Table 1.

Clinical and radiological characteristics of WMSA classes

	Class I	Class II	Class III	P value	Difference
Frequency, (%)	55 (42.3)	32 (24.6)	43 (33.1)
Age, years	65.0 [59.0;77.0]	82.5 [76.0;86.0]	70.0 [58.5;76.5]	<0.001	II>I,III
Men, (%)	31 (56.4)	14 (43.8)	17 (39.5)	0.223
Race, (%)				0.143
African	4 (7.3)	5 (15.6)	9 (20.9)
Asian	4 (7.3)	1 (3.1)	3 (7.0)
White	47 (85.5)	26 (81.3)	31 (72.1)
WMSA number	294.0 [245.0;363.5]	264.0 [207.0;313.0]	184.0 [150.5;209.5]	<0.001	I>II>III
WMSA size, mm³	12.36 [10.68;16.51]	29.21 [22.45;43.63]	14.94 [12.20;17.70]	<0.001	II>I,III
WMSA volume, log₁₀
Total	3.55 [3.45;3.72]	3.88 [3.68;4.07]	3.40 [3.33;3.53]	<0.001	II>I>III
Juxtaventricular	3.22 [3.12;3.33]	3.55 [3.43;3.69]	3.23 [3.11;3.31]	<0.001	II>I,III
Periventricular	3.03 [2.86;3.20]	3.44 [3.33;3.77]	2.70 [2.54;2.85]	<0.001	II>I>III
Deep	2.90 [2.74;3.10]	2.83 [2.46;3.11]	2.58 [2.42;2.75]	<0.001	I,II>III
P-D volume ratio	1.33 [0.96;1.91]	5.06 [3.63;7.13]	1.45 [0.80;2.33]	<0.001	II>I,III
WMSA contrast	1.11 [1.10;1.13]	1.15 [1.13;1.18]	1.18 [1.16;1.20]	<0.001	III,II>I
WMSA burden, (%)	0.30 [0.24;0.40]	0.74 [0.50;1.09]	0.25 [0.21;0.31]	<0.001	II>I,III
T1/T2 Ratio in WMSA	2.05 [1.88;2.318]	1.55 [1.37;1.65]	1.69 [1.45;1.92]	<0.001	II<III<I
Hypertension, (%)	20 (36.4)	20 (62.5)	17 (39.5)	0.047	II>I,III
Diabetes, (%)	7 (12.7)	3 (9.4)	4 (9.3)	0.827
Dyslipidemia, (%)	19 (34.5)	14 (43.8)	19 (44.2)	0.553
Current smoker, (%)	4 (7.2)	1 (3.1)	2 (4.7)	0.687
BMI, kg/m²	24.8 [22.7;29.4]	26.3 [24.3;29.4]	25.6 [22.9;29.6]	0.465
SBP, mmHg	129.1 ± 16.5	140.1 ± 17.7	129.4 ± 17.7	0.018	II>I,III
DBP, mmHg	78.6 ± 12.0	78.8 ± 11.1	77.6 ± 14.1	0.692
Pulse pressure, mmHg	47.0 [41.0;59.0]	57.0 [50.5;74.5]	48.0 [42.5;63.0]	0.005	II>I,III
Framingham risk	7.0 [2.0;12.5]	10.0 [6.0;16.0]	6.0 [2.0;11.0]	0.044	II>I,III
HbA1c	5.4 [5.2;5.7]	5.5 [5.2;5.6]	5.3 [5.2;5.7]	0.881
FBS, mg/dL	102.0 [96.0;109.0]	100.0 [93.0;107.0]	102.0 [95.0;106.0]	0.549
hsCRP, mg/L	1.5 [0.7;3.2]	1.9 [0.8;3.1]	1.0 [0.5;2.7]	0.450
BUN, mg/dL	15.0 [13.0;19.0]	16.0 [13.0;20.0]	15.0 [13.0;18.0]	0.643
Creatinine, mg/dL	0.9 [0.8;1.0]	0.9 [0.8;1.1]	0.9 [0.8;1.0]	0.649
Triglyceride, mg/dL	94.0 [68.0;128.0]	89.0 [60.0;124.0]	104.0 [62.0;134.0]	0.825
Total Cholesterol, mg/dL	191.5 ± 41.5	196.2 ± 23.4	200.7 ± 46.6	0.270
LDL-C, mg/dL	109.5 ± 33.6	111.2 ± 22.4	120.9 ± 39.3	0.112
HDL-C, mg/dL	62.0 [50.0;67.0]	58.0 [51.0;82.0]	55.0 [50.0;72.0]	0.702
PSQI score	4.0 [3.0;6.0]	3.0 [2.0;4.5]	5.0 [3.0;6.0]	0.060
Poor sleeper, (%)	24 (43.6%)	8 (25.0%)	24 (55.8%)	0.028	I,III>II
Physical activity
Sitting, min/d	35.0 [21.0;49.0]	35.0 [24.5;49.0]	35.0 [21.0;56.0]	0.660
Walking, hr/wk	4.7 [2.5;7.0]	2.0 [0.7;6.4]	3.5 [1.8;7.0]	0.112
Moderate, hr/wk	2.0 [0.0;4.0]	0.7 [0.0;2.5]	1.0 [0.0;3.0]	0.133
Vigorous, hr/wk	1.0 [0.0;3.8]	0.0 [0.0;0.9]	0.0 [0.0;1.5]	0.001	I>II,III
Total, MET-min/wk	2179.5 [1426.5;3813.0]	1078.5 [452.3;2003.7]	1386.0 [881.3;214.0]	0.003	I>III>II
MoCA	27.0 [25.0;28.0]	26.0 [24.0;26.5]	27.0 [25.0;28.0]	0.057

Data are represented as numbers and frequencies for categorical variables and mean ± standard deviation or median with interquartile range for continuous variables. WMSA: white matter signal abnormalities, BMI: body mass index, SBP: systolic blood pressure, DBP: diastolic blood pressure, FBS: fasting blood glucose, hsCRP: high sensitivity C-reactive protein, BUN: blood urea nitrogen, LDL-C: low density lipoprotein-cholesterol, HDL-C: high density lipoprotein-cholesterol, PSQI: Pittsburg sleep quality index, LOC: loss of consciousness, MET: metabolic equivalent, MoCA: Montreal Cognitive Assessment, P value by Pearson Chi-Square test, ANOVA followed by Tukey test, or Kruskal-Wallis rank sum test followed by the Dunn test