Table 1. Baseline characteristics of the study participants overall and according to tea drinking frequency.
| Characteristics | All participants
(n = 38,913) |
Non-habitual tea drinkers
(n = 28,933) |
Habitual tea drinkers
(n = 9,980)* |
| Data are presented as means ± SD or n (%). *Refers to someone who had drank tea ≥ 3 times/week for at least six months. | |||
| Age, yrs | 49.2 ± 12.3 | 49.6 ± 12.5 | 47.9 ± 11.8 |
| Male | 13,846 (35.6%) | 8,158 (28.2%) | 5,688 (57.0%) |
| Northern | 18,896 (48.6%) | 13,238 (45.8%) | 5,658 (56.7%) |
| Education ≥ 12 yrs | 4,049 (10.4%) | 2,772 (9.6%) | 1,277 (12.8%) |
| Smokers | 8,579 (22.1%) | 4,652 (16.1%) | 3,927 (39.5%) |
| Habitual alcohol drinkers | 5,798 (14.9%) | 3,204 (11.1%) | 2,594 (26.0%) |
| Physical active | 28,864 (74.2%) | 21,722 (75.1%) | 7,142 (71.6%) |
| Family history of hypertension | 9,680 (24.9%) | 6,883 (23.8%) | 2,797 (28.0%) |
| Body mass index, kg/m2 | 23.2 ± 3.3 | 23.1 ± 3.3 | 23.4 ± 3.3 |
| Systolic blood pressure, mmHg | 117.5 ± 11.3 | 117.0 ± 11.5 | 119.2 ± 10.9 |
| Diastolic blood pressure, mmHg | 73.3 ± 7.9 | 72.8 ± 8.0 | 74.9 ± 7.6 |
| Fasting blood glucose, mg/dL | 88.8 ± 24.8 | 88.7 ± 24.2 | 88.9 ± 26.4 |
| Total serum cholesterol, mg/dL | 167.2 ± 32.9 | 167.2 ± 33.1 | 167.3 ± 32.3 |