Table 2.
Baseline characteristics of the Epirus Health Study participants according to sex and dietary supplement (DS) use.
| Women (n = 740) | Men (n = 482) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No DS Users (n = 464) | DS Users (n = 276) | p-Value | No DS Users (n = 374) | DS Users (n = 108) | p-Value | |
| Demographics | ||||||
| Age (years) | 47.5 (10.9) | 49.1 (10.4) | 0.06 | 48.6 (11.5) | 45.5 (10.7) | 0.01 |
| Education (years) | ||||||
| ≤12 | 153 (33.0) | 87 (31.5) | 129 (34.5) | 35 (32.4) | ||
| >12 | 311 (67.0) | 189 (68.5) | 0.68 | 245 (65.5) | 73 (67.6) | 0.69 |
| Employment status | ||||||
| Employed | 337 (72.9) | 197 (71.1) | 291 (78.0) | 94 (87.9) | ||
| Other | 125 (27.1) | 80 (28.9) | 0.59 | 82 (22.0) | 13 (12.1) | 0.02 |
| After-tax income (€/month) | ||||||
| ≤500 | 78 (18.0) | 39 (15.1) | 26 (7.4) | 7 (7.2) | ||
| 501–900 | 139 (32.1) | 65 (25.1) | 68 (19.4) | 24 (24.7) | ||
| 901–1400 | 174 (40.2) | 129 (49.8) | 160 (45.7) | 45 (46.4) | ||
| >1400 | 42 (9.7) | 26 (10.0) | 0.07 | 96 (27.4) | 21 (21.6) | 0.57 |
| Lifestyle | ||||||
| PSQI | 5.1 (2.5) | 5.2 (2.9) | 0.54 | 4.5 (2.1) | 4.2 (1.9) | 0.31 |
| MEDAS | 7.4 (1.7) | 7.4 (1.7) | 0.84 | 7.1 (1.8) | 7.1 (1.7) | 0.70 |
| Physical activity (MET-hours/week) | 13.2 (19.9) | 14.3 (16.9) | 0.46 | 16.6 (20.9) | 22.1 (22.4) | 0.02 |
| Smoking status | ||||||
| Never smokers | 177 (38.1) | 98 (35.5) | 116 (31.0) | 28 (25.9) | ||
| Former smokers | 139 (30.0) | 94 (34.1) | 140 (37.4) | 53 (49.1) | ||
| Current smokers | 148 (31.9) | 84 (30.4) | 0.50 | 118 (31.6) | 27 (25.0) | 0.09 |
| Alcohol consumption | ||||||
| Never | 73 (15.7) | 39 (14.1) | 25 (6.7) | 12 (11.1) | ||
| Less than once/month | 163 (35.1) | 95 (34.4) | 78 (20.9) | 22 (20.4) | ||
| 1–3 times/month | 78 (16.8) | 46 (16.7) | 67 (17.9) | 18 (16.7) | ||
| 1–2 times/week | 107 (23.1) | 72 (26.1) | 117 (31.3) | 41 (38.0) | ||
| At least 3 times/week | 43 (9.3) | 24 (8.7) | 0.90 | 87 (23.3) | 15 (13.9) | 0.14 |
| Cellphone use at least once/week (years) | ||||||
| ≤10 | 41 (8.8) | 21 (7.6) | 14 (3.7) | 2 (1.9) | ||
| 11–15 | 61 (13.1) | 40 (14.5) | 35 (9.4) | 12 (11.1) | ||
| 16–20 | 101 (21.8) | 59 (21.4) | 85 (22.7) | 23 (21.3) | ||
| >20 | 261 (56.3) | 156 (56.5) | 0.91 | 240 (64.2) | 71 (65.7) | 0.73 |
| Personal medical history (self-reported) | ||||||
| General health status | ||||||
| Very good | 176 (37.9) | 79 (28.6) | 158 (42.2) | 45 (41.7) | ||
| Good | 228 (49.1) | 158 (57.2) | 179 (47.9) | 53 (49.1) | ||
| Moderate/bad/very bad | 60 (12.9) | 39 (14.1) | 0.03 | 37 (9.9) | 10 (9.3) | 0.97 |
| Chronic health condition | 188 (40.7) | 145 (52.5) | 1.8−03 | 121 (32.6) | 45 (42.1) | 0.07 |
| Limitation of usual activities during last year because of a health issue | 69 (14.9) | 53 (19.2) | 0.13 | 51 (13.6) | 15 (13.9) | 0.95 |
| Symptoms of stress during last 2 weeks | 26 (5.6) | 11 (4.0) | 0.33 | 4 (1.1) | 2 (1.9) | 0.52 |
| Symptoms of depression during last 2 weeks | 17 (3.7) | 13 (4.7) | 0.49 | 5 (1.3) | 1 (0.9) | 0.73 |
| Diabetes mellitus diagnosis | 28 (6.0) | 14 (5.1) | 0.58 | 17 (4.5) | 1 (0.9) | 0.08 |
