Yearly attained adherence to Mediterranean diet and incidence of diabetes in a large randomized trial

Table 1 Characteristics of the study population according to the cross classification by randomized intervention and actual upgraded compliance with MedDiet during the trial period (average MEDAS during years 1 to 7)

MEDAS score during follow-up, excluding baseline	Control group		Both Mediterranean diet groups merged		p value^e
	MEDAS < 10	MEDAS ≥ 10	MEDAS < 10	MEDAS ≥ 10
	n = 906	n = 241	n = 785	n = 1609
Mean follow-up (years 1 to 7) score in MEDAS (SD)	8.3 (1.0)	10.6 (0.6)	8.9 (0.8)	11.4 (0.9)
Mean age (SD), year	67.2 (6.2)	67.1 (5.8)	66.3 (6.2)	66.4 (5.9)	0.002
Female sex %	68.2%	53.1%	64.6%	58.5%	<0 .001
Mean BMI (SD), kg/m²	30.4 (3.7)	29.1 (3.1)	30.5 (3.7)	29.6 (3.5)	< 0.001
Mean waist circumference (SD), cm	100 (10)	98 (9.8)	102 (11)	99 (10)	<0 .001
Mean waist-to-height ratio (SD)	0.63 (0.06)	0.61 (0.06)	0.64 (0.07)	0.62 (0.06)	< 0.001
Current smoker %^a	15.8%	15.8%	16.3%	15.8%	0.005
Former smoker %	18.5%	30.7%	20.9%	22.9%
Marital status: % married	71.8%	84.2%	72.6%	78.9%	< 0.001
Mean education level (SD), years	3.7 (0.7)	3.6 (0.8)	3.6 (0.8)	3.6 (0.8)	0.11
Obesity^b	51.3%	38.2%	53.0%	42.1%	< 0.001
Overweight^b	96.1%	93.8%	94.9%	94.4%	0.27
Hypertension^c	92.9%	89.6%	91.8%	91.6%	0.41
Dyslipidemia^d	85.3%	81.7%	83.3%	85.8%	0.27
Fasting glucose (SD), mg/dL	104 (18)	101 (15)	105 (18)	100 (16)	<0 .001
Total cholesterol (SD), mg/dL	218 (36)	217 (35)	220 (35)	220 (34)	0.586
HDL cholesterol (SD), mg/dL	55 (13)	56 (14)	56 (13)	56 (14)	0.18
LDL cholesterol (SD), mg/dL	137 (33)	136 (28)	137 (29)	138 (31)	0.55
Triglycerides (SD), mg/dL	137 (62)	129 (62)	141.0 (86)	126 (57)	< 0.001
Mean leisure-time physical activity level (SD), MET min/d	204 (200)	268 (252)	187 (194)	263 (239)	< 0.001
Mean total energy intake level (SD), kcal/d	2194 (567)	2301 (547)	2273 (599)	2345 (572)	<0 .001

Characteristics are for participants without diabetes at baseline (n = 3541)
SD standard deviation, MEDAS Mediterranean Diet Adherence Screener, BMI body mass index, HDL high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, LDL low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, MedDiet Mediterranean diet, MET metabolic equivalent
^aCurrent smoker was defined as > 1 cigarette, cigar, or pipe per day. Former smoker was defined as no smoking for at least 1 y
^bOverweight was defined as BMI ≥ 25 kg/m² and obesity as BMI ≥ 30 kg/m²
^cHypertension was defined as Systolic blood pressure ≥ 140 mm Hg, diastolic blood pressure ≥ 90 mm Hg, or use of antihypertensive agents
^dDyslipidemia was defined as LDL cholesterol levels ≥ 4.14 mmol/L (≥ 158.30 mg/dL), HDL cholesterol levels < 1.03 mmol/L (< 39.77 mg/dL) in men or < 1.29 mmol/L (< 49.81 mg/dL) in women or use of lipid-lowering therapy
^eCorrected for the false discovery rate using the Simes method

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