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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2020 Apr 29.
Published in final edited form as: Addiction. 2019 Nov 6;115(5):850–862. doi: 10.1111/add.14873

Table 1. Baseline characteristics of male current regular drinkers by problem drinking status.

Non-problem drinkers
Problem drinkers
All current regular drinkers Low-risk drinkers (Within-guidelines) High-risk drinkers 1 indicator 2+ indicators p-value
Number of men (%) 69904 25958 (37.1) 27254 (39.0) 13271 (19.0) 3421 (4.9)
Socio-demographic characteristics
    Mean age, years (SD)       51.1 (10.2)       51.7 (10.7)       50.2 (9.8)       51.8 (10.1)       50.9 (9.8) <0.001
    Age groups, years % <0.001
        <40       14.1       14.7       15.4       12.4       14.7
        40-49       32.4       31.2       35.2       31.2       33.2
        50-59       31.6       29.8       31.4       33.0       34.6
        60-69       16.3       17.6       14.0       17.6       14.2
        70+         5.5         6.8         4.0         5.7         3.2
    Urban area, %       50.1       61.3       51.9       30.5       24.0 <0.001
    Highest education, % <0.001
        Primary or below       39.7       36.9       40.0       42.3       42.5
        Middle or high school       52.2       53.6       51.9       51.8       53.4
        Technical school, college or university         8.1         9.5         8.1         5.9         4.1
    Household income, yuan/year % <0.001
        <20,000       48.5       47.3       47.2       52.5       53.2
        20,000-34,999       28.0       28.0       28.1       26.8       28.1
        35,000+       23.5       24.6       24.7       20.6       18.7
    Married, %       93.8       94.8       93.9       92.6       91.1 <0.001
Lifestyle & physical measurements
    Regular smoking, %       71.3       64.9       74.1       76.2       79.0 <0.001
    Mean physical activity, MET-h/d*(SD)       22.9 (15.0)       22.9 (14.8)       22.8 (14.9)       23.1 (15.2)       23.4 (15.7)   0.028
    Mean SBP, mmHg (SD)     134.2 (19.8)     131.8 (19.1)     135.7 (19.7)     135.3 (20.6)     136.7 (20.9) <0.001
    Mean BMI, kg/m2 (SD)       23.7 (3.2)       23.6 (3.2)       23.9 (3.3)       23.5 (3.2)       23.3 (3.1) <0.001
Medical history, %
    CHD         1.9         2.0         1.7         1.9         3.0   0.012
    Stroke or TIA         1.3         1.3         1.2         1.4         2.4   0.058
    Cancers         0.2         0.3         0.2         0.2         0.2   0.550
    Chronic hepatitis or cirrhosis         1.2         1.2         1.1         1.4         1.4   0.013
    Diabetes         2.0         2.1         2.0         1.8         2.5   0.155
    Psychiatric disorder         0.2         0.1         0.1         0.2         0.4   0.481

SD, standard deviation; MET-h/d, metabolic equivalent of task per hour per day; SBP, systolic blood pressure; DBP, diastolic blood pressure; BMI, body mass index; CHD, coronary heart disease; TIA, transient ischaemic attack; HED, heavy episodic drinking.

Prevalences and means are adjusted for age group and region as appropriate.

p-values were calculated using a chi-squared test for association between problem drinking and baseline characteristics.

Low-risk drinkers were current regular drinkers who drank <200g/week, with no HED in a typical drinking week or problem drinking indicator reported; high-risk drinkers were current regular drinkers who either drank at least 200g/week or engaged in HED in a typical drinking week, but with no problem drinking indicator reported; problem drinkers were current regular drinkers who reported at least one problem drinking indicator, and were further classified into “1 problem drinking indicator” and “2+ problem drinking indicators” according to the number of problem drinking indicators reported.

*

The sum of MET-h/d was estimated based on questions on the usual type and duration of activities related to work, commuting, household chores, and leisure-time exercise in the past year, adapted from validated questionnaires used in previous cohort studies, with some additional modifications after a CKB pilot study.