Table 1 Characteristics of the study population according to the TyG index quartiles

N

403,335

100,844

100,869

100,870

100,752

Female

222,586 (55.2)

68,827 (68.3)

60,325 (59.8)

52,164 (51.7)

41,270 (41.0)

 < 0.001

Age, years

56.2 (8.1)

54.0 (8.2)

56.5 (8.0)

57.3 (7.8)

57.2 (7.8)

 < 0.001

White ethnicity

381,880 (94.7)

94,063 (93.3)

95,877 (95.0)

96,200 (95.4)

95,740 (95.0)

 < 0.001

Townsend Deprivation Index

− 1.3 (3.1)

− 1.4 (3.1)

− 1.4 (3.0)

− 1.4 (3.0)

− 1.2 (3.1)

 < 0.001

Current smoking

42,025 (10.4)

8644 (8.6)

9782 (9.7)

10,702 (10.6)

12,897 (12.8)

 < 0.001

Physical activity, min/week

 < 0.001

  < 150

184,414 (45.7)

42,120 (41.8)

44,954 (44.6)

47,028 (46.6)

50,312 (49.9)

  ≥ 150

218,921 (54.3)

58,724 (58.2)

55,915 (55.4)

53,842 (53.4)

50,440 (50.1)

Body mass index, kg/m²

27.3 (4.7)

25.1 (4.0)

26.7 (4.5)

28.0 (4.6)

29.4 (4.7)

 < 0.001

Systolic blood pressure, mm Hg

137.9 (18.6)

132.1 (18.4)

137.2 (18.5)

140.0 (18.2)

142.3 (17.8)

 < 0.001

Diastolic blood pressure, mm Hg

82.5 (10.1)

79.5 (9.9)

82.0 (9.9)

83.5 (9.9)

84.8 (9.9)

 < 0.001

Uric acid, mg/dL

5.2 (1.3)

4.6 (1.2)

5.0 (1.2)

5.3 (1.3)

5.8 (1.3)

 < 0.001

Glycated hemoglobin, mmol/mol

35.9 (6.5)

34.2 (4.5)

35.1 (4.7)

35.9 (5.1)

38.4 (9.4)

 < 0.001

Glucose, mg/dL

91.9 (21.3)

85.1 (10.0)

88.8 (10.9)

91.3 (13.9)

102.4 (35.3)

 < 0.001

Triglycerides, mg/dL

153.9 (90.5)

73.8 (15.7)

112.0 (17.1)

158.4 (26.1)

271.4 (97.9)

 < 0.001

Total cholesterol, mg/dL

222.6 (43.2)

208.6 (37.9)

220.4 (40.1)

227.5 (42.4)

234.1 (47.6)

 < 0.001

High-density lipoprotein cholesterol, mg/dL

56.4 (14.7)

65.2 (15.2)

59.3 (13.9)

53.9 (12.3)

47.4 (10.9)

 < 0.001

Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, mg/dL

139.4 (33.0)

125.6 (28.0)

138.0 (30.4)

145.4 (32.6)

148.6 (35.7)

 < 0.001

High sensitivity C-reactive protein, mg/L

2.6 (4.3)

1.9 (4.2)

2.4 (4.4)

2.8 (4.4)

3.1 (4.2)

 < 0.001

Creatinine, mg/dL

0.81 (0.20)

0.78 (0.17)

0.80 (0.18)

0.82 (0.20)

0.84 (0.23)

 < 0.001

eGFR, mL/min/1.73 m²

91.3 (13.2)

93.7 (12.6)

91.1 (12.7)

90.0 (13.1)

90.3 (14.0)

 < 0.001

Aspirin

42,153 (10.4)

7779 (7.7)

9539 (9.5)

10,910 (10.8)

13,925 (13.8)

 < 0.001

Insulin

3702 (0.9)

610 (0.6)

450 (0.4)

654 (0.7)

1988 (2.0)

 < 0.001

Antihypertensive medication

73,657 (18.3)

10,886 (10.8)

16,097 (16.0)

20,496 (20.3)

26,178 (26.0)

 < 0.001

Cholesterol-lowering medication

55,459 (13.7)

7907 (7.8)

11,489 (11.4)

14,804 (14.7)

21,259 (21.1)

 < 0.001

Retinopathy

8868 (2.2)

1753 (1.7)

2105 (2.1)

2286 (2.3)

2724 (2.7)

 < 0.001

Chronic kidney disease

7956 (2.0)

1111 (1.0)

1648 (1.6)

2263 (2.2)

2934 (2.9)

 < 0.001

Dyslipidemia

27,032 (6.7)

3337 (3.3)

5414 (5.4)

7506 (7.4)

10,775 (10.7)

 < 0.001

Type 1 diabetes

1275 (0.3)

184 (0.2)

163 (0.2)

222 (0.2)

706 (0.7)

 < 0.001

Type 2 diabetes

14,157 (3.5)

941 (0.9)

1847 (1.8)

3262 (3.2)

8107 (8.1)

 < 0.001

Hypertension

56,202 (13.9)

8595 (8.5)

12,700 (12.6)

15,657 (15.5)

19,250 (19.1)

 < 0.001