Table 2 Demographic and laboratory characteristics of the study population by blood lead level quartiles.

From: Associations of blood lead levels with reproductive hormone levels in men and postmenopausal women: Results from the SPECT-China Study

 

Quartile1

Quartile2

Quartile3

Quartile4

P

Men

 Blood lead level, μg/L

<29.00

29.00–43.99

44.00–62.29

>62.29

 

 Number, n

558

572

585

571

 

 Age, yr

52 (40–61)

52 (42–62)

55 (44–64)

58 (48–65)

<0.001

 BMI, kg/m2

24.5 (22.3–26.6)

24.4 (22.0–26.6)

24.2 (21.8–26.6)

23.9 (21.9–26.6)

0.39

 Systolic pressure, mmHg

129 (117–141)

128 (116–142)

131 (119–144)

133 (121–148)

<0.001

 TT, nmol/L

14.80 (11.90–18.90)

14.90 (12.00–18.40)

15.30 (12.10–18.85)

15.80 (12.60–20.10)

<0.01

 E2, pmol/L

98.20 (36.70–135.00)

99.60 (36.70–134.00)

109.00 (36.70–141.50)

101.90 (36.70–141.00)

0.06

 FSH, IU/l

6.40 (4.30–9.83)

6.90 (4.50–10.40)

7.00 (5.00–10.25)

7.90 (5.10–11.40)

<0.001

 LH, IU/l

4.20 (3.00–6.20)

4.50 (3.20–6.50)

4.70 (3.40–6.45)

4.90 (3.50–7.30)

<0.001

 SHBG, nmol/L

36.90 (25.60–54.40)

37.25 (26.10–54.90)

41.40 (28.80–60.05)

44.90 (31.90–62.00)

<0.001

 Blood cadmium level, μg/L

0.64 (0.30–2.03)

1.80 (0.60–3.50)

2.40 (0.90–4.20)

3.11 (1.50–4.53)

<0.001

 Diabetes,%

14.3

12.1

13.7

14.9

<0.001

 Current smoker, %

49

50.1

57.1

60.1

<0.001

Postmenopausal women

 Blood lead level, μg/L

<27.00

27.00–40.99

41.00–59.80

>59.80

 

 Number, n

382

395

401

393

 

 Age, yr

62 (58–68)

63 (59–67)

63 (60–68)

64 (60–70)

<0.001

 BMI, kg/m2

24.2 (22.4–26.6)

23.7 (21.6–26.0)

24.6 (22.6–27.1)

24.7 (22.1–27.7)

0.001

 TT, nmol/L

0.35 (0.35–0.80)

0.35 (0.35–0.70)

0.35 (0.35–0.80)

0.35 (0.35–0.90)

0.06

 E2, pmol/L

36.70 (36.70–91.78)

36.70 (36.70–95.60)

36.70 (36.70–91.00)

36.70 (36.70–87.50)

0.34

 FSH, IU/l

59.10 (45.10–77.00)

63.30 (48.30–80.40)

63.30 (49.25–80.50)

65.10 (49.45–83.95)

0.006

 LH, IU/l

21.75 (16.08–29.03)

23.40 (17.30–30.20)

23.10 (17.70–30.95)

23.70 (16.85–30.65)

0.06

 SHBG, nmol/L

61.60 (41.70–83.30)

61.85 (44.15–89.15)

61.90 (42.80–89.43)

68.30 (46.40–98.10)

0.02

 Blood cadmium level, μg/L

0.50 (0.30–1.18)

1.15 (0.50–2.73)

2.01 (0.71–3.88)

2.79 (1.33–4.40)

<0.001

 Diabetes, %

16.2

16.7

14

20.6

0.02

 Current smoker, %

4.5

5.6

4.1

5.1

0.8

  1. BMI, body mass index; TT, total testosterone; E2, oestradiol; FSH, follicle-stimulating hormone; LH, luteinizing hormone; SHBG, Sex hormone binding globulin.
  2. Data were summarized as median (interquartile range) for continuous variables or as number with proportion for categorical variables. Kruskal–Wallis test was used for continuous variables and Pearson chi-squared test for categorical variables.
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