Table 1 Baseline characteristics of participants in the Reasons for geographic and racial differences in stroke (REGARDS) study, stratified by race

Age^†

64.2 (9.3)

65.6 (9.5)

<0.001

Education (%)

 ≤ High school

2,429 (19.9)

1,279 (7.3)

<0.001

 High school graduate

3,401 (27.9)

4,266 (24.4)

 Some college

3,237 (26.5)

4,713 (27.0)

 College grad or more

3,135 (25.7)

7,207 (41.3)

Income (%)

 ≤$20 000

3,257 (26.7)

2,086 (11.9)

<0.001

 $20 000−$34 000

3,223 (26.4)

3,951 (22.6)

 $35 000−$74 000

3,100 (25.4)

5,708 (32.7)

 $75 000 and Above

1,088 (8.9)

3,609 (20.7)

 Refuse

1,548 (12.7)

2,120 (12.1)

Geographic region (%)

 Stroke belt^a

6,261 (51.3)

10,239 (58.6)

<0.001

 Non-belt^b

5,955 (48.8)

7,235 (41.4)

Sex

 Male

4,622 (37.8)

8,713 (49.9)

<0.001

 Female

7,594 (62.2)

8,761 (50.1)

Tobacco use

 Never

5,521 (45.4)

7,861 (45.1)

<0.001

 Past

4,529 (37.3)

7,381 (42.4)

 Current

2,107 (17.3)

2,177 (12.5)

Alcohol Use

 None

8,610 (72.4)

9,632 (55.9)

<0.001

 Moderate

3,002 (25.2)

6,689 (38.9)

 Heavy

288 (2.4)

889 (5.2)

Baseline medical condition

 Atrial fibrillation

921 (7.8)

1,628 (9.5)

<0.001

 Chronic lung disease

960 (7.9)

1,771 (10.1)

<0.001

 Coronary artery disease

1,857 (15.5)

3,375 (19.6)

<0.001

 Deep vein thrombosis

600 (4.9)

955 (5.5)

0.02

 Diabetes

3,767 (31.0)

2,936 (16.9)

<0.001

 Dyslipidemia

6,435 (55.3)

10,526 (62.1)

<0.001

 Hypertension

8,706 (71.4)

8,840 (50.7)

<0.001

 Myocardial infarction

1,396 (11.7)

2,323 (13.5)

<0.001

 Obesity

7,684 (63.0)

8,181 (46.9)

<0.001

 Peripheral artery disease

293 (2.4)

370 (2.1)

0.1

 Stroke

982 (8.1)

914 (5.3)

<0.001

Abnormal biomarker levels^€♯

 C-reactive protein (CRP)

2.9 (1.2–6.5)

1.9 (0.9 4.3)

<0.001

 Albumin creatinine ratio (ACR)

8.1 (4.7–20.9)

7.2 (4.7–14.4)

<0.001

 Cystatin C

0.9 (0.8–1.1)

1.0 (0.8–1.1)

<0.001

 Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR)

91.5 (73.9–106.8)

85.5 (72.2–95.0)

<0.001