Table 1. Baseline characteristics of the study population.

Characteristic	Study population, n = 9,958
Age, years	67.4 ± 8.2
Women	5,776 (58.0%)
Educational level
Primary	1,483 (14.9%)
Lower	4,039 (40.6%)
Intermediate	2,837 (28.5%)
Higher	1,600 (16.1%)
Systolic blood pressure, mm Hg	139 ± 19
Diastolic blood pressure, mm Hg	78 ± 10
Blood-pressure-lowering medication use	3,059 (30.7%)
Body mass index, kg/m2	27.0 ± 4.1
Alcohol consumption, g/day	6.1 ± 9.3
Smoking status
Never	3,018 (30.3%)
Former	3,378 (33.9%)
Current	3,562 (35.8%)
Total cholesterol, mmol/L	6.2 ± 1.3
High-density lipoprotein cholesterol, mmol/L	1.4 ± 0.4
Lipid-lowering medication use	1,307 (13.1%)
Anti-thrombotic medication use	1,017 (10.2%)
Type 2 diabetes mellitus	1,347 (13.5%)
Atrial fibrillation	473 (4.7%)
Prior coronary heart disease	717 (7.2%)

Data presented as frequency (percentage) for categorical values and mean ± standard deviation for continuous variables.