Table 1.
General characteristics of the study participants, according to the PI quintiles (KNHANES 2015–2018, n = 18,699).
| Quintile of PI | p-Value | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Q5 | ||
| Number of participants | 3739 | 3740 | 3740 | 3740 | 3740 | |
| PI, median (range) | 3.25 (0.00–5.69) |
8.03 (5.69–10.62) |
13.40 (10.62–16.59) |
20.25 (16.59–25.11) |
32.73 (25.11–98.21) |
|
| Age (years) | 43.88 ± 0.28 | 48.52 ± 0.27 | 52.87 ± 0.26 | 56.05 ± 0.25 | 58.46 ± 0.23 | <0.001 |
| Sex | <0.001 | |||||
| Men | 1992 (53.28) | 1868 (49.95) | 1529 (40.88) | 1420 (37.97) | 1160 (31.02) | |
| Women | 1747 (46.72) | 1872 (50.05) | 2211 (59.12) | 2320 (62.03) | 2580 (68.98) | |
| Education level | <0.001 | |||||
| Middle school graduation or lower | 805 (22.71) | 940 (26.50) | 1209 (33.94) | 1322 (37.25) | 1420 (39.68) | |
| High school graduation | 1330 (37.53) | 1175 (33.13) | 1045 (29.34) | 1085 (30.57) | 1042 (29.11) | |
| College graduation or higher | 1409 (39.76) | 1432 (40.37) | 1308 (36.72) | 1142 (32.18) | 1117 (31.21) | |
| Smoking status | <0.001 | |||||
| Non-smokers | 1844 (49.96) | 2052 (55.47) | 2340 (63.52) | 2454 (66.68) | 2656 (71.94) | |
| Former smokers | 775 (21.00) | 876 (23.68) | 795 (21.58) | 807 (21.93) | 755 (20.45) | |
| Current Smokers | 1072 (29.04) | 771 (20.85) | 549 (14.90) | 419 (11.39) | 281 (7.61) | |
| Body mass index (kg/m2) | 24.07 ± 0.06 | 24.04 ± 0.06 | 24.04 ± 0.06 | 24.00 ± 0.06 | 23.92 ± 0.05 | 0.359 |
| Alcohol consumption | 1.19 ± 0.03 | 1.02 ± 0.03 | 0.68 ± 0.02 | 0.54 ± 0.02 | 0.36 ± 0.02 | <0.001 |
| Physical activity level 1 | 17.10 ± 0.40 | 16.34 ± 0.37 | 16.56 ± 0.38 | 17.68 ± 0.40 | 18.09 ± 0.36 | 0.006 |
| Meat and meat products intake | 279.36 ± 6.00 | 244.35 ± 4.94 | 184.18 ± 3.90 | 146.47 ± 3.29 | 88.61 ± 2.23 | <0.001 |
| Sweets intake | 39.09 ± 1.21 | 39.88 ± 1.09 | 36.41 ± 1.08 | 32.34 ± 0.98 | 27.83 ± 0.86 | <0.001 |
| Total energy intake (kcal/day) | 2078.69 ± 15.06 | 2059.29 ± 13.57 | 1931.02 ± 12.44 | 1859.52 ± 11.72 | 1724.84 ± 10.99 | <0.001 |
PI, phytochemical index; KNHANES, Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey; Q, quintile. Values are presented as mean ± standard error or as n (%). 1 Physical activity level was calculated as metabolic equivalent task-hours per week (METs-h/week).