Table 1 Characteristics of the study groups

Sex (male/female)

82/77

76/77

0.7373

Non-Caucasian

7 (4.4%)

6 (4.6%)

0.9413

Age (yr)

59 (48–66)

61 (54–68)

0.0127

Disease duration (yr)

6 (2–10)

11 (6–20)

<0.0001

Insulin treatment (n)

20 (12.6%)

84 (54.9%)

<0.0001

Smoking (current/past/never)

71/54/32

78/44/30

0.5134

Antiplatelet agents

112/47 (29.6%)

82/71 (46.4%)

0.0022

Dyslipidaemia (yes/no)

88/71 (44.7%)

79/74 (48.4%)

0.5111

Hypertension (yes/no)

83/76 (47.8%)

48/105 (68.3%)

0.0002

Systolic BP (mm Hg)

134 (123–145)

143 (133–159)

<0.0001

Diastolic BP (mm Hg)

76 (70–83)

77.5 (68.5-85.5)

0.7526

HR (b/min)

75 (68–82)

77 (70–86)

0.0767

Body mass index (kg/m²)

30.3 (27.4-34.0)

31.1 (28.3-35)

0.2477

Waist circumference (cm)

103 (96–111)

107.5 (163–114)

0.0039

Haemoglobin A_1c (%)

7.1 (6.5-7.9)

8.1 (7.2-9.1)

<0.0001

Total cholesterol (mmol/l)

184 (163–207)

181 (162–204.5)

0.9889

HDL-cholesterol (mmol/l)

47 (40–57)

50.5 (42–60.5)

0.0308

LDL-cholesterol (mmol/l)

108 (90.2-130.2)

105.4 (86.5-127.8)

0.2694

Triglycerides (mmol/l)

118 (89–171)

116 (83–168)

0.6181

Serum creatinine (μmol/l)

0.79 (0.69-0.92)

0.79 (0.68-0.93)

0.7975

Urinary albumin/creatinine ratio, mg/g

5.8 (3.2-11)

12.4 (6–32.7)

<0.0001