Table 2.
Baseline characteristics of patients (n=205)
| Variables | All patients | Training cohort | Validation cohort | P value |
| Clinical characteristics | ||||
| No of patients, n (%) | 205 | 136 (66.3) | 69 (33.7) | — |
| Age (years) | 61.6±8.4 | 61.2±8.7 | 62.3±7.6 | 0.340 |
| Gender (male) | 166 (80.9) | 113 (83.0) | 53 (76.8) | 0.279 |
| Symptomatic patients, n (%)* | 67 (32.7) | 48 (35.3) | 19 (27.5) | 0.263 |
| Cardiovascular risk factors | ||||
| Family history, n (%) | 20 (9.8) | 11 (8.1) | 9 (13.0) | 0.259 |
| Overweight/obesity, n (%) | 84 (41.0) | 55 (40.4) | 29 (42.0) | 0.827 |
| Dyslipidaemia, n (%) | 88 (42.9) | 61 (44.9) | 27 (39.1) | 0.434 |
| Hypertension, n (%) | 115 (56.1) | 71 (52.2) | 44 (63.8) | 0.115 |
| Diabetes mellitus, n (%) | 47 (22.9) | 34 (25.0) | 13 (18.8) | 0.322 |
| Smoking, current, n (%) | 120 (58.5) | 76 (55.9) | 44 (63.8) | 0.279 |
| Plaque echogenicity, n (%) | 0.329 | |||
| Hypoechoic | 59 (28.8) | 42 (30.9) | 17 (24.6) | |
| Isoechoic | 51 (24.9) | 36 (26.5) | 15 (21.7) | |
| Mixed echoic | 95 (46.3) | 58 (42.6) | 37 (53.6) | |
| Plaque thickness, n (%) | 0.263 | |||
| <3 mm | 55 (26.8) | 36 (26.5) | 19 (27.5) | |
| 3–5 mm | 85 (41.5) | 52 (38.2) | 33 (47.8) | |
Note: Values are given as mean ± SD and the percentage of patients.*Neurological symptoms within 6 months.