Table 1 Baseline characteristics of the study participants

From: Associations of timing of physical activity with all-cause and cause-specific mortality in a prospective cohort study

Characteristics

Overall (n = 92,139)

Morning (n = 15,865)

Midday-afternoon (n = 41,125)

Evening (n = 8307)

Mixed (n = 26,842)

Age at accelerometry (years)

62.38 ± 7.84

63.54 ± 7.81

63.58 ± 7.43

59.31 ± 7.96

60.81 ± 7.90

Sex (female/male)

52,045/40,094

9140/6725

22,941/18,184

4413/3894

15,551/11,291

White ethnicity

89,323 (96.94)

15,343 (96.71)

40,183 (97.71)

7930 (95.46)

25,867 (96.37)

Townsend deprivation index, median [IQR]

−2.45 [3.63]

−2.53 [3.51]

−2.53 [3.49]

−2.35 [3.80]

−1.58 [2.88]

Recruitment regions

England

82,716 (89.77)

14,396 (90.74)

36,883 (89.69)

7438 (89.54)

23,999 (89.41)

Wales

3449 (3.74)

591 (3.73)

1538 (3.74)

340 (4.09)

980 (3.65)

Scotland

5974 (6.48)

878 (5.53)

2704 (6.58)

529 (6.37)

1863 (6.94)

Education level

Degree or above

40,348 (43.79)

6282 (39.62)

17,732 (43.12)

3953 (47.59)

12,377 (46.11)

Any other qualification

44,118 (47.88)

7943 (50.07)

19,661 (47.81)

3935 (47.37)

12,579 (46.86)

No qualification

7673 (8.33)

1636 (10.31)

3732 (9.07)

419 (5.04)

1886 (7.03)

Season of accelerometer wear

Spring

20,792 (22.57)

3476 (21.91)

9217 (22.41)

1888 (22.73)

6211 (23.14)

Summer

24,068 (26.12)

4017 (25.32)

9966 (24.23)

2640 (31.78)

7445 (27.74)

Autumn

27,583 (29.94)

4810 (30.32)

12,700 (30.88)

2337 (28.13)

7736 (28.82)

Winter

19,696 (21.38)

3562 (22.45)

9242(22.47)

1442 (17.36)

5450 (20.30)

Smoking status

Never

52,952 (57.47)

8810 (55.53)

23,330 (56.73)

4945 (59.53)

15,867 (59.11)

Previous

33,382 (36.23)

6130 (38.64)

15,195 (36.95)

2761 (33.24)

9296 (34.63)

Current

5805 (6.30)

925 (5.83)

2600 (6.32)

601 (7.23)

1679 (6.26)

Alcohol consumption

Not current

5500 (5.97)

1093 (6.89)

2377 (5.78)

456 (5.49)

1574 (5.86)

Two or less times a week

42,645 (46.28)

7429 (46.83)

18,547 (45.10)

3969 (47.78)

12,700 (47.31)

Three or more times a week

43,994 (47.75)

7343 (46.28)

20,201 (49.12)

3882 (46.73)

12,568 (46.82)

Healthy diet score

2.69 ± 1.17

2.72 ± 1.17

2.70 ± 1.17

2.61 ± 1.17

2.67 ± 1.16

Sleep duration

<7 h/day

31,750 (34.46)

5526 (34.83)

12,651 (30.76)

3393 (40.85)

10,180 (37.93)

7–8 h/day

42,206 (45.81)

7215 (45.48)

19,038 (46.29)

3675 (44.24)

12,778 (45.74)

>8 h/day

18,183 (19.73)

3124 (19.69)

9436 (22.94)

1239 (14.92)

4384 (16.33)

Sleep midpoint (hh:mm)

<02:30

23,823 (25.86)

5805 (36.59)

9545 (23.21)

1769 (21.30)

6704 (24.98)

02:30-03:30

43,025 (46.70)

7286 (45.92)

18,934 (46.04)

3635 (43.76)

13,170 (49.06)

>03:30

25,291 (27.45)

2774 (17.49)

12,646 (30.75)

2903 (34.95)

6968 (25.96)

Health status

Obesity

17,930 (19.46)

3421 (21.56)

7829 (19.04)

1777 (21.39)

4903 (18.27)

Diabetes history

4265 (4.63)

872 (5.50)

1866 (4.54)

408 (4.91)

1119 (4.17)

Longstanding illness

27,086 (29.40)

4917 (30.99)

12,472 (30.33)

2312 (27.83)

7385 (27.51)

Depression history

8171 (8.87)

1368 (8.62)

3630 (8.83)

771 (9.28)

2402 (8.95)

Cardiovascular diseases

22,661 (24.59)

4338 (27.34)

10,702 (26.02)

1781 (21.44)

5840 (21.76)

Cancer history

13,428 (14.57)

2500 (15.76)

6423 (15.62)

990 (11.92)

3515 (13.10)

Total MVPA volume (min/week), median [IQR]

113.83 [158.67]

108.22 [170.00]

112.83 [153.17]

104 [148.92]

120.83 [163.50]

  1. IQR interquartile range, MVPA moderate to vigorous physical activity.
  2. Data were mean ± standard deviation or n (%) unless noted otherwise. To assign categories of the timing of MVPA, we divided the clock hours (05:00 to 24:00) into three time windows: morning (05:00–11:00), midday-afternoon (11:00–17:00), and evening (17:00–24:00). These time windows were identified from the exploratory analyses on the timing effects of PA on mortality outcomes (Supplementary Fig. 5). If ≥50% of MVPA occurred during the same time window, participants were assigned to the corresponding timing group. The 50% method we used to define the timing of MVPA is similar to what has been previously used [Qian et al. Diabetes Care. 2021].