Table 1 Baseline characteristics of case participants with incident cardiovascular disease and of controls in the PREDIMED

Age

69.2 (6.4)

68.6 (6.1)

Matching Factor

Female sex (%)

40.3

40.5

Matching Factor

PREDIMED trial arm (%)

0.03

 Mediterranean diet + EVOO

37.4

37.6

 Mediterranean diet + nuts

24.5

35.1

Smoking status (%)

0.39

 Current smoker

19.7

15.1

 Former smoker

34.0

32.8

Hypercholesterolaemia (%)

57.1

65.3

0.10

Hypertension (%)

80.3

77.5

0.51

Type 2 diabetes (%)

61.2

49.1

0.02

Family history of CHD (%)

19.7

15.5

0.27

Body mass index (kg/m²)

29.7 (3.6)

29.7 (3.5)

0.94

Physical activity (METs-min/d)

250.2 (211.1)

279.0 (272.5)

0.27

Alcohol (g/d)

10.1 (16.8)

12.7 (17.9)

0.15

Toenail mercury (μg/g)

0.63 (0.53)

0.67 (0.49)

0.42

 Fish and seafood (g/d)

92.4 (46.0)

93.5 (44.1)

0.80

 n-3 Fatty acids (EPA & DHA) (g/d)

0.71 (0.46)

0.75 (0.44)

0.34

 n-3 Fatty acids (other)

1.41 (0.65)

1.44 (0.65)

0.72

 Total energy intake (kcal/d)

2340 (645)

2363 (599)

0.71

 Total Fat (%E)

39.5 (6.5)

39.7 (6.6)

0.70

  Monounsaturated Fat (%E)

19.6 (4.4)

20.0 (4.6)

0.47

  Polyunsaturated Fat (%E)

6.2 (2.2)

6.2 (1.8)

0.92

  Saturated Fat (%E)

10.4 (2.3)

10.1 (2.2)

0.29

 Protein (%E)

16.2 (2.9)

15.8 (2.7)

0.16

 Cholesterol (mg/d)

363.0 (122.2)

366.5 (130.9)

0.78

 Fiber (g/d)

24.9 (10.3)

25.1 (7.9)

0.78

Mediterranean diet adherence (0–14)

8.2 (2.0)

8.8 (1.8)

0.001

Fish item in Mediterranean screener (%)

52.1

51.7

0.94