Characteristics by quintile of leucocyte telomere length among controls in five prospective cohorts
| Quintiles of leucocyte telomere length, z-score | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Characteristic | Q5 (longest) | Q4 | Q3 | Q2 | Q1 (shortest) |
| No. of controls | 179 | 180 | 179 | 178 | 180 |
| Age, years, mean (SD) | 61.1 (8.3) | 61.1 (8.5) | 61.9 (9.1) | 63.8 (9.2) | 64.1 (8.6) |
| Men, % | 35.8 | 35.2 | 35.7 | 35.2 | 34.6 |
| Height, inches, mean (SD) | 66.5 (3.5) | 66.2 (3.8) | 66.7 (3.9) | 66.5 (3.7) | 66.7 (3.8) |
| Body mass index, kg/m2, mean (SD) | 25.7 (4.8) | 26.1 (4.6) | 25.6 (4.2) | 25.1 (3.7) | 25.6 (4.0) |
| Physical activity, MET-hour/week, mean (SD) | 20.5 (21.3) | 21.5 (23.9) | 20.2 (26.3) | 20.5 (29.4) | 18.0 (22.6) |
| Smoking status, % | |||||
| Never | 43 | 49.6 | 42.1 | 40.3 | 42.2 |
| Past | 43.6 | 37.1 | 44.7 | 47.2 | 39 |
| Current | 13.4 | 13.3 | 13.2 | 12.5 | 18.8 |
| History of diabetes mellitus, % | 4.4 | 4.2 | 2.2 | 1.1 | 5.4 |
| Regular multivitamin use, % | 43 | 41.8 | 45.2 | 32.2 | 38.4 |
| Alcohol (≥1 drink/day), % | 22.4 | 22.8 | 23.4 | 19.3 | 23.6 |
All variables were age-standardised and study-standardised except age.