Table 1 Characteristics of 10,168 men and 12,494 women aged 40-79 years without prevalent heart disease, stroke, or cancer, by quintile of FEV1 in the EPIC-Norfolk, United Kingdom, recruited between 1993-1997

Men (%, n)

100, 10168

18.3, 1857

19.3, 1959

20.5, 2087

20.6, 2097

21.3, 2168

 Mean respiratory function FEV1 (cL/s)

293.7±73.9

184.1± 39.6

252.0±12.1

291.2±10.9

330.7±12.7

392.0±31.5

<0.001

 Mean age (year)

58.9±9.3

66.0± 7.9

62.9±8.5

59.3±8.5

56.0±7.8

51.9±6.2

<0.001

 Mean Height (cm)

174.2±6.7

170.7±6.5

1712.0±6.2

173.7±6.1

175.5±6.0

178.3±5.8

<0.001

 Mean systolic BP (mm Hg)

137.2±17.5

142.8± 19.0

140.8±17.7

137.5±17.8

134.9±15.8

131.1±14.9

<0.001

 Mean alcohol (units/week)

10.4±11.9

9.4± 11.9

10.1±12.2

9.9±11.5

11.0±12.1

11.5±11.6

0.411

 Mean BMI (kg/m2)

26.5±3.3

26.8± 3.7

27.0±3.3

26.5±3.3

26.3±3.1

26.0±3.1

<0.001

 Mean plasma vitamin C (umol/l)

47.4±18.7

42.7± 20.0

45.3±18.2

47.9±18.6

49.1±17.6

51.0±18.2

<0.001

 Mean serum cholesterol (mmol/L)

6.0±1.1

6.1±1.1

6.1±1.1

6.1±1.0

6.1±1.1

5.9±1.1

0.897

 Physically inactive [% (n)]

29.3(2982)

43.7 (812)

33.2(650)

27.4(571)

24.1(506)

20.4(443)

<0.001

 Manual social class [% (n)]

41.6(4160)

48.3 (870)

45.6(877)

42.8(877)

38.9(805)

34.1(731)

<0.001

 No educational qualification [% (n)]

29.5(3001)

44.2 (819)

34.6(678)

29.7(620)

24.9(521)

16.8(363)

<0.001

 Current smokers [% (n)]

12.5(1261)

17.7 (327)

12.8(249)

13.2(273)

11.6(242)

7.9(170)

<0.001

 History of diabetes [% (n)]

2.7 (271)

4.0 (74)

4.0(79)

2.6(54)

2.1(45)

0.9(19)

<0.001

 History of asthma [% (n)]

7.7(787)

17.1 (318)

7.9(154)

6.2(129)

4.9 (102)

3.9(84)

<0.001

 History of bronchitis [% (n)]

8.7(886)

16.2 (300)

8.1(159)

6.9(143)

6.7(140)

6.6(144)

<0.001

 Clinical variables

Unit

P*

 Quintile

<170

170 to <200

200 to < 227

227 to < 257

≥ 257

Women (%, n)

100, 12494

19.6, 2449

19.3, 2413

20.2, 2528

20.4, 2555

20.4, 2549

 Mean respiratory function FEV1(cL/s)

214.4±52.0

139.9 ± 26.6

186.3±8.7

213.9±7.8

241.7±8.5

285.4±23.0

<0.001

 Mean age (year)

58.5±9.3

66.1± 7.7

62.6±8.5

58.4±8.3

54.8±7.4

51.2±6.1

<0.001

 Mean Height (cm)

161.0±6.2

157.6±6.0

159.2±5.5

160.8±5.5

162.2±5.5

165.1±5.5

<0.001

 Mean systolic BP(mm Hg)

133.6±18.8

142.5± 19.9

137.9±19.3

133.3±17.4

129.5±16.9

125.4±15.6

<0.001

 Mean alcohol (units/week)

4.5±5.7

3.7±5.3

3.9±5.1

4.5±5.8

4.9±5.9

5.5±6.1

<0.001

 Mean BMI (kg/m2)

26.2±4.3

26.9±4.5

26.8±4.6

26.3±4.3

25.9±4.2

25.1±3.8

<0.001

 Mean vitamin C (umol/l)

58.6±19.9

54.5±21.0

57.6±20.3

58.8±19.9

59.9±19.6

61.8±17.8

<0.001

 Mean cholesterol (mmol/L)

6.3±1.2

6.7±1.2

6.5±1.2

6.4±1.2

6.2±1.2

5.8±1.1

<0.001

 Physical inactive [% (n)]

29.5(3687)

46.3 (1134)

36.1 (871)

26.3 (664)

22.2 (568)

17.7 (450)

0.005

 Manual social class [% (n)]

38.9(4738)

44.8 (1045)

42.6 (997)

39.7 (977)

35.6 (893)

32.7 (826)

<0.001

 No educational qualification [% (n)]

41.7(5205)

58.0 (1419)

49.9 (1204)

42.9 (1083)

34.6 (885)

24.1 (614)

<0.001

 Current smokers [% (n)]

11.5(1426)

14.1 (341)

12.0 (286)

11.0 (275)

11.3 (287)

9.3 (237)

<0.001

 History of diabetes [% (n)]

1.4(180)

2.2 (55)

2.1(50)

1.5 (38)

0.9 (23)

0.5 (14)

<0.001

 History of asthma [% (n)]

9.0(1120)

16.5 (404)

8.7(209)

7.7 (194)

6.4 (164)

5.8 (149)

<0.001

 History of bronchitis [% (n)]

9.5(1190)

13.9. (340)

9.4 (226)

8.6 (217)

8.3 (212)

7.7 (195)

<0.001