Baseline characteristics of incident type 2 diabetes cases and matched controls, the Singapore Chinese Health Study*
| Cases (n=254) | Controls (n=254) | P value† | |
| Age (years) at blood taken | 59.0±5.83 | 59.3±6.03 | – |
| Gender (female) | 134 (52.8) | 134 (52.8) | – |
| Dialect (%) | – | ||
| Cantonese | 127 (50.0) | 127 (50.0) | |
| Hokkien | 127 (50.0) | 127 (50.0) | |
| Body mass index (kg/m2) | 24.8±3.68 | 22.6±3.41 | <0.001 |
| Level of education (%) | 0.84 | ||
| No formal education | 31 (12.2) | 34 (13.4) | |
| Primary school | 117 (46.1) | 111 (43.7) | |
| Secondary and above | 106 (41.7) | 109 (42.9) | |
| History of hypertension (%) | 127 (50.0) | 57 (22.4) | <0.001 |
| Cigarette smoking (%) | 0.57 | ||
| Never smokers | 177 (70.0) | 178 (70.1) | |
| Former smoker | 34 (13.4) | 40 (15.8) | |
| Current smokers | 43 (16.9) | 36 (14.2) | |
| Weekly moderate-to-vigorous activity (%) | 0.004 | ||
| <0.5 hours/week | 199 (78.4) | 196 (77.2) | |
| 0.5–3.9 hours/week | 44 (17.3) | 29 (11.4) | |
| ≥4 hours/week | 11 (4.3) | 29 (11.4) | |
| Alcohol intake (%) | 0.95 | ||
| Abstainers | 223 (87.8) | 223 (87.8) | |
| Weekly drinkers | 25 (9.8) | 24 (9.5) | |
| Daily drinkers | 6 (2.4) | 7 (2.8) | |
| Fasting status (yes) | 75 (29.5) | 68 (26.8) | 0.49 |
| ELF score, µg/L | 9.28±0.71 | 9.18±0.69 | 0.12 |
| TIMP1, µg/L | 227.9±39.0 | 213.5±35.6 | <0.001 |
| PIIINP, µg/L | 7.56±2.69 | 7.01±2.75 | 0.023 |
| HA, µg/L | 69.6±67.0 | 68.8±76.8 | 0.90 |
| GGT, IU/L | 31 (21–46) | 23 (17–35) | <0.001 |
| ALT, IU/L | 25 (19–36) | 20 (15–27) | <0.001 |
| HDL-C, mmol/L | 1.08±0.26 | 1.23±0.31 | <0.001 |
| TG, mmol/L | 2.1 (1.4–2.8) | 1.5 (1.0–2.0) | <0.001 |
| Adiponectin, µg/mL | 7.26±3.01 | 9.09±3.57 | <0.001 |
| hs-CRP, mg/L | 1.6 (0.9–3.2) | 1.2 (0.6–2.1) | <0.001 |
| HbA1c, % | 5.90±0.35 | 5.53±0.27 | <0.001 |
*Data are expressed as mean±SD for continuous variables (normally distributed) and median (IQR) for continuous variables (skewed distributed), and n (percentage) for categorical variables. Cases and controls are matched on age at blood taken (±3 years), gender, dialect and date of blood collection (±6 months).
†P values based on the χ2 test for categorical variables, student’s t-test for continuous variable with normal distribution and Mann-Whitney U test for continuous variable with skewed distribution.
ALT, alanine aminotransferase; ELF, enhanced liver fibrosis; GGT, gamma-glutamyl transferase; HA, hyaluronic acid; HbA1c, hemoglobin A1c; HDL-C, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol; hs-CRP, high-sensitivity C reactive protein; PIIINP, amino-terminal propeptide of type III procollagen; TG, triglycerides; TIMP1, tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinase 1.