Table 1.
Main characteristics of women included (hormone non-users only), overall and in discovery and validation sets
| Overall (n = 2358) | Discovery (n = 1572) | Validation (n = 786) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age at blood collection (years) | 53.9 (8.5) | 53.1 (8.6) | 55.5 (8.1) |
| Fasting status at blood collectiona (%) | |||
| No | 936 (39.7) | 639 (40.6) | 297 (37.8) |
| In between | 375 (15.9) | 252 (16.0) | 123 (15.6) |
| Yes | 1047 (44.4) | 681 (43.3) | 366 (46.6) |
| Menopausal status at blood collection (%) | |||
| Premenopausal | 722 (30.6) | 522 (33.2) | 200 (25.4) |
| Postmenopausal | 1294 (54.9) | 808 (51.4) | 486 (61.8) |
| Perimenopausal | 342 (14.5) | 242 (15.4) | 100 (12.7) |
| Age at first menstrual periods (years) (mean (SD)) | 13.1 (1.6) | 13.1 (1.6) | 13.1 (1.6) |
| Number of full-term pregnancies (mean (SD)) | 2.1 (1.3) | 2.0 (1.2) | 2.1 (1.4) |
| Age at first full-term pregnancy (years) (mean (SD)) | 25.2 (4.3) | 25.1 (4.4) | 25.4 (4.2) |
| Breastfeeding (in parous women) (%) | |||
| Yes | 1669 (80.9) | 1110 (80.7) | 559 (81.2) |
| No | 280 (13.6) | 181 (13.2) | 99 (14.4) |
| Missing | 115 (5.6) | 85 (6.2) | 30 (4.4) |
| Ever used oral contraceptive (%) | 1120 (47.5) | 790 (50.3) | 330 (42.0) |
| Ever used MHT (%) | 297 (12.6) | 198 (12.6) | 99 (12.6) |
| Education level (%) | |||
| Primary/no schooling | 1162 (49.3) | 743 (47.3) | 419 (53.3) |
| Technical/professional/secondary | 819 (34.7) | 560 (35.6) | 259 (33.0) |
| Longer education | 377 (16.0) | 269 (17.1) | 108 (13.7) |
| Physical activity (Cambridge Index) (%) | |||
| Inactive | 623 (26.4) | 388 (24.7) | 235 (29.9) |
| Moderately inactive | 929 (39.4) | 623 (39.6) | 306 (38.9) |
| Moderately active | 450 (19.1) | 307 (19.5) | 143 (18.2) |
| Active | 356 (15.1) | 254 (16.2) | 102 (13.0) |
| Smoking status (%) | |||
| Never | 1406 (59.6) | 934 (59.4) | 472 (60.1) |
| Former | 480 (20.4) | 299 (19.0) | 181 (23.0) |
| Smoker | 472 (20.0) | 339 (21.6) | 133 (16.9) |
| Alcohol consumption at recruitment (%) | |||
| Non-drinker | 509 (21.6) | 302 (19.2) | 207 (26.3) |
| > 0–3 g/day | 707 (30.0) | 482 (30.7) | 225 (28.6) |
| > 3–12 g/day | 619 (26.3) | 416 (26.5) | 203 (25.8) |
| > 12–24 g/day | 337 (14.3) | 239 (15.2) | 98 (12.5) |
| > 24 g/day | 186 (7.9) | 133 (8.5) | 53 (6.7) |
| Height (cm) (mean (SD)) | 160.4 (6.8) | 160.6 (6.7) | 160.0 (6.8) |
| BMI (kg/m2) (mean (SD)) | 26.0 (4.3) | 25.9 (4.3) | 26.3 (4.4) |
| Waist circumference (cm) (mean (SD)) | 81.9 (10.6) | 81.5 (10.4) | 82.6 (10.9) |
| Waist/hip ratio (mean (SD)) | 0.80 (0.07) | 0.80 (0.07) | 0.81 (0.07) |
| Total energy intake (kcal/day) (mean (SD)) | 2010.3 (547.7) | 2016.3 (557.6) | 1998.3 (527.4) |
| Healthy Lifestyle Indexb (mean(SD)) | 12.6 (3.0) | 12.6 (3.0) | 12.8 (2.9) |
| WCRF/AICR scorec (mean (SD)) | 3.9 (1.0) | 3.9 (1.0) | 3.9 (1.0) |
| Modified Mediterranean diet score (mean (SD)) | 4.3 (1.8) | 4.3 (1.8) | 4.5 (1.7) |
| Inflammatory score of the diet (mean (SD)) | 0.9 (1.7) | 0.89 (1.7) | 0.8 (1.7) |
| Diet Quality Index-International (mean (SD)) | 57.4 (7.8) | 57.2 (7.9) | 57.8 (7.7) |
| Metabolite concentrations (normalized), μmol/L | |||
| Arginine (geometric mean (SD)) | 64.1 (2.6) | 64.2 (2.6) | 63.9 (2.6) |
| Asparagine (geometric mean (SD)) | 41.5 (2.7) | 41.4 (2.7) | 41.6 (2.7) |
| C2 (geometric mean (SD)) | 4.9 (2.7) | 4.9 (2.7) | 4.9 (2.6) |
| PC aa C36:3 (geometric mean (SD)) | 130.0 (2.6) | 127.0 (2.6) | 136.0 (2.7) |
| PC ae C34:2 (geometric mean (SD)) | 12.2 (2.7) | 12.1 (2.8) | 12.4 (2.7) |
| PC ae C36:2 (geometric mean (SD)) | 15.6 (2.7) | 15.5 (2.7) | 15.6 (2.7) |
| PC ae C36:3 (geometric mean (SD)) | 8.1 (2.7) | 8.0 (2.7) | 8.2 (2.7) |
| PC ae C38:2 (geometric mean (SD)) | 2.1 (2.7) | 2.1 (2.7) | 2.1 (2.8) |
Abbreviations: AICR American Institute for Cancer Research, BMI body mass index, C2 acetylcarnitine, MHT menopause hormone therapy, PC aa phosphatidylcholine diacyl, PC ae phosphatidylcholine acyl-alkyl, SD standard deviation, WCRF World Cancer Research Fund
aNo: < 3 h since last meal (< 4 h in Umeå); in between: 3–6 h since last meal (4–8 h in Umeå); yes: > 6 h since last meal (> 8 h in Umeå)
bHealthy Lifestyle Index was missing for 144 (6.1%) participants
cWCRF/AICR score was missing for 196 (8.3%) participants