Table 1.
Characteristics of participants at baseline
| HSE/SHeSs | UK Biobank | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Never drinker | Former drinker | Low-level drinker | Medium-level drinker | High-level drinker | Overall | Never drinker | Former drinker | Low-level drinker | Medium-level drinker | High-level drinker | Overall | |
| N | 263 (9.4) | 383 (13.7) | 1630 (58.2) | 458 (16.3) | 68 (2.4) | 2802 (100.0) | 1076 (7.5) | 1207 (8.4) | 5989 (41.6) | 5222 (36.3) | 892 (6.2) | 14386 (100.0) |
| Age, mean (SD), y | 69.0 (11.0) | 67.1 (11.1) | 68.2 (10.1) | 64.2 (10.9) | 60.4 (10.7) | 67.3 (10.6) | 61.6 (6.6) | 61.1 (6.5) | 61.9 (6.1) | 61.6 (6.0) | 60.5 (6.4) | 61.6 (6.2) |
| Alcohol intake, mean (SD), g/day | 0.0 | 0.0 | 4.0 (4.3) | 28.0 (10.2) | 85.1 (33.0) | 9.0 (16.9) | 0.0 | 0.0 | 7.9 (5.1) | 30.6 (10.6) | 76.7 (26.4) | 19.2 (21.4) |
| BMI, mean (SD), kg/m2 | 28.5 (5.5) | 28.6 (5.7) | 27.9 (4.6) | 27.9 (4.1) | 28.0 (4.2) | 28.1 (4.8) | 30.0 (5.8) | 30.2 (6.0) | 29.1 (5.0) | 28.8 (4.3) | 29.0 (4.7) | 29.2 (4.9) |
| Female | 187 (71.1) | 189 (49.3) | 758 (46.5) | 65 (14.2) | 5 (7.4) | 1204 (43.0) | 619 (57.5) | 447 (37.0) | 2242 (37.4) | 743 (14.2) | 174 (19.5) | 4225 (29.4) |
| Smoking status | ||||||||||||
| Never | 157 (59.7) | 89 (23.2) | 527 (32.3) | 78 (17.0) | 10 (14.7) | 861 (30.7) | 704 (65.4) | 350 (29.0) | 2616 (43.7) | 1512 (29.0) | 178 (20.0) | 5360 (37.3) |
| Ex-smoker | 66 (25.1) | 191 (49.9) | 799 (49.0) | 272 (59.4) | 29 (42.6) | 1357 (48.4) | 252 (23.4) | 638 (52.9) | 2799 (46.7) | 3045 (58.3) | 507 (56.8) | 7241 (50.3) |
| Current smoker | 40 (15.2) | 103 (26.9) | 304 (18.7) | 108 (23.6) | 29 (42.6) | 584 (20.8) | 120 (11.2) | 219 (18.1) | 574 (9.6) | 665 (12.7) | 207 (23.2) | 1785 (12.4) |
| History of diabetes | 40 (15.2) | 74 (19.3) | 169 (10.4) | 43 (9.4) | 2 (2.9) | 328 (11.7) | 280 (26.0) | 346 (28.7) | 1026 (17.1) | 676 (12.9) | 117 (13.1) | 2445 (17.0) |
| History of hypertension | 50 (19.0) | 60 (15.7) | 224 (13.7) | 54 (11.8) | 6 (8.8) | 394 (14.1) | 637 (59.2) | 764 (63.3) | 3193 (53.3) | 2940 (56.3) | 536 (60.1) | 8070 (56.1) |
| Socioeconomic positiona | ||||||||||||
| Low | 106 (40.3) | 186 (48.6) | 764 (46.9) | 230 (50.2) | 26 (38.2) | 1312 (46.8) | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Intermediate | 104 (39.5) | 138 (36.0) | 494 (30.3) | 83 (18.1) | 24 (35.3) | 843 (30.1) | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| High | 53 (20.2) | 59 (15.4) | 372 (22.8) | 145 (31.7) | 18 (26.5) | 647 (23.1) | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Highest educational qualificationb | ||||||||||||
| None | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | 432 (40.1) | 564 (46.7) | 1910 (31.9) | 1510 (28.9) | 247 (27.7) | 4663 (32.4) |
| O levels or equivalent | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | 141 (13.1) | 150 (12.4) | 900 (15.0) | 742 (14.2) | 149 (16.7) | 2082 (14.5) |
| A levels or equivalent | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | 315 (29.3) | 295 (24.4) | 1948 (32.5) | 1760 (33.7) | 305 (34.2) | 4623 (32.1) |
| Degree | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | 188 (17.5) | 198 (16.4) | 1231 (20.6) | 1210 (23.2) | 191 (21.4) | 3018 (21.0) |
| Cholesterol-lowering medications | 70 (26.6) | 128 (33.4) | 328 (20.1) | 107 (23.4) | 11 (16.2) | 644 (23.0) | 841 (78.2) | 990 (82.0) | 4876 (81.4) | 4488 (85.9) | 732 (82.1) | 11927 (82.9) |
| Antihypertensive medications | 168 (63.9) | 247 (64.5) | 883 (54.2) | 217 (47.4) | 27 (39.7) | 1542 (55.0) | 746 (69.3) | 855 (70.8) | 4047 (67.6) | 3774 (72.3) | 651 (73.0) | 10073 (70.0) |
| Antiplatelet agents | 118 (44.9) | 187 (48.8) | 725 (44.5) | 207 (45.2) | 23 (33.8) | 1260 (45.0) | 810 (75.3) | 902 (74.7) | 4655 (77.7) | 4305 (82.4) | 736 (82.5) | 11408 (79.3) |
| Digoxin | 9 (3.4) | 19 (5.0) | 62 (3.8) | 10 (2.2) | 2 (2.9) | 102 (3.6) | 16 (1.5) | 29 (2.4) | 86 (1.4) | 66 (1.3) | 12 (1.3) | 209 (1.5) |
| Warfarinc | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | 59 (5.5) | 106 (8.8) | 358 (6.0) | 313 (6.0) | 34 (3.8) | 870 (6.0) |
Data are number (percentage) unless otherwise specified
BMI, body mass index; HSE, the Health Survey for England; NA, not applicable; SD, standard deviation; SHeSs, the Scottish Health Survey
aSocioeconomic position was defined using the participant’s occupational classification, categorised as low (semi-skilled or unskilled manual), intermediate (skilled non-manual or manual), or high (professional or managerial technical)
bHighest educational qualification was categorised into four levels: None, O levels/GCSEs, CSEs or equivalent; A/AS levels, NVQ or HND or HNC or equivalent, or other professional qualification; college or university degree
cNone of the participants in HSE/SHeSs reported using warfarin on a regular basis