Skip to main content

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
Back to article page