| High cholesterol diagnosis | 119 (25.6) | 78 (28.3) | 0.44 | 91 (24.5) | 30 (28.0) | 0.45 |
| High blood pressure diagnosis | 55 (11.9) | 25 (9.1) | 0.24 | 69 (18.5) | 15 (13.9) | 0.27 |
| Bleeding gums | 169 (36.4) | 99 (35.9) | 0.88 | 118 (31.6) | 35 (32.4) | 0.87 |
| Lost/removed teeth (excl. wisdom teeth) | 292 (64.6) | 157 (58.1) | 0.08 | 228 (61.8) | 58 (54.7) | 0.19 |
| No. of dental fillings | 3.3 (3.9) | 3.4 (3.8) | 0.66 | 3.3 (3.5) | 2.9 (2.9) | 0.25 |
| Hearing impairment | 25 (5.4) | 22 (8.0) | 0.16 | 35 (9.4) | 8 (7.4) | 0.53 |
| Weight change since last year | ||||||
| Same weight | 233 (50.2) | 128 (46.4) | 223 (59.8) | 59 (55.1) | ||
| Weight gain | 166 (35.8) | 102 (37.0) | 79 (21.2) | 30 (28.0) | ||
| Weight loss | 65 (14.0) | 46 (16.7) | 0.50 | 71 (19.0) | 18 (16.8) | 0.33 |
| Weight at 18 years (kg) | 56.9 (9.0) | 56.1 (8.1) | 0.22 | 72.8 (10.8) | 74.1 (10.6) | 0.31 |
| No. of drugs taken during last week | ||||||
| 0 | 292 (63.3) | 159 (57.6) | 261 (70.5) | 64 (59.3) | ||
| 1 | 96 (20.8) | 64 (23.2) | 54 (14.6) | 27 (25.0) | ||
| ≥2 | 73 (15.8) | 53 (19.2) | 0.28 | 55 (14.9) | 17 (15.7) | 0.03 |
| Clinical examinations | ||||||
| BMI (kg/m2) | 26.1 (5.2) | 25.0 (4.3) | 0.01 | 27.8 (4.4) | 27.0 (4.1) | 0.10 |
| Waist circumference (cm) | 89.5 (13.1) | 87.1 (11.7) | 0.01 | 101.5 (12.4) | 99.8 (10.8) | 0.21 |
| Hip circumference (cm) | 102.7 (8.6) | 101.0 (8.1) | 0.01 | 101.8 (7.4) | 100.9 (7.2) | 0.24 |
| Fat mass (%) 1 | 32.0 (7.0) | 31.6 (6.6) | 0.51 | 23.7 (5.9) | 22.7 (5.8) | 0.16 |
| Fasting glucose (mg/dL) | 84.9 (17.9) | 83.2 (9.2) | 0.16 | 89.6 (15.7) | 88.6 (9.5) | 0.52 |
| Total cholesterol (mg/dL) | 195.7 (34.7) | 195.6 (31.8) | 0.99 | 196.0 (35.8) | 189 (32.4) | 0.07 |
| LDL cholesterol (mg/dL) | 124.0 (35.4) | 121.8 (31.3) | 0.41 | 131.8 (34.7) | 126.8 (29.8) | 0.19 |
| HDL cholesterol (mg/dL) | 58.0 (11.7) | 60.4 (12.5) | 0.01 | 48.0 (9.6) | 47.0 (8.9) | 0.34 |
| Triglycerides (mg/dL) | 87.6 (57.0) | 80.2 (35.4) | 0.06 | 113.2 (66.6) | 111.3 (54.1) | 0.79 |
| Systolic blood pressure (mmHg) 2 | 116.8 (13.5) | 115.0 (12.5) | 0.08 | 123.9 (12.6) | 123.2 (11.4) | 0.63 |
| Diastolic blood pressure (mmHg) 2 | 75.9 (9.9) | 73.7 (8.7) | 2.9−03 | 82.0 (10.2) | 79.9 (10.4) | 0.07 |
| Pulse wave velocity 2 | 6.7 (1.4) | 6.9 (1.3) | 0.24 | 7.1 (1.4) | 6.8 (1.2) | 0.03 |
Abbreviations: PSQI; Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, MEDAS; Mediterranean Diet Adherence Screener, MET; Metabolic Equivalent of Energy Expenditure, BMI; Body Mass Index, LDL; Low-density lipoprotein, HDL; High-density lipoprotein. Characteristics are presented as mean (standard deviation) for continuous variables and frequency (percentage) for categorical variables. Independent samples t-tests or chi-squared tests were used for comparing associations by DS use. 1 Fat mass was measured using bioelectrical impedance analysis. 2 Systolic, diastolic blood pressure and pulse wave velocity were measured as average of three consecutive measurements with an arterial stiffness monitor.