Descriptive characteristics of the sample
| Initial sample (16–64, targeted for blood sample) N=49 385 | Final analytic sample for CRP N=23 025 | Final analytic sample for fibrinogen N=20 724 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age | |||
| Mean (SD) | 41.2(13.4) | 43.1(12.4) | 42.3 (12.2) |
| % | % | % | |
| Age group | |||
| 16–31 (early career) | 26.6 | 20.1 | 21.3 |
| 32–47 (mid-career) | 37.7 | 40.4 | 42.2 |
| 48–64 (late career) | 35.7 | 39.5 | 36.5 |
| Gender | |||
| Men | 45.0 | 47.3 | 47.1 |
| Women | 55.0 | 52.7 | 52.9 |
| Occupational social class (RGSC) from current or past employment | |||
| i—professional | 4.8 | 5.7 | 5.8 |
| ii—managerial-technical | 28.4 | 32.2 | 32.2 |
| iii—nm—skilled non-manual | 22.7 | 23.1 | 23.3 |
| iii—m—skilled manual | 16.7 | 17.8 | 17.7 |
| iv—semiskilled manual | 16.8 | 16.5 | 16.5 |
| v—unskilled manual | 5.1 | 4.8 | 4.6 |
| Missing | 5.5 | ||
| Housing tenure | |||
| Owns outright | 20.1 | 22.1 | 20.9 |
| Buying with a mortgage/loan | 52.5 | 56.3 | 57.5 |
| Renting/other | 27.1 | 21.6 | 21.6 |
| Missing | 0.3 | ||
| Economic status | |||
| In paid employment | 68.0 | 75.2 | 76.5 |
| Unemployed, seeking work | 2.9 | 2.2 | 2.2 |
| Sick or disabled | 6.2 | 4.3 | 3.6 |
| Other economically inactive | 22.7 | 18.3 | 17.7 |
| Missing | 0.3 | ||
| Cigarette smoking | |||
| Never smoker | 45.2 | 45.0 | 45.5 |
| Ex-smoker | 25.9 | 28.9 | 28.2 |
| Current, <10/day | 7.6 | 7.1 | 7.1 |
| Current, 10–19/day | 11.4 | 10.6 | 10.7 |
| Current, 20+/day | 8.8 | 8.4 | 8.5 |
| Missing | 1.0 | ||
| Drinking frequency in past 12 months | |||
| Every couple months or less | 12.7 | 11.5 | 11.3 |
| Once or twice/month | 13.2 | 12.8 | 12.9 |
| Once or twice/week | 31.2 | 32.5 | 33.0 |
| 3 or 4 days/week | 15.8 | 18.0 | 18.2 |
| 5 days/week or more | 16.4 | 19.0 | 18.8 |
| Not in past 12 months/non-drinker | 10.0 | 6.2 | 5.9 |
| Missing | 0.7 | ||
| BMI categories | |||
| <18.5 | 1.5 | 1.1 | 1.1 |
| 18.5–24.99 | 34.4 | 38.1 | 39.4 |
| 25–29.99 | 32.9 | 39.8 | 39.9 |
| 30+ | 19.9 | 21.0 | 19.6 |
| Missing | 11.3 | ||
| Limiting long-term illness? | |||
| No long-term illness | 61.5 | 61.7 | 64.3 |
| Limiting long-term illness | 21.2 | 19.6 | 18.1 |
| Non-limiting long-term illness | 17.2 | 18.7 | 17.6 |
| Missing | 0.1 | ||
| GHQ-12 score | |||
| 0–3 | 80.3 | 86.3 | 86.6 |
| 4+ | 14.1 | 13.7 | 13.4 |
| Missing | 5.6 | ||
| Survey | |||
| HSE 1998 | 25.6 | 30.6 | 31.4 |
| HSE 1999 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.7 |
| HSE 2003 | 23.5 | 23.9 | 23.9 |
| HSE 2006 | 22.0 | 21.1 | 20.7 |
| HSE 2009 | 7.1 | 6.3 | 6.2 |
| SHeS 2003 | 12.6 | 10.9 | 10.7 |
| SHeS 2008 | 2.8 | 2.2 | 2.1 |
| SHeS 2009 | 2.9 | 2.3 | 2.1 |
| SHeS 2010 | 2.9 | 2.2 | 2.1 |
| Government office region | |||
| Scotland | 21.2 | 17.5 | 17.0 |
| Northeast | 4.5 | 4.6 | 4.7 |
| Northwest | 11.3 | 11.9 | 11.9 |
| Yorkshire and Humberside | 8.2 | 9.0 | 8.9 |
| West Midlands | 8.4 | 8.7 | 8.9 |
| East Midlands | 7.4 | 7.9 | 7.8 |
| East Anglia | 8.8 | 9.1 | 9.1 |
| London | 10.1 | 8.4 | 8.4 |
| Southeast | 12.5 | 14.4 | 14.7 |
| Southwest | 7.7 | 8.5 | 8.5 |
| Takes medications which could affect inflammation | |||
| Yes | 10.5 | 12.7 | 7.1 |
| No | 89.5 | 87.3 | 92.9 |
CRP, C reactive protein; GHQ-12, General Health Questionnaire; HSE, Health Survey for England; SHeS, Scottish Health Survey.