Baseline characteristics of study participants by physical activity categories, Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study, 1970–2003
| Physical activity categories | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sedentary | Walker/jogger/runner | Sport/fitness | p Value | |
| N | 7158 | 11 478 | 4808 | |
| Age (mean±SD, years) | 44.7±9.7 | 44.9±9.8 | 45.5±9.9 | <0.0001 |
| Body mass index (mean±SD, kg/m2) | 26.7±3.8 | 25.7±3.3 | 26.4±3.7 | <0.0001 |
| Exercise tolerance (mean±SD, maximal metabolic equivalents | 10.4±2.0 | 12.7±2.5 | 11.5±2.2 | <0.0001 |
| achieved during the treadmill test) | ||||
| Treadmill test duration (mean±SD, min) | 15.2±4.2 | 20.1±4.8 | 17.6±4.5 | <0.0001 |
| Lipids (mean±SD, mg/dl) | ||||
| Total cholesterol | 216.1±39.9 | 204.6±37.8 | 206.9±38.8 | <0.0001 |
| High-density lipoprotein cholesterol | 43.8±11.4 | 47.6±12.2 | 46.2±11.9 | <0.0001 |
| Triglycerides | 147.8±107.6 | 119.5±82.1 | 134.1± 107.0 | <0.0001 |
| Fasting blood glucose (mean±SD, mg/dl) | 99.6±10.0 | 98.2±9.2 | 98.2±9.1 | <0.0001 |
| Blood pressure (mean±SD, mm Hg) | ||||
| Systolic | 123±14 | 122±14 | 121±13 | <0.0001 |
| Diastolic | 82±10 | 81±9 | 81±9 | <0.0001 |
| Smoking status (%) | <0.0001 | |||
| Never smoker | 50.9 | 52.5 | 53.9 | |
| Past smoker | 27.4 | 36.8 | 29.8 | |
| Current smoker | 21.7 | 10.8 | 16.4 | |
| Alcohol consumption (mean±SD, drinks/week) | 8.4±11.8 | 7.9±12.5 | 8.1±12.6 | 0.12 |
| Hypercholesterolaemia (%) | 24.4 | 15.5 | 17.4 | <0.0001 |
| Hypertension (%) | 33.9 | 29.6 | 30.7 | <0.0001 |
| Family history of diabetes (%) | 4.3 | 6.2 | 7.1 | <0.0001 |
| Family history of cardiovascular disease (%) | 3.7 | 5.5 | 5.5 | <0.0001 |
SI conversion factors: to convert total cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol values to mmol/l, multiply by 0.0259; triglycerides values to mmol/l, by 0.0113; glucose values to mmol/l, by 0.0555.