Table 1.
Characteristics of the study population (n = 11,129) by survey year, 1986–2014
| Survey year | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Characteristicsa,b | 1986 | 1990 | 1994 | 1999 | 2004 | 2009 | 2014 |
| Participants (n) | 1571 | 1393 | 1836 | 1670 | 1658 | 1554 | 1447 |
| Mean age (years)c | 45.2 | 45.2 | 49.9 | 51.0 | 51.4 | 51.2 | 51.8 |
| Male sex (%) | 50.8 | 48.4 | 48.9 | 49.0 | 48.6 | 49.8 | 47.8 |
| Sampled in January or February (%) | 73.5 | 57.5 | 64.6 | 37.0 | 58.8 | 58.2 | 56.5 |
| Born in Sweden (%) | 94.7 | 93.6 | 94.1 | 93.3 | 94.1 | 93.8 | 91.8 |
| Married or cohabiting (%) | 80.7 | 80.1 | 76.0 | 71.8 | 76.3 | 71.7 | 65.8 |
| University education (%) | 11.5 | 16.3 | 19.3 | 23.1 | 29.7 | 32.5 | 34.0 |
| Current smoker (%)d | 31.0 | 29.2 | 25.4 | 17.7 | 16.0 | 14.7 | 12.6 |
| High-effort physical activity ≥ 1 h/week (%)e | – | 32.2 | 31.3 | 33.6 | 39.7 | 41.4 | – |
| Body mass index ≥ 30 kg/m2 (%) | 10.2 | 9.5 | 12.7 | 15.0 | 18.0 | 19.2 | 18.6 |
aValues (except age, sex, month of sampling, and country of birth) were standardized to the sex and age (< 35, 35–44, 45–54, ≥ 55 years) distribution of the entire Swedish population in 2000
bValues were calculated for participants with complete data. Data were missing on the month of sampling for three participants, on the country of birth for 57 participants, on civil status for 51 participants, on educational level for 147 participants, on smoking status for 40 participants, on physical activity for 171 participants, and on body mass index for 45 participants
cThe age structure of included participants was 25–64 years in 1986–1990 and 25–74 years in 1994–2014
dIncludes occasional (< 1 cigarette/day) smokers
eThe question on leisure time physical activity was vastly different in the surveys in 1986 and 2014 compared to the other surveys; therefore, it was not possible to create a joint variable across all surveys