Table 2. Characteristics of study participants in midlife (1972 to 1987) and late life (1998).
| Characteristics* | Analytical sample 1, midlife (n = 1449) | Analytical sample 2 in midlife, 1972–1987 | Analytical sample 2 in late life, 1998 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Excluded (n = 705) | Included (n = 744) | p | Excluded (n = 705) | Included (n = 744) | p | ||
| Age (years), mean (SD) | 50.4 (6.0) | 51.4 (5.9) | 49.5 (5.9) | <0.001 | 72.5 (4.2) | 70.2 (3.5) | <0.001 |
| Women | 900 (62.1) | 418 (59.3) | 482 (64.8) | 0.031 | 418 (59.3) | 482 (64.8) | 0.031 |
| Education (years), mean (SD) | 8.6 (3.4) | 7.9 (3.3) | 9.2 (3.5) | <0.001 | 7.9 (3.3) | 9.2 (3.5) | <0.001 |
| Smoking | |||||||
| Poor | 61 (4.2) | 39 (5.5) | 22 (3.0) | 0.002 | 58 (8.5) | 34 (4.6) | <0.001 |
| Intermediate | 290 (20.0) | 158 (22.4) | 132 (17.7) | 221 (32.3) | 198 (26.8) | ||
| Ideal | 1,098 (75.8) | 508 (72.1) | 590 (79.3) | 406 (59.3) | 506 (68.6) | ||
| Physical activity | |||||||
| Poor | 51 (3.6) | 30 (4.4) | 21 (2.9) | 0.321 | 73 (10.5) | 27 (3.6) | <0.001 |
| Intermediate | 772 (54.4) | 373 (54.1) | 399 (54.6) | 146 (21.1) | 123 (16.6) | ||
| Ideal | 597 (42.0) | 286 (41.5) | 311 (42.5) | 473 (68.4) | 593 (79.8) | ||
| BMI | |||||||
| Poor | 241 (16.6) | 139 (19.7) | 102 (13.7) | 0.004 | 202 (28.7) | 192 (25.8) | 0.133 |
| Intermediate | 718 (49.6) | 347 (49.2) | 371 (49.9) | 321 (45.5) | 378 (50.8) | ||
| Ideal | 490 (33.8) | 219 (31.1) | 271 (36.4) | 182 (25.8) | 174 (23.4) | ||
| Plasma glucose# | |||||||
| Poor | 55 (3.8) | 32 (4.5) | 23 (3.1) | 0.071 | 65 (9.2) | 31 (4.2) | <0.001 |
| Intermediate | 3 (0.2) | 3 (0.4) | 0 (0.0) | 97 (13.8) | 90 (12.1) | ||
| Ideal | 1391 (96.0) | 670 (95.0) | 721 (96.9) | 543 (77.0) | 623 (83.7) | ||
| Total cholesterol | |||||||
| Poor | 944 (65.1) | 476 (67.5) | 468 (62.9) | 0.103 | 229 (32.5) | 265 (35.6) | 0.095 |
| Intermediate | 384 (26.5) | 169 (24.0) | 215 (28.9) | 343 (48.7) | 369 (49.6) | ||
| Ideal | 121 (8.4) | 60 (8.5) | 61 (8.2) | 133 (18.9) | 110 (14.8) | ||
| Blood pressure | |||||||
| Poor | 618 (42.7) | 337 (47.8) | 281 (37.8) | <0.001 | 276 (39.1) | 276 (37.1) | 0.692 |
| Intermediate | 760 (52.4) | 339 (48.1) | 421 (56.6) | 415 (58.9) | 451(60.6) | ||
| Ideal | 71 (4.9) | 29 (4.1) | 42 (5.6) | 14 (2.0) | 17 (2.3) | ||
| Global CVH metrics score, mean (SD) | 7.2 (1.5) | 7.0 (1.5) | 7.4 (1.5) | <0.001 | 7.1 (1.7) | 7.6 (1.5) | <0.001 |
| Behavioral CVH metrics score, mean (SD) | 4.2 (1.0) | 4.1 (1.1) | 4.4 (1.0) | <0.001 | 4.2 (1.1) | 4.4 (1.0) | <0.001 |
| Biological CVH metrics score, mean (SD) | 3.0 (1.0) | 2.9 (1.0) | 3.1 (1.0) | <0.001 | 3.2 (1.1) | 3.2 (1.0) | 0.217 |
| APOE ε4 allele carriers | 499 (35.1) | 265 (39.0) | 234 (31.5) | 0.003 | 265 (39.0) | 234 (31.5) | 0.003 |
| Cardiovascular diseases | 114 (7.9) | 67 (9.5) | 47 (6.3) | 0.024 | 260 (37.6) | 190 (25.5) | <0.001 |
Data were n (%), unless otherwise specified.
* The number of participants with missing values in analytical sample 1 was 21 persons for education, 27 persons for APOE genotype, and 29 persons for midlife physical activity, and in analytical sample 2 was 11 persons for education, 1 person for APOE genotype, 6 persons for late-life smoking, and 1 person for late-life physical activity. In the subsequence analysis, a dummy variable was created to indicate the missing values for education and APOE genotype, whereas missing value on physical activity and smoking was considered as null (i.e., poor level) in the calculation of global CVH metric score.
# In midlife, information on fasting plasma glucose was lacking, instead, the information on self-reported diabetes, a recorded diagnosis of diabetes from the inpatient register, and the use of antidiabetic medication from the prescribed drug register were used as a proxy.
APOE, apolipoprotein E; BMI, body mass index; CVH, cardiovascular health.