Table 1.
Characteristics among Whites and African Americans at baseline (1987–1989) in ARIC
| All races combined | Whites | African Americans | P value comparing African Americans to Whites | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (n = 10,681) | (n = 8451) | (n = 2230) | ||
| Characteristic | Mean (SD) or column percent (%) of participants | |||
| Age (45–64 years) | 54.2 (5.6) | 54.4 (5.7) | 53.6 (5.8) | < 0.0001 |
| Female (%) | 54.9 | 53.0 | 62.0 | < 0.0001 |
| Body mass index (BMI) | 27.6 (5.3) | 27.0 (4.8) | 29.7 (6.1) | < 0.0001 |
| Weight status (%) | < 0.0001 | |||
| Underweight (BMI ≤ 18.5 kg/m2) | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.8 | |
| Normal weight (BMI 18.5–24.9 kg/m2) | 33.0 | 36.4 | 20.9 | |
| Overweight (BMI 25.0–29.9 kg/m2) | 39.5 | 40.1 | 37.4 | |
| Obese (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2) | 26.7 | 22.7 | 41.0 | |
| Physical activity level (1–5 Baecke units) | 2.5 (.8) | 2.5 (0.8) | 2.1 (0.7) | < 0.0001 |
| Cigarette smoking (%) | < 0.0001 | |||
| Current | 25.1 | 24.1 | 28.9 | |
| Former | 33.1 | 35.7 | 24.1 | |
| Never | 41.7 | 40.1 | 47.0 | |
| Alcohol intake (%) | < 0.0001 | |||
| Current | 58.1 | 65.4 | 32.1 | |
| Former | 17.9 | 16.6 | 22.5 | |
| Never | 24.0 | 17.9 | 44.4 | |
| Education level (%) | < 0.0001 | |||
| Grade school or zero years of education | 8.5 | 5.6 | 18.7 | |
| High school, but no degree | 13.3 | 11.0 | 21.4 | |
| High school graduate | 33.1 | 36.3 | 21.5 | |
| Vocational school | 8.7 | 9.2 | 6.9 | |
| College | 26.7 | 29.1 | 18.2 | |
| Graduate or professional school | 9.9 | 8.9 | 13.4 | |
| Systolic blood pressure (mmHg) | 120.9 (18.1) | 118.8 (16.8) | 128.5 (20.4) | < 0.0001 |
| Diastolic blood pressure (mmHg) | 73.6 (10.7) | 71.8 (9.7) | 79.8 (11.9) | < 0.0001 |
| Blood pressure medications (%) | 29.7 | 25.5 | 44.7 | < 0.0001 |
| Fasting blood glucose (mg/dL) | 108.1 (38.4) | 105.3 (30.9) | 117.8 (56.6) | < 0.0001 |
| Diabetes (%) | 11.1 | 8.7 | 19.4 | < 0.0001 |
| Metabolic syndrome (%) | 44.3 | 43.0 | 49.2 | < 0.0001 |
| Waist circumference (cm) | 96.9 (13.7) | 96.2 (13.2) | 99.3 (15.1) | < 0.0001 |
| Total cholesterol (mg/dL) | 215.1 (41.8) | 214.9 (40.8) | 215.7 (45.1) | 0.4276 |
| LDL cholesterol (mg/dL) | 137.8 (38.9) | 137.6 (37.7) | 138.3 (42.7) | 0.3977 |
| HDL cholesterol (mg/dL) | 51.5 (17.0) | 50.5 (16.8) | 54.8 (17.3) | < 0.0001 |
| Triglyceride level (mg/dL) | 133.0 (92.9) | 137.8 (93.7) | 116.3 (83.1) | < 0.0001 |
ARIC, Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study; HDL, high density lipoprotein cholesterol; LDL, low density lipoprotein cholesterol
%, percent of sample. All other variable results are means
P values for proportions of categorical variables among Whites and African Americans were calculated using Pearson’s chi-square tests of hypothesis for independence and tests for differences between means of continuous variables. Analysis showed that all variables were statistically significant between each other except total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol