Characteristics of participants in the Melbourne Collaborative Cohort Study (n=41 386), by RHR
| N, mean | %, SD | Baseline RHR categories (bpm) | Change in RHR categories (bpm) | |||||||||||
| <60 n=6536 (16%) | 60–69 n=15 847 (39%) | 70–79 n=13 028 (31%) | 80–89 n=4626 (11%) | 90+ n=1349 (3%) | Decrease by >25 n=323 (2%) | Decrease by 15–25 n=1648 (8%) | Decrease by 5–15 n=6847 (31%) | Stable −5 to 5 n=8872 (41%) | Increase by 5–15 n=3338 (15%) | Increase by 15–25 n=517 (2%) | Increase by >25 n=147 (1%) | |||
| %, mean | %, mean | |||||||||||||
| Age at entry (years) | 55.3 | 8.7 | 56.0 | 55.4 | 54.9 | 55.1 | 56.3 | 66.3 | 64.8 | 64.5 | 65.1 | 66.5 | 68.6 | 69.9 |
| Sex | ||||||||||||||
| Male | 16 982 | 41.0 | 57.8 | 42.0 | 34.5 | 33.0 | 39.8 | 44.9 | 39.1 | 38.9 | 40.3 | 41.8 | 42.8 | 54.4 |
| Female | 24 404 | 59.0 | 42.2 | 58.0 | 65.5 | 67.0 | 60.2 | 55.1 | 60.9 | 61.1 | 59.7 | 58.2 | 57.3 | 45.6 |
| Country of birth | ||||||||||||||
| Australia/New Zealand | 28 441 | 68.7 | 70.4 | 67.9 | 68.4 | 69.3 | 72.3 | 75.2 | 79.2 | 77.7 | 80.0 | 83.3 | 80.5 | 85.0 |
| UK/Malta | 3030 | 7.3 | 7.3 | 7.1 | 7.6 | 7.4 | 7.6 | 11.2 | 8.1 | 9.0 | 7.6 | 6.9 | 6.2 | 7.5 |
| Italy | 5410 | 13.1 | 12.7 | 13.4 | 13.2 | 12.7 | 11.1 | 8.4 | 8.0 | 8.9 | 8.7 | 7.4 | 8.9 | 5.4 |
| Greece | 4505 | 10.9 | 9.7 | 11.7 | 10.8 | 10.6 | 9.0 | 5.3 | 4.7 | 4.4 | 3.7 | 2.4 | 4.5 | 2.0 |
| Education | ||||||||||||||
| Primary or lower | 8015 | 19.4 | 18.2 | 20.2 | 19.1 | 19.4 | 17.6 | 10.2 | 9.1 | 9.7 | 9.4 | 8.4 | 13.5 | 10.2 |
| Some high/technical school | 15 798 | 38.2 | 34.2 | 37.1 | 39.5 | 42.0 | 44.7 | 40.6 | 39.2 | 35.9 | 36.7 | 39.8 | 42.0 | 42.9 |
| High/technical school | 8557 | 20.7 | 21.7 | 20.4 | 20.7 | 20.2 | 20.9 | 19.5 | 23.0 | 23.3 | 22.2 | 22.4 | 19.3 | 24.5 |
| Tertiary degree or diploma | 9016 | 21.8 | 26.0 | 22.3 | 20.7 | 18.4 | 16.8 | 29.7 | 28.7 | 31.1 | 31.7 | 29.5 | 25.2 | 22.5 |
| Waist circumference (cm) | ||||||||||||||
| Alcohol intake | 85.5 | 12.9 | 86.5 | 85.1 | 84.8 | 86.4 | 88.7 | 92.1 | 90.7 | 89.7 | 90.0 | 91.3 | 92.6 | 94.8 |
| 0 g/day (M and F) | 13 486 | 32.6 | 26.8 | 31.0 | 34.5 | 39.3 | 38.9 | 34.7 | 30.8 | 26.7 | 25.4 | 27.9 | 28.2 | 28.6 |
| 1–39 (M) or 1–19 (F) | 22 458 | 54.3 | 59.8 | 56.1 | 52.7 | 47.7 | 45.4 | 49.9 | 56.5 | 59.7 | 60.2 | 58.5 | 58.8 | 54.4 |
| 60+ g (M) or 40+ g (F) | 1822 | 4.4 | 4.5 | 3.9 | 4.4 | 5.3 | 7.1 | 5.6 | 4.8 | 4.0 | 4.3 | 4.2 | 4.6 | 9.5 |
| Smoking status | ||||||||||||||
| Never | 23 757 | 57.4 | 53.8 | 57.7 | 59.3 | 57.8 | 52.5 | 54.8 | 59.8 | 60.7 | 59.9 | 61.5 | 57.3 | 60.5 |
| Former, quit ≥15 years ago | 6028 | 14.6 | 17.9 | 15.2 | 13.0 | 12.2 | 14.1 | 14.9 | 15.3 | 15.0 | 15.6 | 15.4 | 15.5 | 19.1 |
| Former, quit <15 years ago | 6930 | 16.8 | 19.9 | 16.8 | 15.8 | 14.5 | 17.6 | 19.5 | 15.4 | 15.5 | 16.3 | 15.9 | 16.3 | 11.6 |
| Current, <20 cigarettes/day | 2160 | 5.2 | 4.8 | 5.3 | 5.1 | 6.1 | 5.3 | 5.0 | 4.3 | 4.2 | 4.3 | 3.9 | 6.4 | 4.1 |
| Current, ≥20 cigarettes/day | 2510 | 6.1 | 3.6 | 5.0 | 6.9 | 9.5 | 10.5 | 5.9 | 5.2 | 4.6 | 3.9 | 3.3 | 4.6 | 4.8 |
| Physical activity score* | ||||||||||||||
| 0 | 9188 | 22.2 | 16.7 | 21.8 | 23.6 | 26.1 | 25.9 | 17.7 | 22.2 | 20.7 | 17.8 | 17.9 | 18.0 | 17.7 |
