Table 1.
Weighted baseline characteristics according to diet assignment, mean (SE) or %
| Control, N = 108 | Fruits & Vegetables, N = 109 | DASH (Combination), N = 109 | Unweighted overall characteristics of those included, N=326* | Unweighted characteristics of those not included, N=19† | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age, years | 44.7 (1.1) | 45.9 (1.1) | 44.5 (1.0) | 45.2 (0.6) | 47.2 (2.2) |
| Female, % | 45.1 | 43.4 | 52.0 | 48.2 | 31.6 |
| Black, % | 49.1 | 46.3 | 52.6 | 49.4 | 63.2 |
| Body mass index ≥ 30 kg/m2, % | 36.2 | 34.8 | 34.4 | 36.2 | 31.6 |
| Body mass index, kg/m2 | 28.0 (0.4) | 27.8 (0.4) | 28.2 (0.4) | 28.1 (0.2) | 27.4 (0.7) |
| Hypertension, % | 26.0 | 26.3 | 25.1 | 25.8 | 36.8 |
| Systolic blood pressure, mm Hg | 130.5 (1.1) | 131.3 (1.1) | 130.8 (1.0) | 131.0 (0.6) | 129.6 (2.5) |
| Diastolic blood pressure, mm Hg | 84.8 (0.4) | 84.3 (0.5) | 84.1 (0.4) | 84.5 (0.3) | 83.9 (0.8) |
| Low density lipoprotein cholesterol, mg/dL | 120.9 (2.9) | 127.9 (2.9) | 118.7 (3.3) | 121.7 (1.8) | 141.7 (6.7) |
| Low density lipoprotein cholesterol, mmol/L | 3.1 (0.1) | 3.3 (0.1) | 3.1 (0.1) | 3.1 (0.0) | 3.7 (0.2) |
| Alcohol consumption, drinks/day | 1.4 (0.2) | 1.2 (0.2) | 1.2 (0.2) | 1.2 (0.1) | 1.0 (0.3) |
| Physical activity, cal/kg/day | 37.6 (0.6) | 37.7 (0.6) | 37.7 (0.6) | 37.8 (0.4) | 36.9 (1.5) |
DASH represents “Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension”
Of the 332 participants with cardiac biomarkers measured from at least one visit, 5 did not have a baseline LDL-cholesterol measurement and 1 did not have a baseline activity score. As a result our analytic sample included 326 participants.
This number is based on the 3 research sites that provided specimens. In the original DASH study there were 4 research sites. One with 114 participants did not provide any specimens. Of the 19 participants not included in our study from the 3 research sites with specimens, only 13 had a measured LDL-cholesterol at baseline and only 18 had a physical activity score measured at baseline. The vast majority (13 of 19) were excluded because they did not have specimens available to measure cardiac biomarkers.