Study characteristics of cases and the sub-cohort from the Linxian General Population Nutrition Intervention Trial cohort, overall and by sex
| Variable | Sub-cohort* | Oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma | Gastric cardia adenocarcinoma |
| Number, total N (%) | 947 | 498 | 255 |
| Men | 515 (54%) | 241 (48%) | 167 (65%) |
| Women | 432 (46%) | 257 (53%) | 88 (35%) |
| Age at baseline, mean (SD) | 57 (7.7) | 57 (7.8) | 58 (6.4) |
| Men | 59 (6.8) | 58 (7.0) | 58 (6.1) |
| Women | 56 (8.4) | 55 (8.3) | 56 (6.7) |
| Cigarette smoking, N (%) yes† | 364 (38%) | 190 (38%) | 118 (46%) |
| Men | 362 (70%) | 190 (79%) | 118 (71%) |
| Women | 2 (<1%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) |
| Alcohol drinking, N (%) yes‡ | 200 (21%) | 112 (23%) | 58 (23%) |
| Men | 172 (33%) | 95 (39%) | 51 (31%) |
| Women | 28 (6%) | 17 (7%) | 7 (8%) |
| BMI (kg/m2), mean (SD) | 21.8 (2.6) | 21.4 (2.4) | 21.6 (2.5) |
| Men | 21.5 (2.1) | 21.6 (2.1) | 21.3 (2.0) |
| Women | 22.1 (3.1) | 21.3 (2.6) | 22.1 (3.2) |
| Serum creatinine (mg/dl), Mean (SD) | 0.84 (0.18) | 0.83 (0.20) | 0.86 (0.22) |
| Men | 0.91 (0.15) | 0.92 (0.16) | 0.93 (0.16) |
| Women | 0.75 (0.17) | 0.75 (0.19) | 0.72 (0.24) |
↵* Some subjects who later developed one of these cancers are included in the randomly selected sub-cohort.
↵† Daily cigarette consumption among men was generally low and few subjects had quit smoking, so smoking is presented as never smoking versus ever smoking.
↵‡ Alcohol consumption was minimal at the time of the baseline interview (1985), so alcohol drinking was categorised as any consumption in the previous 12 months versus none