The association between self-rated health and impaired glucose tolerance in Swedish adults: A cross-sectional study

Figures & data

Figure 1. Flowchart of eligible and finally enrolled participants in the study: The Vara–Skövde cohort, Sweden, 2002–2005.

Figure 2. Distribution of self-rated health in men and women, respectively: The Vara–Skövde cohort, Sweden, 2002–2005.

Table I. Characteristics of men and women in the Vara–Skövde cohort, Sweden, 2002–2005.

	Women		Men
	Mean^a	SD/CV^a (q1–q3)	Mean^a	SD/CV^a (q1–q3)
Characteristics	(n = 1301)		(n = 1201)		p-value
Age, years	46.8	11.2	46.5	11.2	0.470
Waist circumference, cm	84.5	11.2	93.9	11.2	< 0.001
Body mass index, kg m^–2	26.4	4.3	26.6	4.3	0.135
Fasting p-glucose, mmol L^–1	5.1	0.4	5.3	0.4	< 0.001
2 h p-glucose, mmol L^–1	5.5	1.5	5.2	1.5	< 0.001
HOMA-ir	1.27	67.6	1.61	69.0	< 0.001
Systolic BP, mm Hg	118	13.7	123	13.7	< 0.001
Diastolic BP, mm Hg	68	9.4	71	9.4	< 0.001
LDL cholesterol	3.1	0.9	3.4	0.8	< 0.001
HDL cholesterol	1.40	0.32	1.21	0.31	< 0.001
Alcohol consumption g/week^b	22.6	(0–32)	61.2	(13–78)	< 0.001^c
	n	%	n	%	p-value
Low self-rated health	362	35.4	276	22.1	0.006
IGT	125	11.9	85	10.1	0.029
Low LTPA	889	72.7	688	60.3	< 0.001
Daily smoking	268	28.0	176	15.0	< 0.001
Lack of sleep	515	39.0	445	32.3	0.144
Primary school only	274	33.9	341	39.8	< 0.001
Previous CVD	28	3.8	42	5.7	0.023
Previous hyperlipidaemia	46	5.8	61	7.1	0.037
Hypertension	156	18.8	136	16.8	0.773

Notes: All means were adjusted for age, and all proportions were age-standardized using the Vara population as standard. P-glucose = plasma glucose; HOMA-ir = the homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance; BP = blood pressure; IGT = impaired glucose tolerance; LTPA = leisure-time physical activity; CVD = cardiovascular disease. ^aFor alcohol consumption data are means and q1–q3 (quartile 1–quartile 3), for HOMA-ir data are geometric means (anti-log) and coefficient of variance (CV, expressed as a percentage), and for all other variables data are means and standard deviations (SD). ^b12 g alcohol is equivalent to approximately one glass of wine (12–15 cl) or one small beer (33 cl). ^cThe p-value accounts for the generally higher physiological acceptance of alcohol in men as compared with women.

Table II. Characteristics of male and female study participants with high and low self-rated health, respectively: The Vara–Skövde cohort, Sweden, 2002–2005.

