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Table 1 Baseline, anthropometric, biochemical and tomographic characteristics by categories of self-perceived psychological stress

From: Self-perceived stress is associated with adiposity and atherosclerosis. The GEA Study

Risk factors

Never/periods

Chronic ≥ 5y

P value

n = 1117

n = 126

Female n (%)

555 (49.7)

79 (62.7)

0.006

Current smokers n (%)

242 (21.7)

30 (23.8)

0.581

Alcohol intake n (%)

119 (10.7)

12 (9.5)

0.805

Sedentary lifestyle n (%)

498 (44.6)

71 (56.3)

0.012

Hypertension n (%)

222 (19.9)

21 (16.7)

0.389

Diabetes n (%)

172 (15.4)

16 (12.7)

0.423

Dyslipidemia n (%)

183 (16.4)

24 (19)

0.422

Metabolic syndrome n (%)

480 (43)

61 (48.4)

0.243

Physical Inactivity n (%)

500 (44.8)

72 (57.1)

0.008

Overweight n (%)

538 (48.2)

48 (38.1)

0.024

Obesity n (%)

354 (31.7)

61 (48.4)

0.001

Increased IMT n (%)

170 (22)

42 (37.5)

<0.001

Anthropometric and Biochemical

Age (years)

54.2 (53.7-54.8)

53.4 (52.0-54.9)

0.417

Waist circumference (cm)

95.5 (87.7-102.5)

96 (89–106.9)

0.214

BMI (kg/m2)

28 (25.5-31.1)

29.8 (26.4-32.3)

0.002

Systolic BP (mmHg)

114 (105 – 126)

114 (102 – 123)

0.353

TC (mg/dl)

191.8 (166–215)

190 (166.6-208.9)

0.725

LDL-C (mg/dl)

117(95.6 – 137.7)

114 (97 – 137)

0.571

HDL-C (mg/dl)

44 (36.3-54.3)

42.6 (35.1 -51)

0.309

TG (mg/dl)

149 (113–205)

152 (109–202)

0.712

Glucose (mg/dl)

91 (85 – 100)

91 (83 – 102)

0.684

HOMA-IR

4.1 (2.7-6)

4.2 (2.9-6)

0.628

Insulin (μU/ml)

17.4 (12.7-24.2)

18.2 (14–23.1)

0.510

C-reactive protein (mg/dl)

1.62 (0.82-3.36)

1.42 (0.87-3.37)

0.877

ALT (IU/L)

24 (18–34)

26 (19–35)

0.106

AST (IU/L)

25 (21–31)

25 (22–32)

0.120

Tomographic and ultrasonography

TAF (cm2)

443 (359–547)

480 (377–583)

0.035

SAF (cm2)

285 (218–366)

319 (242–409)

0.008

VAF (cm2)

153 (115–200)

156 (106–192)

0.706

IMTave (mm)

0.63 (0.55-0.73)

0.66 (0.60-0.83)

<0.001

  1. Differences between groups with the Chi square test for proportions and U-Mann Whitney test for median (range). IMT = Intima media thickness. BMI = Body mass index, BP = Blood pressure, TC = Total cholesterol, LDL = Low density lipoprotein, HDL = High-density lipoprotein, TG = Triglycerides, HOMA-IR = Homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance, ALT = Alanine transaminase, AST = Aspartate transaminase, TAF = Total abdominal fat, SAF = Subcutaneous abdominal fat, VAF = Visceral abdominal fat and IMTave = Intima media thickness average