Descriptive characteristics of the participants by study site
| Kingston | St. Hyacinthe | Tirana | Manizales | Natal | |
| 289 (17.8%) | 310 (19%) | 344 (21.1%) | 374 (23%) | 311 (19.1%) | |
| n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | |
| MetS | |||||
| Yes | 92 (31.8%) | 96 (31.0%) | 171 (49.7%) | 172 (46.0%) | 164 (52.7%) |
| No | 197 (68.2%) | 214 (69.0%) | 173 (50.3%) | 202 (54.0%) | 147 (47.3%) |
| Sex | |||||
| Female | 152 (52.6%) | 166 (53.5%) | 178 (51.7%) | 190 (50.8%) | 158 (50.8%) |
| Male | 137 (47.4%) | 144 (46.5%) | 166 (48.3%) | 184 (49.2%) | 153 (49.2%) |
| Educational attainment | |||||
| Primary/illiterate | 29 (10.0%) | 85 (27.4%) | 54 (15.7%) | 310 (82.9%) | 282 (90.7%) |
| Secondary | 37 (12.8%) | 67 (21.6%) | 79 (23.0%) | 19 (5.1%) | 15 (4.8%) |
| Postsecondary | 223 (77.2%) | 158 (51.0%) | 211 (61.3%) | 45 (12.0%) | 14 (4.5%) |
| Current living arrangements | |||||
| Alone | 88 (30.4%) | 72 (23.2%) | 31 (9.0%) | 47 (12.6%) | 16 (5.1%) |
| Spouse only | 127 (43.9%) | 201 (64.8%) | 151 (43.9%) | 68 (18.2%) | 62 (19.9%) |
| Other | 74 (25.6%) | 37 (11.9%) | 162 (47.1%) | 259 (69.3%) | 233 (74.9%) |
| Adult occupation | |||||
| Non-manual | 226 (78.2%) | 158 (51.0%) | 116 (33.7%) | 63 (16.8%) | 30 (9.6%) |
| Service | 24 (8.3%) | 40 (12.9%) | 23 (6.7%) | 22 (5.9%) | 51 (16.4%) |
| Agriculture | 2 (0.7%) | 18 (5.8%) | 5 (1.5%) | 37 (9.9%) | 32 (10.3%) |
| Manual | 27 (9.3%) | 78 (25.2%) | 199 (57.8%) | 161 (43.0%) | 142 (45.7%) |
| Housewife | 10 (3.5%) | 16 (5.2%) | 1 (0.3%) | 91 (24.3%) | 56 (18.0%) |
| Current income | |||||
| Poor | 51 (17.6%) | 109 (35.2%) | 36 (10.5%) | 191 (51.1%) | 30 (9.6%) |
| Middle | 97 (33.6%) | 122 (39.4%) | 204 (59.3%) | 112 (29.9%) | 169 (54.3%) |
| Upper middle | 61 (21.1%) | 62 (20.0%) | 82 (23.8%) | 50 (13.4%) | 91 (29.3%) |
| High | 80 (27.7%) | 17 (5.5%) | 22 (6.4%) | 21 (5.6%) | 21 (6.8%) |
| Perceived income sufficiency | |||||
| Very sufficient | 174 (60.2%) | 132 (42.6%) | 5 (1.5%) | 19 (5.1%) | 9 (2.9%) |
| Sufficient | 101 (34.9%) | 157 (50.6%) | 121 (35.2%) | 89 (23.8%) | 69 (22.2%) |
| Not (at all) sufficient | 14 (4.8%) | 21 (6.8%) | 218 (63.4%) | 266 (71.1%) | 233 (74.9%) |
| Childhood economic adversity | |||||
| No adversities | 190 (65.7%) | 201 (64.8%) | 147 (42.7%) | 216 (57.8%) | 104 (33.4%) |
| One adversity event | 73 (25.3%) | 92 (29.7%) | 89 (25.9%) | 108 (28.9%) | 91 (29.3%) |
