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Table 1 Baseline characteristics by leg adiposity (leg/total%) tertile

From: Leg and arm adiposity is inversely associated with diastolic hypertension in young and middle-aged United States adults

Variable

Tertile 1a

Tertile 2a

Tertile 3a

P-valueb

Demographics

 Age (yr)

41.6 (0.3)

37.5 (0.3)

33.7 (0.4)

< 0.0001

 Race/ethnicity

  Mexican American

672 (19.6%)

357 (10.9%)

171 (5.0%)

< 0.0001

  Other Hispanic

295 (8.7%)

274 (7.8%)

219 (6.3%)

  Non-Hispanic White

734 (56.5%)

857 (61.3%)

1037 (66.6%)

  Non-Hispanic Black

199 (4.6%)

395 (8.5%)

735 (14.4%)

  Non-Hispanic Asian

417 (7.2%)

450 (7.5%)

301 (4.6%)

  Other race

87 (3.3%)

119 (4.0%)

92 (3.1%)

 Poverty-income ratio

2.9 (0.06)

3.0 (0.06)

3.0 (0.08)

0.1095

 Education level

  < High school

1300 (62.1%)

1552 (66.9%)

1706 (71.8%)

< 0.0001

  High school

514 (21.2%)

519 (21.3%)

540 (19.5%)

  > High school

590 (16.7%)

381 (11.8%)

309 (8.7%)

Sociobehavioral factors

 Smoking statusc

    

  Low/none

829 (37.4%)

746 (33.6%)

672 (32.4%)

0.0070

  Moderate

972 (36.4%)

1047 (40.5%)

1032 (37.7%)

  High

603 (26.2%)

659 (26.0%)

847 (29.9%)

 Alcohol consumption (drinks/day)

3.3 (0.3)

3.2 (0.3)

3.1 (0.2)

0.7734

Examination measurements

 BMI (kg/m2)

30.6 (0.2)

28.0 (0.2)

25.5 (0.2)

< 0.0001

 Waist circumference (cm)

103.4 (0.4)

95.8 (0.4)

87.7 (0.4)

< 0.0001

 Truncal fat percent (%)

34.9 (0.2)

31.6 (0.2)

26.9 (0.2)

< 0.0001

 % Total fat in lower extremitiesd

30.3 (0.1)

36.1 (0.1)

42.2 (0.1)

< 0.0001

 Leg lean mass/fat mass ratiod

2.1 (0.03)

2.0 (0.03)

1.9 (0.02)

< 0.0001

 % Fat in total leg massd

33.4 (0.3)

35.3 (0.3)

35.9 (0.3)

< 0.0001

 Average leg area (cm2)

365.8 (1.4)

371.7 (1.2)

376.9 (1.3)

< 0.0001

 Upper leg length (cm)

38.7 (0.1)

39.9 (0.1)

40.6 (0.1)

< 0.0001

 % Total fat in upper extremities

12.4 (0.04)

12.0 (0.04)

11.7 (0.04)

< 0.0001

 Arm lean mass/fat mass ratio

2.1 (0.03)

2.3 (0.03)

2.5 (0.03)

< 0.0001

 % Fat in total arm mass

35.0 (0.3)

33.3 (0.3)

30.8 (0.3)

< 0.0001

 Average arm area (cm2)

233.0 (1.1)

232.2 (0.9)

231.4 (0.9)

0.5127

 Heart rate (bpm)

73.7 (0.4)

73.1 (0.3)

71.6 (0.3)

< 0.0001

 SBP (mmHg)

120.3 (0.4)

116.0 (0.3)

113.7 (0.3)

< 0.0001

 DBP (mmHg)

73.7 (0.3)

70.7 (0.3)

68.1 (0.3)

< 0.0001

 Pulse pressure (mmHg)

46.6 (0.4)

45.3 (0.4)

45.6 (0.4)

0.031

 Average maximum SBP (mmHg)

123.2 (0.4)

118.8 (0.3)

