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Table 1 Characteristics of the cohort sample and the cohort subsets*: pre-existing disease, high risk, and low risk subsets, the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Cohort Limited Access Data, 1987–89.

From: Common carotid arterial interadventitial distance (diameter) as an indicator of the damaging effects of age and atherosclerosis, a cross-sectional study of the Atherosclerosis Risk in Community Cohort Limited Access Data (ARICLAD), 1987–89

 

Cohort Sample N = 8163‡

Subsets* of Cohort Sample

  

Pre-existing Disease

N = 591‡

High Risk

N = 6175‡

Low Risk

N = 1397‡

p-value

Age (mean, std)

54.2 (5.7)

56.5 (5.3)

54.4 (5.7)

52.2 (5.4)

<0.0001

Male Gender (%)

44.8

64.3

44.8

36.7

<0.0001

Black Race (%)

25.5

25.5

28.7

12.3

<0.0001

Height in cm (mean, std)

168.5 (9.3)

170.4 (8.9)

168.4 (9.3)

168.0 (9.0)

<0.0001

Stroke (%)

2.4

33.7†

0§

0§

NA

Coronary Heart Disease

5.2

72.2†

0§

0§

NA

Plaque or Shadowing

35.7

52.7

44.0†

0§

0.0002

Smoker (%)

     

   Current

26.9

29.6

32.8†

0§

0.0783§§

   Former

31.8

43.8

28.7

40.5

 

   Never

41.3

26.6

38.5

59.5

 

Cigarette Years for Current Smokers (mean, std)

681.9 (438.9)

845.3 (532.4)

667.7 (427.1)

N/A

<0.0001

Drinker (%)

     

   Current

56.3

48.6

55.4

63.4

<0.0001§§

   Former

19.3

31.5

19.1

14.9

 

   Never

24.4

20.0

25.5

21.7

 

Ethanol g/wk for Current Drinkers (mean, std)

76.3 (119.1)

87.8 (125.5)

81.1 (125.8)

54.1 (81.9)

<0.0001

Diabetes (%)

11.4

22.3

12.9†

0§

<0.0001

Hypertension (%)

35.5

54.3

41.7†

0§

<0.0001

Cholesterol Medication Use (%)

3.0

6.5

3.3†

0§

<0.0001

Body Mass Index (mean, std)

27.7 (5.3)

28.2 (5.4)

28.3 (5.5)†

24.7 (2.8)

<0.0001

Systolic Blood Pressure mm Hg (mean, std)

121.4 (18.7)

122.7 (21.6)

123.5 (19.0)†

111.5 (12.0)

<0.0001

Diastolic Blood Pressure mm Hg (mean, std)

73.7 (11.3)

72.6 (12.5)

74.8 (11.5)†

69.6 (8.5)

<0.0001

LDL Cholesterol mg/dl (mean, std)

138.2 (39.5)

145.2 (39.5)

142.5 (40.3)†

116.2 (26.0)

<0.0001

HDL Cholesterol mg/dl (mean, std)

51.5 (17.0)

44.6 (15.9)

50.4 (16.2)

59.2 (18.7)

<0.0001

Fibrinogen (mean, std)

304.3 (65.3)

321.9 (72.0)

308.6 (65.0)

277.5 (55.5)

<0.0001

White Blood Count (thousands) (mean, std)

6.2 (2.1)

6.7 (3.3)

6.3 (2.0)

5.4 (1.5)

<0.0001

  1. *Subsets: Pre-existing disease = prevalent CHD or stroke; High risk = absence of pre-existing disease + either diabetes, hypertension, body mass index ≥ 30, current cigarette smoking, LDL cholesterol ≥ 160 mg/dL, use of cholesterol lowering medication, or presence of plaque or shadowing on B-mode ultrasound; Low risk = absence of pre-existing disease and risk factors.
  2. Percentages may not total to 100% because of rounding.
  3. ‡N = maximum possible in the cohort or subsets. For some variables, smaller numbers are available because of missing values.
  4. †Variable levels were used to distinguish between the high risk factor and low risk subsets.
  5. N/A since smokers were excluded from low risk subset.
  6. §Subset was defined by the absence of the characteristic.
  7. §§Comparison of equality of proportions of current smokers and current drinkers between groups.
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Cardiovascular Ultrasound

ISSN: 1476-7120

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