Table 1.
Baseline Characteristics of Study Participants by Glucosamine Use
| Characteristics | Overall (N=483 703) |
Glucosamine nonuser (N=391 110) |
Glucosamine user (N=92 593) |
P Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age, mean (SD), y | 56.5 (8.1) | 55.9 (8.2) | 59.0 (7.1) | <0.001 |
| Sex | ||||
| Female | 263 992 (54.6) | 205 951 (52.7) | 58 041 (62.7) | <0.001 |
| Male | 219 711 (45.4) | 185 159 (47.3) | 34 552 (37.3) | |
| Ethnicity | ||||
| White | 457 744 (94.6) | 368 704 (94.3) | 89 040 (96.2) | <0.001 |
| Others | 25 959 (5.4) | 22 406 (5.7) | 3553 (3.8) | |
| Education | ||||
| Lower qualification | 248 915 (51.5) | 200 742 (51.3) | 48 173 (52.0) | <0.001 |
| Higher qualification | 234 788 (48.5) | 190 368 (48.7) | 44 420 (48.0) | |
| Household income (£) | ||||
| <18 000 | 111 453 (23.0) | 91 246 (23.3) | 20 207 (21.8) | <0.001 |
| 18 000–30 999 | 124 574 (25.8) | 98 090 (25.1) | 26 484 (28.6) | |
| 31 000–51 999 | 125 990 (26.0) | 101 522 (26.0) | 24 468 (26.4) | |
| 52 000–100 000 | 96 332 (19.9) | 79 116 (20.2) | 17 216 (18.6) | |
| >100 000 | 25 354 (5.2) | 21 136 (5.4) | 4218 (4.6) | |
| Body mass index (kg/m2) | ||||
| Mean (SD) | 27.4 (4.8) | 27.4 (4.8) | 27.3 (4.6) | <0.001 |
| <18.5 | 2406 (0.5) | 2080 (0.5) | 326 (0.4) | <0.001 |
| 18.5–24.9 | 158 040 (32.7) | 127 522 (32.6) | 30 518 (33.0) | |
| 25–29.9 | 206 028 (42.6) | 165 756 (42.4) | 40 272 (43.5) | |
| ≥30 | 117 229 (24.2) | 95 752 (24.5) | 21 477 (23.2) | |
| Physical activity (min/week) | ||||
| Regular physical activity | 281 573 (58.2) | 222 403 (56.9) | 59 170 (63.9) | <0.001 |
| Some physical activity | 147 517 (30.5) | 121 952 (31.2) | 25 565 (27.6) | |
| No regular physical activity | 54 613 (11.3) | 46 755 (12.0) | 7858 (8.5) | |
| Smoking status | ||||
| Never | 267 855 (55.4) | 216 421 (55.3) | 51 434 (55.5) | <0.001 |
| Former | 166 271 (34.4) | 131 021 (33.5) | 35 250 (38.1) | |
| Current | 49 577 (10.2) | 43 668 (11.2) | 5909 (6.4) | |
| Pack-years of smoking | ||||
| Not available | 72 134 (14.9) | 56 966 (14.6) | 15 168 (16.4) | <0.001 |
| None (0) | 268989 (55.6) | 217369 (55.6) | 51620 (55.7) | |
| Hardly ever (0.1–10.0) | 37329 (7.7) | 29610 (7.6) | 7719 (8.3) | |
| Light (10.1–20.0) | 39141 (8.1) | 31668 (8.1) | 7473 (8.1) | |
| Moderate (20.1–30.0) | 28268 (5.8) | 23367 (6.0) | 4901 (5.3) | |
| Heavy (>30.0) | 37842 (7.8) | 32130 (8.2) | 5712 (6.2) | |
| Alcohol consumption(times/week) | ||||
| Never | 147 743 (30.5) | 122 315 (31.3) | 25 428 (27.5) | <0.001 |
| 1–2 | 125 267 (25.9) | 10 1949 (26.1) | 23 318 (25.2) | |
| 3–4 | 112 265 (23.2) | 89 169 (22.8) | 23 096 (24.9) | |
| ≥5 | 98 428 (20.3) | 77 677 (19.9) | 20 751 (22.4) | |
