Table 1 Baseline characteristics of the study participants^{a, b}

Age ≥ 65 years, n (%)

277 (33.5)

——

——

——

172 (31.1)

105 (38.2)

0.042

Male, n (%)

553 (66.8)

381 (69.1)

172 (62.1)

0.042

——

——

——

BMI, kg/m²

25.4 (23.2, 27.8)

25.8 (23.4, 28.1)

25.0 (22.8, 27.2)

0.004

25.8 (23.6, 28.1)

24.9 (22.5, 27.2)

< 0.001

Smoking status, n (%)

< 0.001

< 0.001

 Never

430 (51.9)

268 (48.6)

162 (58.5)

174 (31.5)

256 (93.1)

 Former

142 (17.1)

77 (14.0)

65 (23.5)

135 (24.4)

7 (2.5)

 Current

256 (30.9)

206 (37.4)

50 (18.1)

244 (44.1)

12 (4.4)

CVD, n (%)

511 (61.7)

298 (54.1)

213 (76.9)

< 0.001

374 (67.6)

137 (49.8)

< 0.001

Hypertension, n (%)

502 (60.6)

297 (53.9)

205 (74.0)

< 0.001

331 (59.9)

171 (62.2)

0.519

Diabetes mellitus, n (%)

246 (29.7)

138 (25.0)

108 (39.0)

< 0.001

171 (30.9)

75 (27.3)

0.279

Physical examination

 Heart rate, beats/min

70 (64, 77)

70 (64, 78)

69 (62, 77)

0.106

70 (64, 78)

69 (63, 76)

0.405

 SBP, mmHg

132 (120, 145)

130 (119, 142)

135 (122, 150)

0.001

131 (120, 144)

132 (119, 148)

0.367

 DBP, mmHg

77 (69, 86)

79 (70, 86)

75 (66, 81)

< 0.001

80 (71, 87)

73 (66, 80)

< 0.001

Laboratory test

 Triglycerides, mmol/L

1.5 (1.1, 2.1)

1.6 (1.1, 2.3)

1.4 (1.0, 1.9)

< 0.001

1.5 (1.1, 2.2)

1.4 (1.1, 2.1)

0.258

 LDL-C, mmol/L

2.5 (2.0, 3.1)

2.6 (2.0, 3.2)

2.3 (1.8, 2.8)

< 0.001

2.4 (1.9, 3.0)

2.6 (2.0, 3.2)

0.051

 HDL-C, mmol/L

1.1 (0.9, 1.3)

1.1 (0.9, 1.4)

1.1 (0.9, 1.3)

0.688

1.1 (0.9, 1.2)

1.3 (1.0, 1.6)

< 0.001

 Serum uric acid, µmol/L

341.5 (284.0, 400.8)

347.0 (285.0, 409.0)

331.0 (278.5, 384.0)

0.010

365.0 (310.0, 421.0)

290.0 (241.0, 347.0)

< 0.001

 Serum creatinine, µmol/L

68.0 (57.0, 77.0)

67.0 (57.0, 77.0)

69.0 (57.0, 79.0)

0.380

72.0 (65.0, 81.0)

54.0 (48.0, 63.0)

< 0.001

FMD, %

5.1 (3.4, 7.1)

5.4 (3.5, 7.7)

4.8 (3.2, 6.3)

< 0.001

5.0 (3.2, 6.9)

5.5 (3.8, 7.7)

0.006