Table 1 Demographic and clinical characteristics according to total cholesterol levels
From: A nonlinear association of total cholesterol with all-cause and cause-specific mortality
Characteristic | Total | Total cholesterol, mg/dL | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 < 120 | 120–159 | 160–199 | 200–239 | 240–279 |  ≥ 280 | p Value | ||
Number | 30,687 | 385 | 4782 | 11,364 | 9486 | 3552 | 1118 | Â |
Age, years | 46.0 ± 17.2 | 39.5 ± 18.6 | 41.0 ± 18.1 | 44.5 ± 17.1 | 48.7 ± 16.3 | 50.2 ± 16.0 | 49.6 ± 16.1 |  < 0.001 |
Gender, n (%) |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  < 0.001 |
 Male | 14,662 (47.8) | 246 (63.9) | 2417 (50.5) | 5511 (48.5) | 4469 (47.1) | 1565 (44.1) | 454 (40.6) |  |
 Female | 16,025 (52.2) | 139 (36.1) | 2365 (49.5) | 5853 (51.5) | 5017 (52.9) | 1987 (55.9) | 664 (59.4) |  |
Race, n (%) |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  < 0.001 |
 Mexican American | 6120 (19.9) | 66 (17.1) | 809 (16.9) | 2273 (20.0) | 2019 (21.3) | 717 (20.2) | 236 (21.1) |  |
 Other Hispanic | 2449 (8.0) | 27 (7.0) | 377 (7.9) | 898 (7.9) | 754 (7.9) | 304 (8.6) | 89 (8.0) |  |
 Non-Hispanic White | 13,536 (44.1) | 136 (35.3) | 1996 (41.7) | 4910 (43.2) | 4237 (44.7) | 1710 (48.1) | 547 (48.9) |  |
 Non-Hispanic black | 6252 (20.4) | 126 (32.7) | 1184 (24.8) | 2398 (21.1) | 1795 (18.9) | 577 (16.2) | 172 (15.4) |  |
 Other race—including Multiracial | 2330 (7.6) | 30 (7.8) | 416 (8.7) | 885 (7.8) | 681 (7.2) | 244 (6.9) | 74 (6.6) |  |
Education level, n (%) |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  < 0.001 |
 Less than high school | 8405 (27.4) | 106 (27.6) | 1212 (25.4) | 3045 (26.8) | 2669 (28.2) | 1051 (29.6) | 322 (28.9) |  |
 High school or above | 22,247 (72.6) | 278 (72.4) | 3563 (74.6) | 8307 (73.2) | 6809 (71.8) | 2498 (70.4) | 792 (71.1) |  |
Marital status, n (%) |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  < 0.001 |
 Other | 14,130 (46.6) | 239 (62.7) | 2545 (53.7) | 5391 (48.0) | 3981 (42.5) | 1499 (42.9) | 475 (43.6) |  |
 Married | 16,169 (53.4) | 142 (37.3) | 2192 (46.3) | 5835 (52.0) | 5386 (57.5) | 1999 (57.1) | 615 (56.4) |  |
Smoking, n (%) |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  < 0.001 |
 No | 17,083 (55.7) | 201 (52.2) | 2765 (57.9) | 6403 (56.4) | 5279 (55.7) | 1855 (52.3) | 580 (51.9) |  |
 Yes | 13,580 (44.3) | 184 (47.8) | 2014 (42.1) | 4950 (43.6) | 4199 (44.3) | 1695 (47.7) | 538 (48.1) |  |
Body mass index, kg/m2 | 28.6 ± 6.6 | 27.6 ± 7.0 | 28.0 ± 7.3 | 28.6 ± 6.7 | 28.9 ± 6.3 | 29.0 ± 5.9 | 28.8 ± 5.3 |  < 0.001 |
Systolic blood pressure, mmHg | 122.9 ± 18.6 | 119.9 ± 17.9 | 118.9 ± 17.0 | 121.6 ± 17.8 | 124.6 ± 18.8 | 127.0 ± 20.2 | 128.0 ± 21.5 |  < 0.001 |
Diastolic blood pressure, mmHg | 70.3 ± 13.0 | 65.8 ± 14.6 | 67.6 ± 12.2 | 69.9 ± 12.5 | 71.6 ± 12.9 | 72.2 ± 14.0 | 72.2 ± 14.7 |  < 0.001 |
eGFR, mg/min/1.73m2 | 91.3 ± 28.5 | 96.1 ± 31.6 | 93.5 ± 28.1 | 91.8 ± 27.1 | 89.9 ± 28.2 | 89.5 ± 30.8 | 94.0 ± 35.5 |  < 0.001 |
Energy intake, kcal | 2170.5 ± 1029.4 | 2338.7 ± 1261.8 | 2217.8 ± 1065.4 | 2189.2 ± 1045.7 | 2141.4 ± 977.8 | 2131.6 ± 1044.2 | 2093.5 ± 980.6 |  < 0.001 |
