Table 1

Baseline characteristics* of adults aged ≥20 years who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 1999–2004 by mortality status after an average 4.8-year follow-up period

 nDeceased (n=665)Survivors (n=9870)p Value†
Percent or mean(95% CI)Percent or mean(95% CI)
Demographic
Age (years)<0.001
 20–3932745.9(3.2 to 10.5)40.2(38.5 to 41.9)
 40–59334221.5(17.4 to 26.2)39.4(38.1 to 40.8)
 ≥60391972.7(67.0 to 77.7)20.3(19.2 to 21.5)
Sex0.007
 Men543157.6(53.0 to 62.0)50.1(49.2 to 51.1)
 Women510442.4(38.0 to 47.0)49.9(48.9 to 50.8)
Race/ethnicity<0.001
 Non-Hispanic white545478.3(73.1 to 82.7)73.3(69.8 to 76.5)
 Non-Hispanic black190111.4(8.7 to 14.8)9.7(8.0 to 11.8)
 Mexican American24083.9(2.3 to 6.4)7.1(5.5 to 9.2)
 Other7726.4(3.7 to 10.9)9.9(7.7 to 12.5)
Education<0.001
 <High school diploma335337.3(33.1 to 41.5)18.6(17.3 to 20.0)
 High school graduate251627.4(23.5 to 31.8)26.2(24.6 to 27.9)
 >High school diploma466635.3(30.8 to 40.1)55.2(52.9 to 57.4)
Health-related lifestyle factor
Physical activity<0.001
 Inactive460463.9(58.9 to 68.7)34.2(32.5 to 36.0)
 Insufficiently active225415.2(11.9 to 19.3)24.1(22.9 to 25.2)
 Physically active367720.8(17.0 to 25.3)41.7(39.5 to 43.9)
Muscle-strengthening activity0.001
 <2 times/week867489.5(84.4 to 93.0)79.3(77.7 to 80.9)
 ≥2 times/week186110.5(7.0 to 15.6)20.7(19.1 to 22.3)
Current smoking236526.6(21.2 to 32.7)25.0(23.5 to 26.6)0.610
Former smoking289139.6(35.1 to 44.3)24.4(23.0 to 25.9)<0.001
Heavy drinking7378.6(5.4 to 13.3)8.3(7.4 to 9.3)0.898
Clinical biomarker
 Body mass index (kg/m2)‡10 53527.7(27.0 to 28.3)28.1(27.9 to 28.4)0.196
 Total cholesterol (mg/dL)‡10 535209.0(204.2 to 213.7)202.6(201.3 to 203.9)0.014
 HDL-cholesterol (mg/dL)‡10 53552.1(50.0 to 54.2)51.8(51.2 to 52.4)0.768
 C reactive protein (mg/dL)‡10 5350.71(0.63 to 0.79)0.40(0.38 to 0.42)<0.001
 eGFR (mL/min/1.73 m2)‡10 53576.7(73.6 to 79.9)98.6(97.7 to 99.6)<0.001
Chronic condition
 Hypertension401968.3(62.6 to 73.4)28.4(26.8 to 30.0)<0.001
 Prehypertension296417.1(13.6 to 21.2)31.0(29.8 to 32.2)<0.001
 Diabetes134622.5(19.4 to 26.0)8.0(7.2 to 8.9)<0.001
 Prediabetes160023.8(19.5 to 28.6)11.0(10.0 to 12.0)<0.001
 Cardiovascular disease114433.0(28.9 to 37.5)6.9(6.1 to 7.8)<0.001
 Asthma4896.4(4.2 to 9.5)5.0(4.3 to 5.7)0.278
 Arthritis280146.7(41.1 to 52.4)21.4(20.1 to 22.7)<0.001
 Cancer96025.9(21.7 to 30.6)7.4(6.8 to 8.1)<0.001
 Disability282454.2(50.2 to 58.1)21.4(20.0 to 23.0)<0.001
  • *Weighed percentage (%) with 95% CI unless otherwise indicated.

  • †χ2 test.

  • ‡Weighted mean with 95% CI.

  • eGFR, estimated glomerular filtration rate; HDL, high-density lipoprotein.