categorized by annual telomere attrition rate during 2014-2016.
| Annual telomere attrition rate | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Characteristics | Total (n=1,108) | Shorten group (n=386) | Lengthen group (n=722) | P value† |
| Age, years | 61.7 ± 9.7 | 62.3 ± 9.6 | 61.4 ± 9.8 | 0.13 |
| Men, No. (%) | 430 (38.8%) | 155 (40.2%) | 275 (38.1%) | 0.52 |
| BMI, kg/m2 | 26.2 ± 3.1 | 26.3 ± 3.2 | 26.2 ± 3.1 | 0.85 |
| Waist-to-hip ratio | 0.90 ± 0.05 | 0.90 ± 0.05 | 0.90 ± 0.05 | 0.09 |
| Systolic BP, mm Hg | 160 ± 21 | 159 ± 21 | 160 ± 21 | 0.27 |
| Diastolic BP, mm Hg | 89 ± 12 | 89 ± 11 | 89 ± 12 | 0.92 |
| Fasting serum glucose, mmol/L | 6.2 ± 1.7 | 6.1 ± 1.5 | 6.3 ± 1.8 | 0.10 |
| Lipids, mmol/L | ||||
| Total cholesterol | 5.7 ± 1.1 | 5.6 ± 1.1 | 5.7 ± 1.1 | 0.41 |
| Triglycerides | 1.6 (1.1-2.3) | 1.6 (1.1-2.2) | 1.6 (1.1-2.4) | 0.23 |
| HDL-C | 1.3 ± 0.3 | 1.3 ± 0.3 | 1.3 ± 0.3 | 0.40 |
| LDL-C | 3.6 ± 0.9 | 3.6 ± 0.9 | 3.6 ± 0.9 | 0.48 |
| Smoking status, % | ||||
| Never | 73.8 | 73.1 | 74.1 | 0.41 |
| Former | 7.4 | 8.8 | 6.6 | |
| Current | 18.8 | 18.1 | 19.1 | |
| Alcohol intake, % | ||||
| Never | 77.0 | 77.7 | 76.6 | 0.58 |
| Former | 5.1 | 5.7 | 4.7 | |
| Current | 18.0 | 16.6 | 18.7 | |
| Medical history, % | ||||
| Diabetes mellitus | 23.8 | 21.8 | 24.9 | 0.27 |
| Stroke | 21.1 | 23.1 | 20.1 | 0.25 |
| Coronary heart disease | 29.7 | 30.6 | 29.2 | 0.68 |
| Antihypertensive drugs, No. (%) | ||||
| Calcium channel blocker | 744 (67.1) | 251 (65.0) | 493 (68.3) | 0.28 |
| Angiotensin receptor blocker | 590 (53.2) | 192 (49.7) | 398 (55.1) | 0.09 |
| ACE inhibitor | 87 (7.9) | 35 (9.1) | 52 (7.2) | 0.29 |
| Beta-blocker | 24 (2.2) | 11 (2.8) | 13 (1.8) | 0.28 |
| Diuretics | 300 (27.1) | 104 (26.9) | 196 (27.1) | 0.99 |
| Leukocytes telomere length, T/S ratio | ||||
| At baseline | 1.4 (1.0-1.8) | 1.8 (1.4-2.3) | 1.2 (0.9-1.6) | <0.001 |
| At follow-up | 1.9 (1.3-2.5) | 1.1 (0.8-1.5) | 2.2 (1.7-3.0) | <0.001 |
| Telomere length, base pairs (Kb)* | ||||
| At baseline | 6.6 (5.7-7.7) | 7.5 (6.5-8.9) | 6.3 (5.5-7.2) | <0.001 |
| At follow-up | 7.8 (6.3-9.4) | 6.0 (5.2-6.9) | 8.6 (7.4-10.4) | <0.001 |
Abbreviations: BMI, Body mass index; BP, blood pressure; HDL-C, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol; LDL-C, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol; ACE, angiotensin converting enzyme; T, telomere repeat copy; S, single-copy gene globin copy; Kb, kilo base pairs. Data were given as mean ± SD, number (%), or median (interquartile range). The leukocytes telomere length was expressed as T/S ratio. *Base pairs of telomere length were calculated based on the equation= 3274 + 2413 × (T/S ratio) [55]. †P value was calculated by the chi-square test for categorical variables, the t test for continuous variables, or the Mann-Whitney U test for triglycerides and telomere length.