Table 1 Selected characteristics of participants by the quartiles of physical activity in this study

Age. y

56.3 ± 9.8

62.2 ± 8.9

57.4 ± 9.4

53.8 ± 9.1

51.7 ± 8.4

 < 0.001^*

Male, No. (%)

8941 (44.3)

2106 (42.8)

1733 (33.6)

2145 (42.5)

2957 (58.6)

 < 0.001^*

Treated with antihypertension, No. (%)

8134 (40.3)

2460 (50.0)

2264 (43.8)

1820 (36.1)

1590 (31.5)

 < 0.001^*

Diabetes mellitus, No. (%)

1690 (8.4)

562 (11.4)

489 (9.5)

359 (7.1)

280 (5.6)

 < 0.001^*

SBP, mmHg

150.9 ± 18.1

151.6 ± 19.1

151.2 ± 18.6

151.1 ± 18.1

149.5 ± 16.6

 < 0.001^*

DBP, mmHg

86.3 ± 9.9

84.4 ± 10.3

85.6 ± 9.9

87.3 ± 9.7

87.9 ± 9.5

 < 0.001^*

BMI, Kg/m²

25.0 ± 3.3

24.8 ± 3.4

25.2 ± 3.3

25.1 ± 3.3

25.0 ± 3.1

 0.088

Resting heart rate, bpm

80.8 ± 13.1

80.6 ± 13.1

80.9 ± 13.1

80.9 ± 13.3

80.7 ± 13.0

 0.385

Leisure-sedentary time, h/d

3.1 ± 2.2

3.8 ± 2.9

3.3 ± 2.2

2.7 ± 1.6

2.4 ± 1.4

 < 0.001^*

Current smoker, No. (%)

5745 (28.5)

1151 (23.4)

1109 (21.5)

1447 (28.7)

2038 (40.4)

 < 0.001^*

Current weekly drinker, No. (%)

3938 (19.5)

733 (14.9)

766 (14.8)

979 (19.4)

1460 (28.9)

 < 0.001^*

Education, No. (%)

 < 0.001^*

 ≤ 6y

14,149 (70.1)

3758 (76.4)

3536 (68.5)

3472 (68.8)

3383 (67.0)

 7-9y

4270 (21.2)

710 (14.4)

1018 (19.7)

1168 (23.2)

1374 (27.2)

 10-12y

1364 (6.7)

316 (6.5)

446 (8.6)

334 (6.6)

268 (5.3)

 ≥ 13y

396 (2.0)

135 (2.7)

166 (3.2)

72 (1.4)

23 (0.5)