Table 1 Baseline characteristics of the participants

Number

357

357

-

286

286

-

Number of CVD types^a

Heart attack

170

-

-

82

-

-

Heart failure

138

-

-

116

-

-

Stroke

44

-

-

22

-

-

Heart defects

103

-

-

94

-

-

Cardiac arrhythmia

169

-

-

171

-

-

Coronary angioplasty or bypass

43

-

-

7

-

-

Heart pacemaker

7

-

-

3

-

-

Age (years)

57.2 ± 11.8

57.0 ± 11.8

0.82

57.5 ± 12.0

57.1 ± 12.4

0.70

BMI (kg/m²)

27.8 ± 4.9

27.8 ± 4.7

0.92

29.1 ± 5.9

28.8 ± 6.3

0.56

Hypertension^b (%)

64.7

56.6

0.03

64.0

54.2

0.02

Hypercholesterolemia^c (%)

71.5

74.6

0.36

72.1

77.0

0.19

Total cholesterol (mmol/l)

5.44 ± 1.15

5.61 ± 1.14

0.05

5.54 ± 1.14

5.72 ± 1.13

0.06

HDL (mmol/l)

1.26 ± 0.36

1.35 ± 0.42

0.01

1.42 ± 0.37

1.50 ± 0.40

0.02

Triglycerides (mmol/l)

1.68 ± 1.04

1.76 ± 1.31

0.42

1.67 ± 1.24

1.61 ± 1.66

0.66

Diabetes^d (%)

16.4

12.0

0.09

16.6

11.1

0.06

Smoking (%)

0.02

0.15

Non-smokers

24.4

30.5

65.0

62.9

Former smokers

47.6

37.0

22.0

18.5

Current smokers

28.0

32.5

12.9

18.5

Physical activity (%)

0.94

0.09

Low level

44.5

45.1

59.4

55.9

Middle level

12.0

11.2

6.6

11.9

High level

43.4

43.7

33.9

32.2

Commune type (%)

0.78

0.59

<8 thousand inhabitants

30.5

31.7

32.5

33.2

8-40 thousand inhabitants

37.3

34.7

37.1

33.2

>40 thousand inhabitants

32.2

33.6

30.4

33.6

Marital status (%)

0.02

0.22

Married

86.3

79.8

67.8

62.9

Single

13.7

20.2

32.2

37.1

Level of education (%)

0.74

0.16

Under middle

66.1

66.4

62.9

65.4

Middle

25.8

24.1

29.0

30.4

Higher

8.1

9.5

8.0

4.2

Household per-capita income (%)

0.03

0.82

Low

36.7

42.9

47.5

46.1

Middle

42.3

31.6

38.5

39.9

High

11.2

13.7

6.3

7.7

Not stated

9.8

11.8

7.7

6.3

Self-rated health (%)

0.69

0.63

Bad, average

65.8

64.4

74.5

76.2

Good, very good

34.2

35.6

25.5

23.8