Participant characteristics overall and stratified by sex
| Total population (n=988) | Women (n=530) | Men (n=458) | P value | |
| MED (IQR) or n (%) | MED (IQR) or n (%) | MED (IQR) or n (%) | ||
| Age (years) | 50.4 (41.4–59.5) | 51.2 (42.1–59.3) | 49.9 (41.0–59.8) | 0.437 |
| Marital status | <0.001 | |||
| Married/living with partner | 740 (74.9) | 374 (70.6) | 366 (79.9) | |
| Single/divorced/separated/widowed | 248 (25.1) | 156 (29.4) | 92 (20.1) | |
| Employment status | 0.060 | |||
| Employed | 657 (66.5) | 338 (63.8) | 319 (69.7) | |
| Unemployed/at home/retired/unable to work | 331 (33.5) | 192 (36.2) | 139 (30.3) | |
| Family history of CVD or diabetes | <0.001 | |||
| No | 178 (18.0) | 84 (15.8) | 94 (20.5) | |
| Yes | 671 (67.9) | 394 (74.3) | 277 (60.5) | |
| Unknown | 139 (14.1) | 52 (9.8) | 87 (19.0) | |
| Use of antihypertensive, diabetes and/or lipid-lowering medication | 0.060 | |||
| No | 724 (73.3) | 402 (75.8) | 322 (70.3) | |
| Yes | 264 (26.7) | 128 (24.2) | 136 (29.7) | |
| Smoking status | <0.01 | |||
| Current smoker | 121 (12.2) | 58 (10.9) | 63 (13.8) | |
| Former smoker | 275 (27.8) | 130 (24.5) | 145 (31.7) | |
| Non-smoker | 592 (59.9) | 342 (64.5) | 250 (54.6) | |
| Total sleep period (min) | 410.9 (373.3–444.8) | 420.1 (390.5–451.7) | 391.7 (360.2–431.7) | <0.001 |
| Energy intake (kcal/day) | 2359 (1858–2965) | 2131 (1734–2633) | 2653 (2119–3264) | <0.001 |
| PWV (m/s) | 7.75 (6.85–9.00) | 7.53 (6.75–8.70) | 7.95 (7.05–9.25) | <0.001 |
| Average 24 hours acceleration (mg) | 25.53 (21.26–30.40) | 26.25 (22.21–30.84) | 24.77 (20.50–29.64) | <0.001 |
| Intensity gradient | −2.64 (−2.76–−2.51) | −2.66 (−2.78–−2.52) | −2.61 (−2.74–−2.47) | <0.001 |
| M0.5 (g) | 105.75 (85.06–141.95) | 107.36 (85.67–141.30) | 104.19 (84.83–142.54) | 0.761 |
| Median SB bout length (s) | 1900 (1700–2100) | 1850 (1700–2050) | 1900 (1700–2150) | <0.05 |
| Median MVPA bout length (s) | 300 (200–450) | 300 (200–400) | 300 (200–450) | 0.370 |
| Number of SB bouts >30 min | 5.67 (4.67–6.67) | 5.50 (4.33–6.33) | 6.00 (5.00–7.00) | <0.001 |
| Proportion SB >60 min (%) | 25.59 (18.69–33.49) | 24.46 (16.67–32.33) | 27.14 (20.34–34.88) | <0.001 |
| Scaling exponent alpha (<90 min) | 0.96 (0.91–1.02) | 0.96 (0.92–1.02) | 0.96 (0.90–1.02) | 0.164 |
| Scaling exponent alpha (>120 min) | 0.98 (0.87–1.07) | 0.99 (0.89–1.09) | 0.96 (0.84–1.06) | <0.001 |
| Autocorrelation at lag 24 hours | 0.13 (0.10–0.17) | 0.14 (0.11–0.18) | 0.12 (0.09–0.15) | <0.001 |
| Lempel-Ziv complexity | 0.17 (0.15–0.20) | 0.18 (0.16–0.21) | 0.16 (0.13–0.19) | <0.001 |
| Sample entropy | −0.39 (−0.64–0.15) | −0.38 (−0.65–0.14) | −0.42 (−0.64–0.16) | 0.604 |
| Beta-carotene (μg/day) | 4947 (3328–7271) | 5052 (3444–7534) | 4675 (3222–7000) | 0.061 |
| Vitamin A (retinol, μg/day) | 465.8 (329.1–640.1) | 419.0 (304.6–572.5) | 530.5 (366.9–722.8) | <0.001 |
| Vitamin C (ascorbic acid, mg/day) | 145.2 (100.2–201.9) | 150.4 (103.0–206.9) | 140.6 (97.8–199.1) | 0.095 |
| Vitamin E (tocopherols, mg/day) | 18.19 (13.59–25.15) | 16.78 (13.03–22.51) | 19.93 (14.40–28.29) | <0.001 |
| Polyphenols (mg/day) | 2484 (1749–3379) | 2490 (1755–3331) | 2483 (1745–3433) | 0.766 |
| Zinc (mg/day) | 12.20 (9.47–15.66) | 11.13 (8.90–13.63) | 13.91 (10.59–17.18) | <0.001 |
| Selenium (μg/day) | 91.57 (71.63–111.92) | 83.97 (67.87–103.11) | 100.0 (79.01–122.0) | <0.001 |
Data are presented as n (%) for categorical variables and median (IQR) for non-normally distributed continuous variables. P values represent a test of group differences by sex performed using χ2 tests or Kruskal-Wallis tests as appropriate. Bold font signifies statistically significant difference between women and men (p<0.05).
CVD, cardiovascular disease; M0.5, average acceleration above which the most active 30 min of the day were accumulated; MVPA, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity; Proportion SB, proportion of total SB time accumulated in bouts longer than 60 min; PWV, pulse wave velocity; SB, sedentary behaviour.