Table 1.
Characteristics of participants by dementia status at end of follow-up. Values are numbers (percentages) unless stated otherwise
| Characteristics at baseline (1985-88) | Dementia status at March 2019 | |
|---|---|---|
| Dementia* (n=639) | No dementia (n=9456) | |
| Demographics | ||
| Male sex | 374 (58.5) | 6423 (67.9) |
| Mean (SD) age, years | 49.9 (4.9) | 44.6 (6.0) |
| Education: | ||
| Low secondary school or lower | 378 (59.2) | 4397 (46.5) |
| High school diploma | 135 (21.1) | 2551 (27.0) |
| University degree or higher | 126 (19.7) | 2508 (26.5) |
| Ethnicity: | ||
| White | 547 (85.6) | 8545 (90.4) |
| Non-white | 92 (14.4) | 911 (9.6) |
| Marital status: | ||
| Married/cohabiting | 452 (70.7) | 7032 (74.4) |
| Single/divorced/widowed | 187 (29.3) | 2424 (25.6) |
| Health behaviours | ||
| Smoking: | ||
| Never smoker | 314 (49.1) | 4707 (49.8) |
| Former smoker | 197 (30.8) | 3049 (32.2) |
| Current smoker | 128 (20.0) | 1700 (18.0) |
| Mean (SD) hours of MVPA per week | 3.4 (3.7) | 3.9 (4.3) |
| Alcohol consumption: | ||
| 0 units/week | 158 (24.7) | 1676 (17.7) |
| 1-14 units/week | 352 (55.1) | 5506 (58.2) |
| >14 units/week | 129 (20.2) | 2274 (24.0) |
| Fruit/vegetable consumption: | ||
| Once/day | 275 (43.0) | 3937 (41.6) |
| ≥Once/day | 364 (57.0) | 5519 (58.4) |
| Chronic conditions at end of follow-up * | ||
| Coronary heart disease | 177 (27.7) | 1996 (21.1) |
| Stroke | 66 (10.3) | 388 (4.1) |
| Heart failure | 62 (9.7) | 529 (5.6) |
| Diabetes | 158 (24.7) | 1560 (16.5) |
| Hypertension | 498 (77.9) | 6140 (64.9) |
| Cancer | 103 (16.1) | 2113 (22.3) |
| Chronic kidney disease | 65 (10.2) | 476 (5.0) |
| Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease | 62 (9.7) | 474 (5.0) |
| Liver disease | 17 (2.7) | 268 (2.8) |
| Depression | 174 (27.2) | 1090 (11.5) |
| Mental disorders | 100 (15.6) | 418 (4.4) |
| Parkinson’s disease | 41 (6.4) | 104 (1.1) |
| Arthritis/rheumatoid arthritis | 140 (21.9) | 1453 (15.4) |
| Multimorbidity status at end of follow-up † | ||
| 0 or 1 chronic condition | 189 (29.6) | 4645 (49.1) |
| Multimorbidity (≥2 chronic conditions) | 450 (70.4) | 4811 (50.9) |
MVPA=moderate and vigorous physical activity; SD=standard deviation.
*
Of 639 cases of dementia, 274 were due to Alzheimer’s disease, 106 were vascular dementia, 29 were due to Parkinson’s disease, 100 were due to other causes, and for 130 cases cause was unspecified/missing.
†
End of follow-up defined as date of diagnosis of dementia, date of death, or March 2019, whichever came first.