Serum lipid level | ||||||||
High density lipoprotein cholesterol |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  < 0.001 |
 mg/dL | 53.1 ± 15.9 | 41.8 ± 10.5 | 49.0 ± 12.3 | 52.3 ± 14.7 | 54.8 ± 16.6 | 56.3 ± 18.8 | 56.7 ± 20.4 |  |
 mmol/L | 1.37 ± 0.41 | 1.08 ± 0.27 | 1.27 ± 0.32 | 1.35 ± 0.38 | 1.42 ± 0.43 | 1.46 ± 0.49 | 1.47 ± 0.53 |  |
Total cholesterol |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  < 0.001 |
 mg/dL | 198.8 ± 42.2 | 108.4 ± 10.1 | 144.9 ± 10.4 | 180.4 ± 11.4 | 217.5 ± 11.3 | 255.6 ± 11.2 | 308.4 ± 40.3 |  |
 mmol/L | 5.14 ± 1.09 | 2.80 ± 0.26 | 3.75 ± 0.27 | 4.67 ± 0.29 | 5.62 ± 0.29 | 6.61 ± 0.29 | 7.98 ± 1.04 |  |
Comorbidities, n (%) | ||||||||
Hypertension |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  < 0.001 |
 No | 19,146 (62.4) | 251 (65.2) | 3211 (67.1) | 7357 (64.7) | 5740 (60.5) | 1967 (55.4) | 620 (55.5) |  |
 Yes | 11,541 (37.6) | 134 (34.8) | 1571 (32.9) | 4007 (35.3) | 3746 (39.5) | 1585 (44.6) | 498 (44.5) |  |
Diabetes |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  < 0.001 |
 No | 26,552 (86.5) | 302 (78.4) | 3994 (83.5) | 9914 (87.2) | 8342 (87.9) | 3074 (86.5) | 926 (82.8) |  |
 Yes | 4135 (13.5) | 83 (21.6) | 788 (16.5) | 1450 (12.8) | 1144 (12.1) | 478 (13.5) | 192 (17.2) |  |
Treatment, n (%) | ||||||||
Hypoglycemic agents |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  < 0.001 |
 No | 28,517 (92.9) | 329 (85.5) | 4233 (88.5) | 10,598 (93.3) | 8945 (94.3) | 3379 (95.1) | 1033 (92.4) |  |
 Yes | 2170 (7.1) | 56 (14.5) | 549 (11.5) | 766 (6.7) | 541 (5.7) | 173 (4.9) | 85 (7.6) |  |
Lipid-lowering drugs |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  < 0.001 |
 No | 27,777 (90.5) | 328 (85.2) | 4106 (85.9) | 10,166 (89.5) | 8766 (92.4) | 3361 (94.6) | 1050 (93.9) |  |
 Yes | 2910 (9.5) | 57 (14.8) | 676 (14.1) | 1198 (10.5) | 720 (7.6) | 191 (5.4) | 68 (6.1) |  |
Antihypertensive drugs | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | 0.061 |
 No | 24,471 (79.7) | 292 (75.8) | 3771 (78.9) | 9117 (80.2) | 7561 (79.7) | 2817 (79.3) | 913 (81.7) |  |
 Yes | 6216 (20.3) | 93 (24.2) | 1011 (21.1) | 2247 (19.8) | 1925 (20.3) | 735 (20.7) | 205 (18.3) |  |
Outcomes, n (%) | ||||||||
Cardiovascular disease mortality |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  < 0.001 |
 No | 30,200 (98.4) | 383 (99.5) | 4727 (98.8) | 11,209 (98.6) | 9316 (98.2) | 3478 (97.9) | 1087 (97.2) |  |
 Yes | 487 (1.6) | 2 (0.5) | 55 (1.2) | 155 (1.4) | 170 (1.8) | 74 (2.1) | 31 (2.8) |  |
Cancer mortality | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | 0.124 |
 No | 30,123 (98.2) | 376 (97.7) | 4706 (98.4) | 11,166 (98.3) | 9305 (98.1) | 3483 (98.1) | 1087 (97.2) |  |
 Yes | 564 (1.8) | 9 (2.3) | 76 (1.6) | 198 (1.7) | 181 (1.9) | 69 (1.9) | 31 (2.8) |  |
All-cause mortality |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  < 0.001 |
 No | 28,117 (91.6) | 349 (90.6) | 4420 (92.4) | 10,536 (92.7) | 8626 (90.9) | 3204 (90.2) | 982 (87.8) |  |
 Yes | 2570 (8.4) | 36 (9.4) | 362 (7.6) | 828 (7.3) | 860 (9.1) | 348 (9.8) | 136 (12.2) |  |