Table 1 Characteristics of the ATTICA study’s participants (n = 2020) according to the 10-year fatal or non-fatal incidence of CVD

Age, yrs

45 ± 14

43 ± 13

58 ± 13

<0.001

Male gender, %

50 %

48 %

63 %

<0.001

Years of school

12 ± 4

13 ± 4

10 ± 4

<0.001

Smoking at baseline or before, %

43 %

55 %

57 %

0.462

Physical activity, %

41 %

41 %

41 %

0.999

MedDietScore (0–55)

26 ± 7

26 ± 6

23 ± 7

<0.001

Hypertension, %

30 %

28 %

51 %

<0.001

Hypercholesterolemia, %

39 %

40 %

57 %

<0.001

Use of lipid-lowering meds, %

25 %

38 %

21 %

<0.001

Total cholesterol, mmol/L

4.99 ± 1.09

4.99 ± 1.06

5.33 ± 1.09

<0.001

HDL-cholesterol, mmol/L

1.24 ± 0.39

1.27 ± 0.39

1.16 ± 0.31

<0.001

LDL-cholesterol, mmol/L

3.15 ± 0.96

3.13 ± 0.96

3.39 ± 1.03

<0.001

Apolipoprotein AI, mg/dL

154 ± 27

156 ± 27

150 ± 24

0.001

Apolipoprotein B, mg/dL

108 ± 38

106 ± 42

109 ± 29

<0.001

Triglycerides, mmol/L**

1.13 ± 0.42

1.08 ± 0.41

1.48 ± 0.51

<0.001

Lipoprotein-a, mg/dL**

11 ± 9.5

11 ± 9.5

13 ± 11

0.052

Diabetes, %

7 %

5 %

22 %

<0.001

Obesity, %

18 %

17 %

28 %

<0.001

Family history of CVD, %

28 %

28 %

32 %

0.297