Table 1 Characteristics of REGARDS participants, stratified by steroid use

 Age (mean ± SD)

65.7 (9.4)

64.8(9.4)

0.01

 Sex

< 0.001

  Male

255 (37.7)

13,296 (45.1)

  Female

422 (62.3)

16,210 (54.9)

 Race

0.08

  White

374 (55.2)

17,295 (58.6)

  Black

303 (44.8)

12,211 (41.4)

 Income

< 0.001

   < $20,000

178 (26.3)

5300 (17.9)

  $20,000–34,000

191 (28.2)

7116 (24.1)

  $35,000–74,000

165 (24.4)

8749 (29.7)

   ≥ $75,000

61(9.0)

4693 (15.9)

  Unknown

82 (12.1)

3648 (12.4)

 Education

0.002

  Less than high school

103 (15.2)

3689 (12.5)

  High school graduate

193 (28.5)

7611 (25.8)

  Some college

193 (28.5)

7897 (26.8)

  College or higher

188 (27.8)

10,284 (34.8)

 Region

0.78

  Belt

235 (34.7)

10,212 (34.6)

  Buckle

148 (21.8)

6159 (20.9)

  Non-belt

294 (43.4)

13,135(44.5)

  Tobacco use

0.233

  Never

293 (43.3)

11,774 (39.9)

  Past

291 (42.9)

13,313 (45.1)

  Current

89 (13.2)

4307 (14.6)

 Missing (116)

4 (0.6)

112(0.4)

 Alcohol use

< 0.001

  None

465 (68.7)

18,082 (61.3)

  Moderate

181 (26.7)

9675 (32.8)

  Heavy

14 (2.1)

1173 (3.9)

  Missing (593)

17 (2.5)

573 (2.0)

 Atrial fibrillation

100 (14.8)

2493 (8.4)

< 0.001

 Chronic kidney disease

131 (19.3)

3160 (10.7)

< 0.001

 Chronic lung disease

169 (24.9)

2596 (8.8)

< 0.001

 Coronary artery disease

159 (23.5)

5155 (17.5)

< 0.001

 Deep vein thrombosis

55 (8.1)

1527 (5.2)

0.003

 Diabetes

191 (28.2)

6623 (22.4)

0.001

 Dyslipidemia

348 (51.4)

16,880 (57.2)

< 0.001

 Hypertension

454 (67.1)

17,393 (58.9)

< 0.001

 Myocardial infarction

112 (16.5)

3661 (12.4)

0.004

 Obesity(abnormal BMI or waist circumference)

385 (56.9)

15,758 (53.4)

0.20

 Peripheral artery disease

21 (3.1)

651 (2.2)

0.12

 Stroke

56 (8.3)

1874 (6.4)

0.13

 Morisky Medication Adherence Scale

< 0.001

  0 (good)

463 (68.4)

18,786 (63.7)

  1 (fair)

130 (19.2)

5937 (20.1)

  2–4 (poor)

67 (9.9)

2020 (6.9)