Baseline characteristics of the study sample
| LDL (in mg/dL) group | Overall sample (n=3012) | Group 1 LDL <100 No treatment (n=546) | Group 2 100≤ LDL <130 No treatment (n=931) | Group 3 LDL <130 On treatment (n=170) | Group 4 LDL ≥130 No treatment (n=1233) | Group 5 LDL ≥130 On treatment (n=132) |
| Clinical and biochemical features | ||||||
| Age, years; mean±SD | 58.4±9.6 | 56.2±9.7 | 57.9±9.7 | 63.7±8.5 | 58.4±9.3 | 62.7±7.6 |
| Women, n (%) | 1671 (55.5) | 348 (63.7) | 506 (54.4) | 75 (44.1) | 667 (54.1) | 75 (56.8) |
| LDL cholesterol, mg/dL; mean±SD | 127.9±33.7 | 83.5±13.1 | 115.7±8.4 | 104.1±18.9 | 156.9±23.1 | 157.4±23.8 |
| Total cholesterol, mg/dL; mean±SD | 205.8±37.3 | 163.0±22.6 | 192.7±18.4 | 182.2±26.1 | 234.6±27.6 | 238.2±30.6 |
| HDL cholesterol, mg/dL; mean±SD | 52.1±16.0 | 58.0±19.9 | 52.3±16.1 | 45.0±13.3 | 50.8±13.9 | 47.4±11.5 |
| Lipid-lowering treatment, n (%) | 302 (10.0) | 0 | 0 | 170 (100.0) | 0 | 132 (100.0) |
| Statin treatment, n (%) | 224 (7.4) | 0 | 0 | 140 (82.4) | 0 | 84 (63.6) |
| Systolic BP, mm Hg; mean±SD | 127.7±18.6 | 123.1±18.2 | 126.6±18.3 | 136.8±19.5 | 128.8±18.3 | 133.4±18.0 |
| Diastolic BP, mm Hg; mean±SD | 75.6±9.4 | 73.6±9.6 | 75.2±9.2 | 76.4±9.2 | 76.5±9.5 | 77.7±9.2 |
| Blood pressure-lowering treatment, n (%) | 726 (24.1) | 88 (16.1) | 227 (24.4) | 100 (58.8) | 256 (20.8) | 55 (41.7) |
| Body mass index, kg/m²; mean±SD | 27.8±5.2 | 26.6±5.2 | 27.8±5.4 | 29.4±4.9 | 28.1±5.1 | 28.7±4.5 |
| Smoking, n (%) | 437 (14.5) | 75 (13.7) | 125 (13.4) | 14 (8.2) | 201 (16.3) | 22 (16.7) |
| Diabetes, n (%) | 227 (7.5) | 37 (6.8) | 64 (6.9) | 37 (21.8) | 69 (5.6) | 20 (15.2) |
| BNP, pg/mL, median (Q1, Q3) | 7.7 (4.0, 16.8) | 8.6 (4.0, 19.6) | 8.3 (4.0, 18.4) | 10.3 (4.0, 22.5) | 6.7 (4.0, 14.5) | 8.8 (4.0, 16.5) |
| CRP, mg/L, median (Q1, Q3) | 2.0 (0.9, 4.5) | 1.8 (0.7, 5.0) | 1.8 (0.8, 3.9) | 2.4 (1.0, 5.0) | 2.1 (1.0, 4.5) | 2.8 (1.2, 4.8) |
Sample size with available BNP levels, n=2997; sample size with available CRP levels, n=2909.
BNP, B-type natriuretic peptide; BP, blood pressure; CRP, C reactive protein; HDL, high-density lipoprotein; LDL, low-density lipoprotein.