| Two adversity events | 24 (8.3%) | 15 (4.8%) | 75 (21.8%) | 28 (7.5%) | 70 (22.5%) |
| Three adversity events | 2 (0.7%) | 2 (0.6%) | 33 (9.6%) | 22 (5.9%) | 46 (14.8%) |
| Childhood social adversity | |||||
| No adversities | 210 (72.7%) | 229 (73.9%) | 281 (81.7%) | 287 (76.7%) | 224 (72.0%) |
| One adversity event | 42 (14.5%) | 54 (17.4%) | 27 (7.8%) | 63 (16.8%) | 59 (19.0%) |
| Two adversity events | 25 (8.7%) | 22 (7.1%) | 30 (8.7%) | 18 (4.8%) | 24 (7.7%) |
| Three adversity events | 12 (4.2%) | 5 (1.6%) | 6 (1.7%) | 6 (1.6%) | 4 (1.3%) |
| Smoker | |||||
| Regular | 14 (4.8%) | 19 (6.1%) | 43 (12.5%) | 37 (9.9%) | 25 (8.0%) |
| Occasional | 3 (1.0%) | 5 (1.6%) | 12 (3.5%) | 13 (3.5%) | 4 (1.3%) |
| Used to be | 141 (48.8%) | 169 (54.5%) | 81 (23.5%) | 147 (39.3%) | 138 (44.4%) |
| Never | 131 (45.3%) | 117 (37.7%) | 208 (60.5%) | 177 (47.3%) | 144 (46.3%) |
| Current employment status | |||||
| Worked with remuneration | 43 (14.9%) | 39 (12.6%) | 8 (2.3%) | 58 (15.5%) | 37 (11.9%) |
| Worked without remuneration | 8 (2.8%) | 18 (5.8%) | 8 (2.3%) | 99 (26.5%) | 68 (21.9%) |
| Had a job, but did not work | 8 (2.8%) | 2 (0.6%) | 4 (1.2%) | 8 (2.1%) | 3 (1.0%) |
| Retired or pensioned | 228 (78.9%) | 246 (79.4%) | 323 (93.9%) | 133 (35.6%) | 189 (60.8%) |
| Did not work | 2 (0.7%) | 5 (1.6%) | 1 (0.3%) | 76 (20.3%) | 14 (4.5%) |
| Median(Q1, Q3) | Median (Q1, Q3) | Median(Q1, Q3) | Median(Q1, Q3) | Median(Q1, Q3) | |
| Age (year) | 69(67, 71) | 68(67, 71) | 70(66, 72) | 69(67, 72) | 69 (67, 71) |
| Physical activity (min/week) | 26(9, 51) | 24(9, 39) | 27(11, 48) | 17(9, 39) | 10(4, 23) |
| SBP (mm Hg) | 135 (124, 145) | 134 (125, 143) | 144 (130, 161) | 133 (123, 146) | 146 (130, 161) |
| DBP (mm Hg) | 77(71, 83) | 75 (68, 81) | 84(75, 91) | 79(72, 86) | 78(71, 86) |
| Waist (cm) | 96(88, 107) | 94(87, 102) | 102 (95, 107) | 90(83, 96) | 100 (93, 106) |
| HbA1c (%) | 5.8 (5.5, 6.0) | 5.8 (5.5, 6.1) | 5.6 (5.3, 6.3) | 5.9 (5.7, 6.2) | 6.0 (5.6, 6.5) |
| Triglyceride (mg/dL) | 88(60, 136) | 122 (91, 159) | 130 (106, 165) | 140 (106, 201) | 135 (97, 187) |
| HDL (mg/dL) | 54(45, 66) | 56(46, 67) | 47 (41, 52) | 48(39, 57) | 52 (47, 61) |
DBP, diastolic blood pressure; HbA1c, glycosylated haemoglobin; HDL, high-density lipoprotein; MetS, metabolic syndrome; SBP, systolic blood pressure.