Background characteristics at the last examination of participants*, by category of smoking
| Never smokers | Ex-smokers | Quitters | Moderate smokers | Reducers | Heavy smokers | p Value† | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BMI, body mass index; BP, blood pressure; CHD, coronary heart disease. | |||||||
| Values are mean (SD) or % (SD). | |||||||
| Table 4 shows the number of participants in each category. | |||||||
| *Participants not reporting cardiovascular disease, diabetes or treatment for hypertension, or symptoms of angina pectoris or atherosclerosis obliterans. | |||||||
| †p Values represent differences between the reducers and the continuous heavy smokers. | |||||||
| ‡Physical activity during leisure was graded 1–4, with 4 denoting the heaviest activity. | |||||||
| §One or more of parents or siblings reported to have had a heart infarction or angina pectoris. | |||||||
| Men (n = 23 978) | |||||||
| Age (years) | 40.6 (7.1) | 42.9 (5.9) | 41.5 (6.9) | 41.4 (7.3) | 41.5 (7.4) | 41.7 (6.9) | 0.576 |
| Cigarette consumption (no/day) | — | 13.7 (8.4) | 14.7 (8.4) | 10.6 (4.6) | 9.7 (4.1) | 18.3 (6.6) | <0.001 |
| Duration of smoking (years) | — | 14.4 (6.9) | 20.7 (8.7) | 24.0 (7.8) | 23.6 (7.7) | 24.8 (7.3) | 0.006 |
| Systolic BP (mm Hg) | 134.0 (20.7) | 135.5 (20.2) | 135.6 (21.4) | 134.9 (19.3) | 133.2 (23.6) | 134.2 (19.6) | 0.359 |
| Diastolic BP (mm Hg) | 84.3 (13.8) | 86.2 (13.4) | 85.3 (14.1) | 83.8 (12.7) | 83.3 (15.5) | 84.1 (13.1) | 0.260 |
| Total serum cholesterol (mmol/l) | 5.90 (1.28) | 6.12 (1.27) | 6.14 (1.35) | 6.20 (1.29) | 6.26 (1.56) | 6.27 (1.33) | 0.865 |
| Serum triglycerides (mmol/l) | 1.94 (1.17) | 2.07 (1.28) | 2.10 (1.28) | 2.05 (1.27) | 1.95 (1.16) | 2.02 (1.29) | 0.342 |
| Physical activity leisure‡ | 2.32 (0.76) | 2.27 (0.73) | 2.19 (0.72) | 2.15 (0.70) | 2.03 (0.68) | 2.03 (0.71) | 0.982 |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 25.3 (2.9) | 25.9 (2.9) | 26.0 (3.0) | 24.7 (3.0) | 24.7 (3.1) | 24.9 (3.1) | 0.296 |
| Height (cm) | 176.3 (6.8) | 176.0 (6.5) | 175.6 (6.8) | 175.0 (6.8) | 174.5 (7.0) | 175.4 (6.7) | 0.016 |
| Disability pension (%) | 3.4 (0.2) | 2.8 (0.2) | 2.9 (0.2) | 4.5 (0.2) | 6.4 (0.4) | 3.8 (0.2) | 0.019 |
| Sick leave (%) | 2.6 (0.2) | 3.1 (0.2) | 4.4 (0.2) | 4.3 (0.2) | 7.2 (0.3) | 4.9 (0.2) | 0.053 |
| Family history of CHD (%)§ | 25.6 (4.4) | 30.6 (4.6) | 26.4 (4.4) | 26.6 (4.4) | 32.9 (4.7) | 29.5 (4.6) | 0.386 |
| Women (n = 25 698) | |||||||
| Age (years) | 42.2 (6.5) | 41.3 (6.7) | 40.2 (7.6) | 40.8 (7.3) | 41.6 (6.7) | 40.9 (6.9) | 0.256 |
| Cigarette consumption (no/day) | — | 8.5 (5.2) | 9.8 (5.6) | 9.2 (3.8) | 8.6 (2.5) | 16.4 (5.2) | <0.001 |
| Duration of smoking (years) | — | 10.4 (6.2) | 15.5 (7.5) | 19.4 (7.3) | 20.6 (7.3) | 21.6 (6.9) | 0.173 |
| Systolic BP (mm Hg) | 131.3 (21.0) | 128.3 (19.9) | 127.7 (22.3) | 128.0 (20.0) | 129.8 (16.6) | 127.1 (20.7) | 0.142 |
| Diastolic BP (mm Hg) | 82.1 (12.3) | 80.7 (12.3) | 79.8 (14.0) | 80.0 (12.3) | 80.0 (11.4) | 80.0 (12.9) | 0.978 |
| Total serum cholesterol (mmol/l) | 6.05 (1.27) | 5.97 (1.31) | 6.00 (1.43) | 6.20 (1.38) | 6.11 (1.23) | 6.22 (1.37) | 0.394 |
| Serum triglycerides (mmol/l) | 1.33 (0.74) | 1.32 (0.85) | 1.42 (0.84) | 1.50 (0.90) | 1.41 (0.81) | 1.52 (0.90) | 0.171 |
| Physical activity leisure‡ | 2.01 (0.57) | 2.02 (0.56) | 1.98 (0.56) | 1.95 (0.57) | 1.87 (0.60) | 1.84 (0.59) | 0.588 |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 25.1 (4.0) | 24.6 (3.7) | 25.0 (4.1) | 23.7 (3.6) | 24.0 (3.8) | 23.7 (3.7) | 0.448 |
| Height (cm) | 162.8 (6.1) | 163.6 (6.1) | 162.7 (6.2) | 162.7 (5.9) | 161.6 (6.0) | 163.4 (6.0) | 0.001 |
| Disability pension (%) | 4.2 (0.2) | 2.5 (0.2) | 4.0 (0.2) | 4.6 (0.2) | 8.7 (0.3) | 4.7 (0.2) | 0.044 |
| Sick leave (%) | 3.0 (0.2) | 3.7 (0.2) | 4.2 (0.2) | 5.0 (0.2) | 10.2 (0.3) | 5.6 (0.2) | 0.034 |
| Family history of CHD (%)§ | 29.9 (4.6) | 32.7 (4.7) | 31.1 (4.6) | 31.7 (4.7) | 33.1 (4.7) | 36.7 (4.8) | 0.333 |