Table 1.
Characteristics of the study sample by smoking status (N = 14,975)*.
| Never | Former | Current | |
|---|---|---|---|
| (n = 6,863) | (n = 5,201) | (n = 2,911) | |
| Characteristic | |||
| Female sex – no. (%) | 3,960 (57.7) | 2,116 (40.7) | 1,335 (45.9) |
| Age—years | 55.3 ± 11.8 | 56.7 ± 10.4 | 51.3 ± 9.7 |
| Physical activity† | 7.29 ± 3.79 | 7.15 ± 3.98 | 7.92 ± 4.41 |
| Waist-to-height ratio‡ | 0.55 ± 0.08 | 0.57 ± 0.08 | 0.55 ± 0.08 |
| Alcohol consumption above tolerable limit—no. (%)§ | 1,209 (17.6) | 1,415 (27.2) | 740 (25.4) |
| Socioeconomic status|| | 13.06 ± 4.64 | 13.02 ± 4.37 | 12.25 ± 4.22 |
| Depression – no. (%)# | 466 (6.9) | 352 (6.9) | 314 (11.0) |
| Smoking | |||
| Pack-years | – | 1.57 (0.57/3.54) | 18.70 (8.40/31.79) |
| Years since quitting | – | 18.0 (8.00/29.00) | – |
| Passive smoking – no. (%) | 934 (13.6) | 952 (18.3) | – |
| Smoked < 6 h prior to examination – no. (%) | – | – | 1,646 (56.5) |
| Traditional cardiovascular risk factors – no. (%) | |||
| Arterial hypertension | 3,424 (49.9) | 2,878 (55.4) | 1,147 (39.4) |
| Diabetes mellitus | 558 (8.2) | 601 (11.6) | 228 (7.8) |
| Dyslipidemia | 2,136 (31.2) | 2,019 (38.9) | 1,009 (34.7) |
| Family history of myocardial infarction or stroke | 1,435 (20.9) | 1,211 (23.3) | 670 (23.0) |
| Cardiovascular comorbidities – no. (%) | |||
| Congestive heart failure | 476 (6.9) | 430 (8.3) | 242 (8.3) |
| Coronary artery disease | 217 (3.2) | 329 (6.4) | 94 (3.3) |
| Myocardial infarction | 123 (1.8) | 234 (4.5) | 85 (2.9) |
| Stroke | 104 (1.5) | 128 (2.5) | 47 (1.6) |
| Atrial fibrillation | 1,169 (17.0) | 1,003 (19.3) | 527 (18.1) |
| Peripheral artery disease | 189 (2.8) | 207 (4.0) | 106 (3.7) |
| Any cardiovascular disease | 1,853 (27.2) | 1,698 (32.9) | 852 (29.4) |
| Measurements of endothelial function | |||
| Flow-mediated dilation – % | 8.41 ± 5.41 | 7.70 ± 4.91 | 8.36 ± 5.37 |
| Baseline brachial artery diameter – mm | 4.24 ± 0.84 | 4.47 ± 0.87 | 4.26 ± 0.82 |
| Reactive hyperemia index | 0.69 ± 0.41 | 0.61 ± 0.41 | 0.62 ± 0.42 |
| Baseline pulse amplitude – mm | 389.4 (192.6/754.5) | 513.3 (242.7/896.4) | 469.8 (230.9/839.4) |
| Reflection index | 63.42 ± 16.33 | 66.24 ± 15.80 | 67.92 ± 15.37 |
| Medication – no. (%)** | |||
| Diabetic drugs (A10) | 382 (5.6) | 406 (7.9) | 130 (4.5) |
| Antithrombotic agents (B01) | 738 (10.9) | 827 (16.0) | 274 (9.5) |
| Antihypertensives (C02) | 74 (1.1) | 63 (1.2) | 18 (0.6) |
| Diuretics (C03) | 359 (5.3) | 318 (6.2) | 109 (3.8) |
| Beta-blockers (C07) | 1,148 (16.9) | 1,011 (19.6) | 370 (12.9) |
| Calcium channel blocker (C08) | 490 (7.2) | 437 (8.5) | 158 (5.5) |
| Agents acting on the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (C09) | 1,545 (22.8) | 1,478 (28.7) | 503 (17.5) |
| Lipid modifying agents (C10) | 843 (12.4) | 877 (17.0) | 258 (9.0) |
*
Plus-minus values are means ± standard deviation and two values in parentheses are medians with 25 and 75th percentiles.
†
Physical activity score was calculated by multiplying total minutes of activity by the intensity score displayed per 1,000-units.
‡
Waist-to-height ratio is the waist circumference divided by the body height in centimeters.
§
Alcohol consumption above tolerable limit denotes >24 g per day for men and >12 g per day for women.
||
Socioeconomic status score ranges from 3 to 21 with higher values indicating higher status.
#
Caseness of depression was indicated by a PHQ-9 score ≥10.
**
Medication is labeled with the anatomical therapeutic chemical-code.