Table 1 Clinical demographics of different disease groups and controls in the AWARE study.

Age, yr, mean ± SD (min; max)

67.73 ± 12.16 (15; 98)

76.30 ± 8.67 (37; 99)

70.29 ± 6.00 (60; 89)

p < 0.001^a,b,c

Education, yr, mean ± SD (min; max)

6.35 ± 5.02 (0; 30)

8.28 ± 5.57 (0; 22)

7.19 ± 4.79 (0; 22)

p < 0.001^a,b,c

Female; n (%)

806 (43.9%)

1319 (63.7%)

1024 (57.0%)

p < 0.001^a,b,c

Hypertension; n (%)ⁱ

1315 (71.9%)

1079 (53.2%)

1220 (67.9%)

p < 0.001^a,b,c

Diabetes mellitus; n (%)ⁱⁱ

665 (36.4%)

527 (26.1%)

529 (29.5%)

p < 0.001^a,b,c

Hyperlipidemia; n (%)ⁱⁱⁱ

1016 (55.8%)

470 (28.2%)

909 (50.6%)

p < 0.001^a,b,c

Ischemic heart disease; n (%)^iv

198 (11.4%)

205 (11.7%)

/

p = 0.837

Atrial fibrillation; n (%)^v

258 (14.1%)

42 (2.7%)

/

p < 0.001

Smoker (either current or past); n (%)^vi

615 (34.3%)

159 (17.9%)

419 (23.3%)

p < 0.001^a,b,c

MMSE, mean ± SD (min; max)

22.04 ± 6.98 (0; 30)

18.90 ± 6.12 (0; 30)

25.6 ± 3.48 (2; 30)

p < 0.001^a,b,c

WML = 0

499 (27.2%)

269 (13.0%)

258 (14.4%)

p < 0.001^a,b,c

WML = 1

541 (29.5%)

1011 (48.8%)

880 (49.0%)

WML = 2

416 (22.7%)

495 (23.9%)

533 (29.7%)

WML = 3

378 (20.6%)

295 (14.3%)

126 (7.0%)

Prevalence of moderate to severe WML (≥ 2); n (%)

794 (43.3%)

790 (38.2%)

659 (36.7%)

p < 0.001^a,c