Table 1 Characteristics of the study population at baseline
Characteristic | Population | Men | Women | PCT quartiles | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | ||||
Number of participants (%) | 3,322 | 1,467 (44) | 1,855 (56) | 935 | 820 | 760 | 807 |
Age, mean (SD), years | 58 (6) | 58 (6) | 58 (6) | 56 (6) | 57 (6) | 58 (6) | 59 (6) |
Blood pressure, mean (SD), mm Hg | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â |
 Systolic | 142 (19) | 143 (18) | 140 (19) | 137 (18) | 140 (18) | 145 (19) | 146 (19) |
 Diastolic | 87 (9) | 89 (9) | 86 (9) | 85 (9) | 86 (9) | 88 (9) | 89 (9) |
Hypertension, Number (%) | 2,118 (63.8) | 991 (67.6) | 1,127 (60.8) | 508 (54.3) | 506 (61.7) | 510 (67.1) | 594 (73.6) |
Lipids, mean (SD), mmol/L | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â |
 LDL-C | 4.17 (0.98) | 4.12 (0.90) | 4.20 (1.04) | 4.05 (1.00) | 4.11 (0.94) | 4.30 (0.99) | 4.22 (0.97) |
 HDL-C | 1.38 (0.37) | 1.22 (0.29) | 1.52 (0.37) | 1.52 (0.38) | 1.41 (0.36) | 1.32 (0.35) | 1.26 (0.33) |
 TG | 1.31 (0.63) | 1.43 (0.68) | 1.21 (0.57) | 1.11 (1.00) | 1.22 (0.55) | 1.40 (0.66) | 1.53 (0.73) |
Body mass index, mean (SD), kg/m2 | 25.7 (3.9) | 26.0 (3.4) | 25.5 (4.2) | 24.9 (3.7) | 25.3 (3.7) | 26.1 (3.7) | 26.8 (4.0) |
Diabetes mellitus, Number (%) | 272 (8.2) | 158 (10.8) | 114 (6.1) | 42 (4.5) | 41 (5.0) | 71 (9.3) | 118 (14.6) |
Current smoking, Number (%) | 861 (25.9) | 412 (28.1) | 449 (24.2) | 251 (26.8) | 221 (27.0) | 205 (27.0) | 184 (22.8) |
Cystatin C, mean (SD), mg/L | 0.77 (0.14) | 0.79 (0.15) | 0.75 (0.13) | 0.72 (0.12) | 0.76 (0.12) | 0.79 (0.13) | 0.83 (0.17) |
hsCRP, median (IQR), mg/L | 0.13 | 0.12 | 0.13 | 0.10 | 0.11 | 0.13 | 0.20 |
(0.06 to 0.28) | (0.06 to 0.27) | (0.06 to 0.28) | (0.05 to 0.20) | (0.06 to 0.24) | (0.07 to 0.27) | (0.09 to 0.41) | |
PCT, median (IQR), pg/mL | 16 (13 to 20) | 18 (15 to 23) | 14 (12 to 18) | 12 (10 to 13) | 15 (14 to 16) | 18 (17 to 19) | 25 (22 to 30) |
 Men |  |  |  | 14 (12 to 15) | 17 (16 to 18) | 20 (19 to 21) | 28 (25 to 34) |
 Women |  |  |  | 10 (9 to 11) | 13 (12 to 14) | 16 (15 to 17) | 21 (19 to 25) |