Table 1 Baseline characteristics by LDL cholesterol categories.

From: Associations of LDL and HDL cholesterol with lung function decline and risk of airflow obstruction in a community-based cohort

 

Overall (N = 7381)

p-value

LDLlow (N = 5136)

LDLmedium (N = 1642)

LDLhigh

(N = 603)

Age, years

51.3 ± 8.6a

52.1 ± 8.5b

52.1 ± 8.4a

0.003

Sex, male

2491 (48.5%)

799 (48.7%)

304 (50.4%)

0.673

BMI (kg/m²)

24.4 ± 3.1a

25.1 ± 2.9b

25.3 ± 2.9c

< 0.001

Area, urban

(vs. rural)

2679 (52.2%)

684 (41.7%)

188 (31.2%)

< 0.001

Marriage state, unmarried

388 (7.6%)

139 (8.5%)

60 (10.0%)

0.081

Educational level

   

< 0.001

Elementary school or lower

1535 (30.1%)

488 (29.9%)

160 (26.7%)

 

Middle or high school

2919 (57.2%)

851 (52.1%)

320 (53.4%)

 

University or above

650 (12.7%)

294 (18.0%)

119 (19.9%)

 

Income (USD)*,

< $1,400

3268 (64.8%)

922 (57.0%)

317 (53.1%)

< 0.001

Smoking status

   

0.034

Non-smoker

3018 (59.5%)

939 (57.5%)

340 (56.7%)

 

Former smoker

790 (15.6%)

298 (18.3%)

116 (19.3%)

 

Current smoker

1268 (25.0%)

395 (24.2%)

144 (24.0%)

 

Smoking, pack-years

23.3 ± 16.7

23.1 ± 16.9

22.0 ± 18.1

0.518

Occupational exposure (Chemical)

111 (2.2%)

56 (3.4%)

18 (3.0%)

0.018

Occupational exposure (Dust)

354 (7.2%)

126 (7.9%)

36 (6.1%)

0.334

Dyspnea

873 (17.2%)

244 (15.0%)

97 (16.2%)

0.104

MMRC (Grade)

   

0.684

0

225 (26.2%)

62 (25.5%)

22 (22.9%)

 

1

386 (44.9%)

99 (40.7%)

43 (44.8%)

 

2

36 (4.2%)

16 (6.6%)

5 (5.2%)

 

3

12 (1.4%)

3 (1.2%)

0 (0.0%)

 

4

201 (23.4%)

63 (25.9%)

26 (27.1%)

 

Chronic Bronchitis

93 (1.9%)

24 (1.5%)

4 (0.7%)

0.083

Co-morbidity

Hypertension

720 (28.3%)

271 (34.7%)

104 (38.0%)

< 0.001

Diabetes mellitus

323 (13.4%)

101 (13.9%)

34 (13.2%)

0.932

Coronary artery disease

31 (1.3%)

17 (2.4%)

5 (2.0%)

0.112

Myocardial infarction

37 (1.6%)

19 (2.7%)

6 (2.4%)

0.131

Congestive heart failure

9 (0.4%)

5 (0.7%)

3 (1.2%)

0.162

Dyslipidemia

90 (3.8%)

67 (9.1%)

38 (14.4%)

< 0.001

Chronic Kidney Disease

139 (5.8%)

60 (8.2%)

20 (7.8%)

0.043

Cerebrovascular disease

40 (1.7%)

18 (2.5%)

10 (4.0%)

0.031

Arthritis

253 (22.6%)

80 (25.6%)

33 (32.0%)

0.071

Thyroid disease

179 (10.0%)

60 (10.4%)

20 (8.3%)

0.636

Lung function

FVC, L

3.7 ± 0.9

3.6 ± 0.9

3.6 ± 0.9

< 0.001

FVC % Predicted

106.0 ± 14.3a

104.2 ± 14.4b

102.9 ± 12.7c

< 0.001

FEV1, L

3.0 ± 0.7

2.9 ± 0.7

2.9 ± 0.7

0.008

FEV1% Predicted

112.8 ± 17.1a

111.8 ± 17.4b

111.4 ± 15.1a

0.027

FEV1/FVC (%)

79.9 ± 7.4

80.3 ± 7.1

81.0 ± 6.6

0.001

FEF25–75

3.1 ± 1.1

3.1 ± 1.1

3.2 ± 1.1

0.159

FEF25–75, % predicted

103.7 ± 33.0

104.2 ± 33.2

106.4 ± 31.9

0.166

  1. *Income values are shown in USD based on the exchange rate of 1 USD = 1,430 KRW as of May 2025. Income represents monthly household income before taxes.
  2. Different superscript letters (a, b, c) indicate statistically significant differences among LDL groups based on Tukey’s HSD post hoc analysis (p < 0.05). Groups sharing the same letter do not differ significantly.
  3. LDL, low-density lipoprotein; BMI, Body Mass Index; mMRC, Modified Medical Research Council dyspnea scale; KRW, Korean Won; CAD, Coronary Artery Disease; MI, Myocardial Infarction; CHF, Congestive Heart Failure; CVD, Cerebrovascular Disease; FVC, Forced Vital Capacity; FEV₁, Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 s; FEF₂₅–₇₅, Forced Expiratory Flow between 25% and 75% of FVC; “% predicted,” percent of the predicted value based on reference equations; Occup. Chemical Exposure, occupational chemical exposure; Occup. Dust Exposure, occupational dust exposure.
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