Article Figures & Data
Figures
- Figure 1.
The difference in telomere length between those with and without a usual source of care (A); and the attenuation in the difference in telomere length in the stepwise models that account for demographics, health conditions, and health behaviors (B). Abbreviation: WBC, white blood cell.
- Figure 2.
Forest plot of β coefficients and 95% CIs for the relationship between each variable in the fully adjusted model and leukocyte telomere length (base pairs).
Tables
- Table 1.
Demographic Characteristics of NHANES 1999-2002 Participants Aged 50-84 Years by Usual Source of Care (n = 3175), Percent for Categorical Variables and Standard Error for Continuous Variables in Parenthesis
Variable Full Sample (n = 3175) Usual Source of Care Yes (n = 2953) No (n = 222) P-Value Mean telomere length (base pair) 5564.9 (37.4) 5569.2 (37.5) 5500.1 (44.9) .041 Mean Age (years) 62.9 (0.2) 63.2 (0.2) 59.0 (0.7) <.001 Mean WBC count (millions/µL) 7.0 (0.1) 7.0 (0.1) 7.4 (0.2) .105 Gender .018 Male 1606 (46.3) 1475 (45.7) 131 (55.5) Female 1569 (53.7) 1478 (54.3) 91 (44.5) Race/ethnicity <.001 Non-Hispanic White 1851 (81.3) 1769 (82.2) 82 (67.9) Non-Hispanic Black 467 (6.9) 441 (6.9) 26 (7.9) Mexican American and Hispanic 782 (8.6) 673 (7.8) 109 (21.1) Other races 75 (3.2) 70 (3.1) 5 (3.1) Education level .009 Less than high school 1195 (24.6) 1063 (23.7) 132 (38.9) High school 721 (26.1) 683 (26.2) 38 (24.0) Some college 656 (24.7) 626 (25.0) 30 (19.8) College and above 603 (24.6) 581 (25.1) 22 (17.2) Covered by health insurance Yes 2874 (92.6) 2755 (94.7) 119 (60.6) <.001 No 301 (7.4) 198 (5.3) 103 (39.4) CVD History <.001 Yes 599 (16.9) 583 (17.5) 16 (6.6) No 2576 (83.1) 2370 (82.5) 206 (93.4) Emphysema history .163 Yes 97 (3.5) 96 (3.7) 1 (1.0) No 3078 (96.5) 2857 (96.3) 221 (99.0) High blood pressure <.001 Yes 1493 (43.6) 1443 (45.2) 50 (18.1) No 1682 (56.4) 1510 (54.8) 172 (81.9) Smoking status <.001 Current smoker 491 (16.7) 419 (15.3) 72 (38.1) Former smoker 1240 (39.0) 1178 (39.9) 62 (25.8) Never smoked 1444 (44.3) 1356 (44.8) 88 (36.1) Physical inactivity .003 Yes 1592 (43.3) 1454 (42.3) 138 (58.9) No 1583 (56.7) 1499 (57.7) 84 (41.1) CVD, cardiovascular disease; WBC, white blood cell; NHANES, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
Values are number of subjects (weighted proportion) for categorical variables or weighted means (standard error) for continuous variables. P-values were calculated using weighted χ2 tests or t-test.
- Table 2.
Unadjusted and Adjusted Relationships Between Telomere Length (Base Pairs) and Covariates Among NHANES 1999–2002 Participants Aged 50–84 Years
Variables Unadjusted Adjusted for Age, Age Squared, White Blood Cell Count β Coefficient SE P-Value β Coefficient SE P-Value Usual source of care Yes 69.1 32.3 .041 122.9 30.5 <.001 No ref ref Gender Male −56.6 16.2 .002 −75.2 15.5 <.001 Female ref ref Age (years) −13.8 1.4 <.001 NA WBC count (millions/µL) −18.7 7.1 .014 NA Race/ethnicity Non-Hispanic White ref ref Non-Hispanic Black 117.5 48.2 .021 81.3 46.4 .091 Mexican American and Hispanic 25.9 85.6 .764 −5.9 80.5 .942 Other races 62.5 88.3 .484 8.8 82.9 .916 Education level Less than high school ref ref High school 71.9 30.6 .026 61.9 29.2 .042 Some college 54.9 34.1 .118 15.1 31.6 .636 College and above 135.5 31.0 <.001 70.6 30.5 .028 Covered by health insurance Yes −58.5 64.5 .372 15.5 60.2 .799 No ref ref CVD history Yes −147.9 35.0 <.001 −67.6 35.9 .070 No ref ref Emphysema history Yes −189.5 51.2 .001 −116.9 55.8 .045 No ref ref High blood pressure Yes 18.5 20.4 .372 74.8 22.9 .003 No ref ref Smoking status Current smoker −16.1 39.4 .685 −58.5 34.5 .101 Former smoker 1.20 29.6 .968 −3.5 28.7 .903 Never smoked ref Ref Physically inactivity Yes −85.3 32.1 .013 −47.4 31.8 .146 No ref ref CVD, cardiovascular disease; WBC, white blood cell; NHANES, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey; SE, standard error.
Linear regression was used to calculate β coefficients, standard errors, and P-values.
- Table 3.
Adjusted Relationship Between Telomere Length (Base Pairs) and Usual Source of Care Among NHANES 1999–2002 Participants Aged 50-84 Years Using Multivariate Linear Regression
Variables Model 1 Model 2 Model 3 β SE P β SE P β SE P Usual Source of care Yes 115.5 28.7 <.001 108.5 28.8 .001 98.3 30.0 .003 No ref ref ref Gender Male −76.5 16.6 <.001 −67.5 16.5 <.001 −77.3 17.4 <.001 Female ref ref ref Age (years) −3.1 18.6 .867 −6.6 18.4 .722 −8.3 18.4 .653 Age Squared −0.1 0.1 .573 −0.1 0.1 .707 −0.1 0.1 .783 WBC count (millions/µL) −12.9 6.6 .061 −13.9 6.9 .054 −11.9 6.3 .067 Race/ethnicity Non-Hispanic White ref ref ref Non-Hispanic Black 98.5 48.7 .053 80.0 49.3 .116 94.3 48.3 .060 Mexican American and Hispanic 29.3 85.9 .736 21.5 85.4 .803 25.4 84.6 .766 Other races 6.2 82.5 .940 9.6 83.2 .909 18.6 83.7 .826 Education level Less than high school ref ref ref High school 65.0 30.5 .041 64.7 30.9 .045 59.6 32.1 .073 Some college 21.4 36.9 .566 17.3 35.7 .631 6.3 38.5 .872 College and above 90.7 38.5 .026 86.1 36.2 .024 72.1 36.9 .061 Covered by health insurance Yes −16.1 63.3 .801 −24.7 64.2 .703 −32.7 62.6 .605 No ref ref ref CVD History Yes −72.3 35.1 .048 −70.9 35.8 .057 No ref ref Emphysema history Yes −105.2 58.3 .082 −99.2 59.8 .108 No ref ref High blood pressure Yes 73.4 23.6 .004 73.6 22.8 .003 No ref ref Smoking status Current smoker −12.8 36.7 .731 Former smoker 28.3 27.5 .312 Never smoked ref Physically inactivity Yes −45.9 33.2 .177 No ref CVD, cardiovascular disease; WBC, white blood cell; NHANES, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey; SE, standard error.
Linear regression was used to calculate β coefficients, standard errors, and P-values.