| >0 and <4 | 8310 | 20.1 | 18.3 | 20.2 | 20.5 | 21.0 | 20.2 | 16.7 | 20.2 | 20.7 | 19.5 | 19.3 | 21.7 | 18.4 |
| ≥4 and <6 | 14 730 | 35.6 | 33.1 | 35.6 | 36.3 | 36.0 | 39.6 | 41.5 | 36.4 | 34.3 | 34.6 | 33.7 | 33.1 | 42.2 |
| ≥6 | 9158 | 22.1 | 31.9 | 22.4 | 19.6 | 17.0 | 14.4 | 24.2 | 21.3 | 24.4 | 28.1 | 29.2 | 27.3 | 21.8 |
| Healthy Eating Index | 64.3 | 10.8 | 65.0 | 64.8 | 64.2 | 63.0 | 61.2 | 63.4 | 64.0 | 65.0 | 65.3 | 64.7 | 64.6 | 62.9 |
| Caffeine (mg/day) | ||||||||||||||
| >200 mg | 28 391 | 68.6 | 67.8 | 68.8 | 69.5 | 67.6 | 65.2 | 72.8 | 68.9 | 71.6 | 70.9 | 70.0 | 70.9 | 71.4 |
| Sodium:potassium ratio | 0.9 | 0.3 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.8 |
| Total serum cholesterol (mol/L) | 5.5 | 1.1 | 5.4 | 5.5 | 5.6 | 5.6 | 5.7 | 5.6 | 5.5 | 5.4 | 5.4 | 5.4 | 5.4 | 5.5 |
| Diastolic blood pressure (mm Hg) | ||||||||||||||
| <80 | 25 885 | 62.6 | 67.7 | 66.4 | 61.1 | 52.5 | 40.5 | 82.4 | 85.5 | 83.5 | 80.1 | 74.7 | 67.9 | 57.1 |
| 80–89 | 10 310 | 24.9 | 23.3 | 23.3 | 25.7 | 29.0 | 30.3 | 13.0 | 11.5 | 13.0 | 15.4 | 18.7 | 22.1 | 25.9 |
| 90–99 | 4004 | 9.7 | 7.3 | 8.3 | 10.2 | 13.3 | 20.8 | 3.1 | 2.6 | 3.0 | 3.7 | 5.4 | 8.1 | 12.9 |
| ≥100 | 1181 | 2.9 | 1.7 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 5.3 | 8.5 | 1.6 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 1.3 | 1.9 | 4.1 |
| Systolic blood pressure (mm Hg) | ||||||||||||||
| <120 | 7354 | 17.8 | 17.8 | 19.7 | 17.9 | 13.6 | 8.5 | 22.6 | 24.1 | 23.4 | 20.8 | 18.5 | 17.2 | 20.4 |
| 120–139 | 17 344 | 41.9 | 42.5 | 43.3 | 41.8 | 39.0 | 33.1 | 35.9 | 44.2 | 44.4 | 45.4 | 42.5 | 41.8 | 40.1 |
| 140–159 | 11 672 | 28.2 | 27.3 | 26.5 | 28.7 | 31.5 | 36.8 | 26.9 | 23.5 | 25.0 | 25.8 | 28.8 | 29.0 | 28.6 |
| ≥160 | 5010 | 12.1 | 12.4 | 10.5 | 11.6 | 15.9 | 21.6 | 14.6 | 8.3 | 7.2 | 8.0 | 10.2 | 12.0 | 10.9 |
| Had asthma | 4818 | 11.6 | 9.3 | 11.2 | 12.1 | 13.7 | 16.1 | 10.8 | 12.5 | 11.4 | 12.2 | 11.2 | 12.0 | 9.5 |
| Had diabetes | 1540 | 3.7 | 2.8 | 3.1 | 3.7 | 6.0 | 7.9 | 3.4 | 3.0 | 1.7 | 1.6 | 2.4 | 3.1 | 4.1 |
| Had hypertension | 9016 | 21.8 | 24.4 | 19.7 | 20.6 | 25.5 | 32.4 | 31.0 | 21.5 | 16.8 | 16.2 | 20.6 | 29.8 | 32.7 |
| Use of antihypertensive drugs | 6876 | 16.6 | 20.8 | 15.0 | 14.9 | 18.8 | 24.5 | 23.5 | 15.8 | 11.8 | 11.7 | 15.7 | 24.2 | 25.2 |
| Had angina | 1577 | 3.8 | 6.0 | 3.6 | 3.1 | 3.4 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 3.2 | 2.3 | 2.4 | 3.0 | 3.1 | 4.8 |
| Had heart attack | 1141 | 2.8 | 4.2 | 2.5 | 2.4 | 2.4 | 3.7 | 2.8 | 3.0 | 1.8 | 1.6 | 2.2 | 2.7 | 5.4 |
| Had stroke | 501 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 1.4 | 1.6 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 0.7 |
*The physical activity score defined in MacInnis et al 21 aimed to reflect the total energy expenditure and was based on questions relating to frequency of walking, vigorous exercise (exercise ‘making you sweat or feel out of breath, and includes such activities as swimming, tennis, netball, athletics, and running’) and less vigorous exercise (exercise ‘which did not make you sweat or feel out of breath and includes such activities as bike riding, dancing, etc.’) over the last 6 months.
bpm, beats per minute; F, female; M, male; RHR, resting heart rate.