Table 1

Characteristics of all participants and of subsets with and without carotid lesions at baseline, Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Limited Access Data, 1987–89.



Full Study
Carotid Lesions:



Sample
Present
Absent



N = 7956
N = 2955
N = 5001
p-value

Age, years (mean (SD))
54.0 (5.7)
55.7 (5.5)
53.0 (5.6)
<0.0001
Male Gender (%)
43.4
52
38.3
<0.0001
Black race (%)
22.6
21.1
23.4
0.02
Smoker (%)
Current
25.6
31.7
21.9
<0.0001

Former
31.4
34.2
29.8


Never
43.0
34.2
48.3

Cigarette years* (mean (SD))
660 (418)
735 (449)
596 (379)
<0.0001
Drinker (%)
Current
58.5
58.6
58.4
0.0002

Former
17.3
19.3
16.1


Never
24.2
22.0
25.4

Ethanol, grams/week(mean (SD))
72 (111)
79 (125)
60 (102)
<0.0001
Diabetes (%)
8.8
10.3
7.9
0.0002
Hypertension medication (%)
24.6
36.5
26.8
<0.0001
Cholesterol medication (%)
2.8
3.4
2.4
0.011
Body Mass Index (mean (SD))
26.7 (4.6)
26.5 (4.4)
26.8 (4.7)
0.0032
Systolic BP, mm Hg (mean (SD))
120 (18)
123 (19)
118 (17)
<0.0001
Diastolic BP, mm Hg (mean (SD))
72.7 (10.9)
73.0 (11.0)
72.6 (10.9)
0.146
LDL-C, mmol/L (mean (SD))
3.53 (1.00)
3.69 (0.98)
3.44 (1.01)
<0.0001
HDL-C, mmol/L (mean (SD))
1.38 (0.45)
1.32 (0.43)
1.41 (0.46)
<0.0001
Fibrinogen, mg/dL (mean (SD))
298 (63)
305 (64)
294 (62)
<0.0001
White blood count, 1000s/μL (mean (SD))
6.0 (1.9)
6.3 (2.0)
5.9 (1.8)
<0.0001
Blood glucose, mg/dL (mean (SD))
105 (33)
107 (36)
104 (31)
<0.0001
Sport index (mean (SD))
2.47 (0.80)
2.48 (0.79)
2.47 (0.81)
0.34
Standing height, cm (mean (SE))
168.5 (0.1)
169 (0.11)
169.6 (0.09)
<0.0001
RCCA measures (mean (SE)) §




     Intima-medial thickness (mm)
0.65 (0.002)
0.71 (0.003)
0.63 (0.002)
<0.0001
     Diameter (mm)
7.72 (0.01)
7.94 (0.01)
7.65 (0.01)
<0.0001
     Circular wall area (mm2)
14.6 (0.05)
16.2 (0.08)
13.9 (0.06)
<0.0001
     Elliptical wall area (mm2)
20.9 (0.06)
22.8 (0.09)
20.1 (0.07)
<0.0001

BP = blood pressure.

IMT = intima-media thickness.

RCCA = right common carotid artery.

SD = standard deviation.

SE = standard error.

N = Maximum number possible. Lower numbers were available for some variables because of missing information.

* Among current smokers.

Among current drinkers.

Height is adjusted for gender in the carotid lesion subsets.

§ RCCA measures are adjusted for height and gender in the carotid lesion subsets.

Eigenbrodt et al. Cardiovascular Ultrasound 2008 6:10   doi:10.1186/1476-7120-6-10