Table 1 Characteristics of study participants at the baseline examination

N

19,685

8331

653

7276

3425

―

Age, years (mean ± SD)

45.5 ± 9.5

42.6 ± 8.7

43.8 ± 8.3 *

48.3 ± 9.7 *†

47.0 ± 9.0 *†‡

< 0.001

Men, % (n)

59.9% (11,782)

42.0% (3496)

424/229

5088/2188

2774/651

< 0.001

BMI, kg/m² (mean ± SD)

22.6 ± 3.3

20.7 ± 2.1

26.7 ± 1.7 *

22.1 ± 1.9 *†

27.6 ± 2.5 *†‡

< 0.001

Waist circumference, cm (mean ± SD)

78.0 ± 9.6

72.3 ± 7.0

86.9 ± 6.0 *

77.9 ± 6.8 *†

90.6 ± 7.2 *†‡

< 0.001

SBP, mmHg (mean ± SD)

117.5 ± 16.3

108.0 ± 10.7

116.1 ± 8.9 *

122.2 ± 16.2 *†

130.8 ± 15.2 *†‡

< 0.001

DBP, mmHg (mean ± SD)

73.7 ± 11.2

67.2 ± 7.8

72.6 ± 6.7 *

76.9 ± 11.0 *†

82.6 ± 10.1 *†‡

< 0.001

FPG, mmol/L (mean ± SD)

5.4 ± 0.9

5.0 ± 0.3

5.1 ± 0.3 *

5.6 ± 1.0 *†

6.0 ± 1.3 *†‡

< 0.001

Triglycerides, mmol/L (median (interquartile range))

0.8 (0.5–1.2)

0.6 (0.4–0.8)

0.8 (0.6–1.2) *

1.0 (0.6–1.5) *†

1.3 (0.9–1.9) *†‡

< 0.001

HDL cholesterol, mmol/L (mean ± SD)

1.4 ± 0.4

1.6 ± 0.4

1.4 ± 0.3 *

1.3 ± 0.4 *†

1.2 ± 0.3 *†‡

< 0.001

Exercise

16,111/3574

81.4% (6781)

540/113

5911/1365

2879/546

0.002

Smoking status

< 0.001

 Never- smoker, % (n)

53.2% (10,480)

65.0% (5414)

53.0% (346)

45.9% (3342)

40.2% (1378)

 Ex-smoker, % (n)

22.4% (4405)

16.0% (1331)

23.4% (153)

26.1% (1897)

29.9% (1024)

 Current smoker, % (n)

24.3% (4776)

16.5% (1375)

23.6% (154)

27.9% (2029)

29.7% (1018)

Smoking burden, pack-years (median (interquartile range))

0 (0–305)

0 (0–120)

0 (0–300) *

50 (0–420) *†

150 (0–460) *†‡

< 0.001

Alcohol consumption, g/wk. (median (interquartile range))

4.2 (0–90)

1 (0–54)

1 (0–66) *

12 (0–126) *†

12 (1–126) *†

0.070