116.5 (0.3)

< 0.0001

 Maximum – minimum SBP (mmHg)

5.8 (0.1)

5.6 (0.1)

5.6 (0.1)

0.18

 Maximum – minimum DBP (mmHg)

5.7 (0.1)

5.9 (0.2)

6.1 (0.2)

0.027

Laboratory measurements

 Plasma glucose (mg/dL)

109.2 (0.9)

97.6 (0.6)

94.8 (0.5)

< 0.0001

 Hemoglobin A1c (%)

5.7 (0.03)

5.4 (0.01)

5.2 (0.01)

< 0.0001

 Serum insulin (uU/mL)

16.1 (0.8)

10.5 (0.4)

8.0 (0.3)

< 0.0001

 Serum HDL (mg/dL)

47.7 (0.4)

53.6 (0.5)

58.8 (0.5)

< 0.0001

 Serum LDL (mg/dL)

123.6 (2.5)

116.3 (1.8)

106.0 (1.7)

< 0.0001

 Serum triglycerides (mg/dL)

197.0 (4.0)

134.3 (2.5)

98.6 (1.4)

< 0.0001

 ALT (IU/L)

29.9 (0.5)

24.9 (0.5)

20.9 (0.3)

< 0.0001

 AST (IU/L)

26.1 (0.5)

24.2 (0.3)

23.0 (0.2)

< 0.0001

 Serum albumin (g/dL)

4.29 (0.01)

4.33 (0.01)

4.39 (0.01)

< 0.0001

 Serum creatinine

0.83 (0.01)

0.85 (0.01)

0.85 (0.01)

0.0006

 Serum creatine phosphokinase

152.2 (5.0)

159.1 (6.8)

157.5 (5.2)

0.6855

Comorbidities

 Impaired glucose tolerancee

1138 (43.3%)

751 (24.6%)

516 (16.9%)

< 0.0001

 Hypertriglyceridemia

1258 (53.1%)

753 (30.5%)

381 (14.9%)

< 0.0001

 Anti-diabetes medication use

148 (4.5%)

32 (0.8%)

10 (0.3%)

< 0.0001

 Cholesterol medication use

161 (7.7%)

74 (3.6%)

29 (1.6%)

< 0.0001

 HOMA-IRf

474 (54.5%)

271 (27.5%)

144 (13.8%)

< 0.0001

  1. Continuous variables represented as weighted mean (SD). Categorical variables represented as unweighted N (weighted %)
  2. SD standard deviation, BMI body mass index, SBP systolic blood pressure, DBP diastolic blood pressure, HDL high density lipoprotein, LDL low-density lipoprotein, ALT alanine aminotransferase, AST aspartate aminotransferase, HOMA-IR Homeostatic Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance
  3. aTertiles are of leg/total % (percentage of total body fat mass that is in bilateral lower extremities). Sex-specific tertiles are as follows: female: < 36, 36–41%, ≥41%; male: < 31.5, 31.5–36.0%, ≥36%
  4. bP-value calculated using one-way ANOVA for continuous variables and Rao-Scott chi-square tests for categorical variables. P-values and/or significance levels were not adjusted for multiple comparisons as this table was considered exploratory in nature
  5. cSmoking categories determined by serum cotinine levels
  6. d% Total fat in lower extremities corresponds to leg/total %, leg lean mass/fat mass ratio corresponds to leg lean/fat ratio, % fat in total leg mass corresponds to leg fat %. Identical for arm measures
  7. eImpaired glucose tolerance was defined as hemoglobin A1c ≥5.7%, fasting plasma glucose ≥100 mg/dL, self-reported history of diabetes or self-reported history of oral anti-diabetes medications or insulin therapy
  8. fData on HOMA-IR only available for 2756 individuals (614 with hypertension). HOMA = fasting glucose (mg/dL) × insulin (uU/mL) / 405. HOMA ≥3 signifies insulin resistance
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Clinical Hypertension

ISSN: 2056-5909

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