| Vegetable consumption (servings/day) | ||||
| <3.0 | 84 629 (17.5) | 72 761 (18.6) | 11 868 (12.8) | <0.001 |
| ≥3–4 | 82 273 (17.0) | 67 606 (17.3) | 14 667 (15.8) | |
| ≥4–6 | 163 740 (33.9) | 130 554 (33.4) | 33 186 (35.8) | |
| ≥6 | 153 061 (31.6) | 120 189 (30.7) | 32 872 (35.5) | |
| Fruit consumption (servings/day) | ||||
| <1 | 38 700 (8.0) | 34 646 (8.9) | 4054 (4.4) | <0.001 |
| ≥1–3 | 200 799 (41.5) | 168 333 (43.0) | 32 466 (35.1) | |
| ≥3–4 | 89 974 (18.6) | 71 507 (18.3) | 18 467 (19.9) | |
| ≥4 | 154 230 (31.9) | 116 624 (29.8) | 37 606 (40.6) | |
| Passive smoking | ||||
| No | 381 755 (78.9) | 306 575 (78.4) | 75 180 (81.2) | <0.001 |
| Yes | 101 948 (21.1) | 84 535 (21.6) | 17 413 (18.8) | |
| Occupational exposure | ||||
| Rarely/never | 383 788 (79.3) | 312 651 (79.9) | 71 137 (76.8) | <0.001 |
| Sometimes | 62 019 (12.8) | 48 443 (12.4) | 13 576 (14.7) | |
| Often | 37 896 (7.8) | 30 016 (7.7) | 7880 (8.5) | |
| C-reactive protein, median (interquartile range), mg/L | 1.31 (0.65-2.72) | 1.32 (0.65-2.74) | 1.29 (0.65-2.63) | <0.001 |
| Supplement or drug use | ||||
| Cholesterol lowering medication | 82 813 (17.1) | 67 287 (17.2) | 15 526 (16.8) | 0.002 |
| Anti-hypertensive drug | 99 607 (20.6) | 81 162 (20.8) | 18 445 (19.9) | <0.001 |
| Insulin | 5260 (1.1) | 4636 (1.2) | 624 (0.7) | <0.001 |
| Aspirin | 66 487 (13.7) | 53 587 (13.7) | 12 900 (13.9) | 0.068 |
| Non-aspirin NSAIDs | 143 970 (29.8) | 112 175 (28.7) | 31 795 (34.3) | <0.001 |
| Chondroitin | 5973 (1.2) | 147 (0.0) | 5826 (6.3) | <0.001 |
| Cortisone | 4323 (0.9) | 3662 (0.9) | 661 (0.7) | <0.001 |
| Vitamin | 153 292 (31.7) | 101 927 (26.1) | 51 365 (55.5) | <0.001 |
| Minerals and other dietary supplements | 60 439 (12.5) | 38 629 (9.9) | 21 810 (23.6) | <0.001 |
| Disease history | ||||
| CVD | 27 524 (5.7) | 23 457 (6.0) | 4067 (4.4) | <0.001 |
| Hypertension | 126 914 (26.2) | 103 039 (26.3) | 23 875 (25.8) | <0.001 |
| Diabetes | 23 827 (4.9) | 20626 (5.3) | 3201 (3.5) | <0.001 |
| Cancer | 39 838 (8.2) | 31391 (8.0) | 8447 (9.1) | <0.001 |
| Chronic Pulmonary Infections | 4373 (0.9) | 3419 (0.9) | 954 (1.0) | <0.001 |
| Rheumatoid arthritis | 5269 (1.1) | 4131 (1.1) | 1138 (1.2) | <0.001 |
| Osteoarthritis | 38 656 (8.0) | 23 060 (5.9) | 15 596 (16.8) | <0.001 |
| Joint pain | 4685 (1.0) | 3237 (0.8) | 1448 (1.6) | <0.001 |
| Arthritis | 3754 (0.8) | 2371 (0.6) | 1383 (1.5) | <0.001 |
| Asthma | 53 433 (11.0) | 42 912 (11.0) | 10 521 (11.4) | <0.001 |
Values are numbers (%) unless stated otherwise.
Abbreviations: CVD, cardiovascular disease; NSAID, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug; SD, standard deviation.