Table 1 Participant characteristics at baseline

 Male

78 (39%)

44 (38%)

34 (40%)

0.716

 Female

122 (61%)

72 (62%)

50 (60%)

Age (mean, SD)

62.5, ± 10

61.7, ± 9.5

63.5, ± 10.6

0.210

BMI (mean, SD)

35.5, ± 5.1

35.4, ± 4.9

35.5, ± 5.4

0.936

 25.1–30.0 (overweight)

34 (17%)

22 (19%)

12 (14%)

0.762

 30.1–34.9 (obesity I)

62 (31%)

33 (28%)

29 (35%)

 > 35.1 (obesity II and III)

104 (52%)

61 (53%)

43 (51%)

 Never

89 (45%)

53 (46%)

36 (43%)

0.859

 Former

91 (46%)

50 (43%)

41 (49%)

 Current

19 (10%)

13 (11%)

6 (7%)

 Primary school and other (< 5 years)

34 (17%)

18 (16%)

16 (19%)

0.297

 Secondary school and high school (< 13 years)

129 (65%)

76 (66%)

53 (63%)

 University degree (> 14 years)

32 (16%)

21 (18%)

11 (13%)

SBP, mmHg (mean, SD)

128.2, ± 13.7

129.1, ± 13.3

127, ± 14.1

0.268

DBP, mmHg (mean, SD)

78.9, ± 8.5

79.2, ± 8.5

78.4, ± 8.5

0.517

Fasting blood glucose, mmol/L (mean, SD)

5.9, ± 1.4

5.8, ± 1.4

6.0, ± 1.4

0.384

Total cholesterol, mg/dL (mean, SD)

206.6, ± 42.9

204.5, ± 42.4

209.5, ± 43.8

0.421

HDL cholesterol, mg/dL (mean, SD)

58.6, ± 15.0

60.0, ± 15.5

56.8, ± 14.3

0.141

LDL cholesterol, mg/dL (mean, SD)

128.3, ± 37.1

127.6, ± 36.0

129.1, ± 38.8

0.777

Triglyceride (TC), mg/dL (mean, SD)

126.4, ± 61.6

121.0, ± 57.6

133.7, ± 66.2

0.153

TC/HDL ratio (mean, SD)

3.7, ± 1.1

3.6, ± 0.9

3.9, ± 1.2

0.039

Framingham Risk Score, median (Q1, Q3)

18.2 (9.3, 28.9)

17.9 (9.6, 26.2)

18.3 (8.8, 30.5)

0.636

HeartScore, median (Q1, Q3)

2.0 (1.0, 3.0)

2.0 (1.0, 3.0)

2.0 (1.0, 4.0)

0.232

Medication usage (n, %)

 Not available

19 (9%)

6 (5%)

13 (16%)

0.039

 Yes

46 (23%)

30 (26%)

16 (19%)

 No

135 (68%)

80 (69%)

55 (65%)