Table 3.
Baseline biochemical indices, blood pressure and medical status, as well as 10-year medical status and incidence of cardiometabolic diseases of the study population according to trajectories of adherence to the Mediterranean diet (n = 2583).
| Mediterranean Diet Trajectories | p-Value * | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low–Low (n = 687) |
Low–High (n = 233) |
High–Low (n = 1179) |
High–High (n = 484) |
||
| Cardiometabolic indices | |||||
| Glucose, mg/dL | 93 (85, 106) a | 97 (87, 108) a | 89 (80, 97) b | 86 (78, 94) c | <0.001 |
| Insulin, μU/ml | 13.6 (12.6, 14.9) a | 14.1 (12.9, 15.3) a | 12.4 (11.5, 13.6) b | 11.5 (10.8, 12.3) c | <0.001 |
| HOMA-IR | 3.12 (2.6, 3.9) a | 3.33 (2.77, 4.09) a | 2.72 (2.31, 3.20) b | 2.44 (2.10, 2.87) c | <0.001 |
| TC, mg/dL | 201 (176, 230) a | 198 (177, 225) a | 190 (163, 219) b | 174 (153, 202) c | <0.001 |
| LDL-C, mg/dL | 129 (107, 153) a | 126 (110, 150) a | 119 (97, 146) b | 106 (85, 131) c | <0.001 |
| HDL-C, mg/dL | 43 (37, 51) a | 42 (35, 48) a | 48 (40, 57) b | 52 (44, 61) c | <0.001 |
| TG, mg/dL | 123 (91, 172) a | 124 (93, 182) a | 96 (67, 140) b | 73 (54, 100) c | <0.001 |
| hs-CRP, mg/L | 1.43 (0.66, 3.08) a | 1.51 (0.67, 2.95) a | 1.05 (0.47, 2.25) b | 0.60 (0.28, 1.33) c | <0.001 |
| SBP, mm Hg | 132 ± 19 a | 131 ± 17 a | 122 ± 17 b | 112 ± 14 c | <0.001 |
| DBP, mm Hg | 83 ± 11 a | 84 ± 11 a | 79 ± 11 b | 72 ± 10 c | <0.001 |
| Medical status | |||||
| Family history of HCL, n (%) | 208 (66.9) a,b | 77 (58.3) a | 479 (72.6) b | 225 (76.5) b | <0.001 |
| HCL, n (%)-baseline | 342 (49.8) a | 114 (48.9) a,b | 469 (39.8) b | 125 (25.9) c | <0.001 |
| HCL, n (%)-10 years | 410 (59.7) a | 134 (57.5) a,b | 553 (46.9) b | 155 (32.0) c | <0.001 |
| Family history of HTN, n (%) | 86 (12.5) | 36 (15.5) | 181 (15.4) | 82 (16.9) | 0.174 |
| HTN, n (%)-baseline | 314 (45.7) a | 103 (46.8) a | 297 (27.1) b | 41 (8.5) c | <0.001 |
| HTN, n (%)-10 years | 397 (57.8) a | 128 (54.9) a | 392 (33.2) b | 62 (12.8) c | <0.001 |
| MetS, n (%)-baseline | 238 (34.6) a | 97 (41.6) a | 181 (15.4) b | 14 (2.9) c | <0.001 |
| MetS, n (%)-10 years | 486 (70.7) a | 172 (73.8) a | 622 (52.8) b | 163 (33.7) c | <0.001 |
| Family history of T2DM, n (%) | 169 (24.6) | 78 (33.5) | 304 (25.8) | 128 (26.4) | 0.775 |
| T2DM, n (%)-baseline | 104 (15.1) a | 34 (14.6) a | 56 (4.7) b | 3 (0.6) c | <0.001 |
| T2DM, n (%)-10 years | 173 (25.2) a | 71 (30.5) a | 128 (10.9) b | 16 (3.3) c | <0.001 |
| Family history of CVD, n (%) | 156 (22.7) | 60 (25.8) | 317 (26.9) | 127 (26.2) | 0.534 |
| 10-year incidence of cardiometabolic diseases | |||||
| HCL 10-year incidence, n (%) | 114 (45.4) a | 37 (40.2) a,b | 155 (32.8) b | 46 (20.2) c | <0.001 |
| HTN 10-year incidence, n (%) | 121 (48.0) a | 31 (33.7) a,b | 139 (25.4) b | 29 (11.0) c | <0.001 |
| MetS 10-year incidence, n (%) | 248 (55.2) a | 75 (55.1) a | 442 (44.4) b | 149 (31.7) c | <0.001 |
| T2DM 10-year incidence, n (%) | 69 (19.2) a | 37 (25.5) a | 72 (10.4) b | 13 (4.6) c | <0.001 |
| CVD 10-year incidence, n (%) | 153 (30.1) a | 56 (32.6) a | 93 (10.0) b | 15 (3.7) c | <0.001 |
Data are presented as absolute (relative) frequency for categorical variables, mean ± standard deviation for normally distributed numerical variables and median (1st, 3rd quartile) for skewed numerical variables. * p-values for the comparisons between Mediterranean diet trajectories, as derived from the Pearson’s chi-squared test for categorical variables, the analysis of variance (ANOVA) for normally distributed numerical variables or the Kruskal–Wallis signed rank-test for skewed numerical variables. a–c Different superscripts indicate significant between-group differences (p-value < 0.050) according to post hoc pairwise comparisons adjusted by the Bonferroni correction for multiple tests. HCL, hypercholesterolemia; HDL-C, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol; CVD, cardiovascular disease; HOMA-IR, homeostasis model of assessment—insulin resistance; HTN, hypertension; LDL-C, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol; MetS, metabolic syndrome; TC, total cholesterol; TG, triglycerides; T2DM, type 2 diabetes mellitus.