Table 1

Characteristics of participants included in the analysis

Mean±SD/per cent
For longitudinal analyses of incident heart failure; assessed at the first visitFor cross-sectional analyses of echocardiographic measures of systolic dysfunction; assessed at visit 6 unless otherwise specified
Number of participants49892336
Characteristic
 Age in years36±1057±10
 Proportion of men (%)4645
 Body mass index (kg/m2)25±4.327.0±4.3
 Any current alcohol use (%)8562
 Proportion of current smokers6314.3
 Current diuretic users (%)3.27.3
 Systolic blood pressure (mm Hg)120±15126±18
 Diastolic blood pressure (mm Hg)78±1074±9
 Fasting glucose (mg/dl)94±22101±25
 Total cholesterol (mg/dl)195±39206±39
 LDL cholesterol (mg//dl)124±35130±36
 HDL cholesterol (mg/dl)51±1552±16
 Total cholesterol/HDL cholesterol ratio4.2±1.61.7±0.4
 Triglycerides (mg/dl)91±80134±100
 Serum urate at visit 1 (mg/dl)5.3±1.35.2±1.3
 Renal disease/dysfunction (%)*3.83.08
 Diabetes (%)*1.57.5
 Valvular heart disease (%)*7.38.1
 Current antihypertensive therapy (%)2.424.3
 Gout anytime during study (%)4.64.1
  • * Valvular heart disease was defined for this study as presence of cardiac murmur at baseline. Gout was determined based on physician diagnosis and/or gout medication use. Hypertension was defined as per JNC 7 guidelines and/or use of antihypertensive medications. Diabetes was defined as per the American Diabetes Association criteria or use of anti-diabetes medications. Renal disease was assessed by study physician based on history and study laboratory examination.

  • HDL, high-density lipoprotein; LDL, low-density lipoprotein.