	High SRH		Low SRH
Characteristics	Mean^a	SD/CV^a (q1–q3)	Mean^a	SD/CV^a (q1–q3)	p-value
Women	n = 930		n = 362
Age, years	45.9	10.9	49.2	11.9	< 0.001
Body mass index, kg m^–2	25.7	4.8	28.2	4.8	< 0.001
Fasting p-glucose, mmol L^–1	5.1	0.4	5.2	0.4	0.076
HOMA-ir	1.08	66.9	1.91	65.6	< 0.001
Systolic BP, mm Hg	118	14.1	119	14.1	0.103
Diastolic BP, mm Hg	68	9.4	69	9.5	0.395
LDL cholesterol	3.1	0.8	3.2	0.8	0.087
HDL cholesterol	1.43	0.34	1.35	0.34	< 0.001
Alcohol consumption g/week^b	24.1	(2–34)	18.5	(0–25)	0.005^c
	n	%	n	%	p-value
IGT	80	8.5	45	12.4	0.221
Low LTPA	598	65.5	291	83.9	< 0.001
Daily smoking	177	18.8	91	25.1	0.009
Lack of sleep	297	31.8	218	60.7	< 0.001
Primary school only	157	17.1	117	33.6	< 0.001
Previous CVD	13	1.4	15	4.2	0.058
Previous hyperlipidaemia	30	3.2	16	4.4	0.983
Hypertension	93	9.9	63	17.4	0.086
Characteristics	Mean^a	SD/CV^a (q1–q3)	Mean^a	SD/CV^a (q1–q3)	p-value
Men	n = 925		n = 276
Age, years	46.3	11.0	47.2	11.5	< 0.001
Body mass index, kg m^–2	26.4	3.4	27.4	3.4	< 0.001
Fasting p-glucose, mmol L^–1	5.3	0.4	5.4	0.4	0.045
HOMA-ir	1.51	67.5	1.98	67.0	0.004
Systolic BP, mm Hg	122	13.0	123	13.1	0.599
Diastolic BP, mm Hg	71	9.4	72	9.4	0.586
LDL cholesterol	3.4	0.9	3.4	0.9	0.573
HDL cholesterol	1.22	0.27	1.17	0.28	0.008
Alcohol consumption g/week^b	60.0	(15–80)	64.9	(8–76)	0.498^c
	n	%	n	%	p-value
IGT	48	5.2	37	13.4	< 0.001
Low LTPA	482	54.0	206	76.3	< 0.001
Daily smoking	120	13.0	56	20.3	0.003
Lack of sleep	274	29.7	171	62.6	< 0.001
Primary school only	249	27.3	92	34.5	0.007
Previous CVD	26	2.8	16	5.8	0.043
Previous hyperlipidaemia	40	4.3	21	7.6	0.053
Hypertension	101	10.9	35	12.7	0.714

Notes: A general linear model was used to calculate differences in means of continuous variables between participants reporting low self-rated health and those reporting high self-rated health. Logistic regression was used to estimate associations between categorical variables. All analyses were adjusted for differences in age distribution. P-glucose = plasma glucose; HOMA-ir = the homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance; BP = blood pressure; IGT = impaired glucose tolerance; LTPA = leisure-time physical activity; CVD = cardiovascular disease. ^aFor alcohol consumption data are means and q1–q3 (quartile 1–quartile 3), for HOMA-ir data are geometric means (anti-log) and coefficient of variance (CV, expressed as a percentage), and for all other variables data are means and standard deviations (SD). ^b12 g alcohol is equivalent to approximately one glass of wine (12–15 cl) or one small beer (33 cl). ^cThe p-value accounts for the generally higher physiological acceptance of alcohol in men as compared with women.

Table III. Association between self-rated health and impaired glucose tolerance in women and men, respectively: The Vara–Skövde Cohort, Sweden, 2002–2005.

	Women		Men
Adjustments	OR	95 % CI	OR	95 % CI
Crude	1.5	1.0–2.2*	2.8	1.8–4.4
Age	1.3	0.9–1.9	2.8	1.8–4.5
Age and body mass index	1.0	0.6–1.5	2.5	1.6–4.1
Age and fasting p-glucose	1.1	0.7–1.7	2.7	1.6–4.6
Age and HOMA-ir	1.0	0.6–1.5	2.7	1.6–4.4
Age and HDL cholesterol	1.1	0.8–1.7	2.6	1.6–4.2
Age and alcohol consumption	1.3	0.8–1.9	2.9	1.8–4.7
Age and hypertension	1.2	0.8–1.8	2.9	1.8–4.6
Age and LTPA	1.2	0.8–1.8	2.4	1.5–3.9
Age and daily smoking	1.3	0.9–2.0	2.9	1.8–4.6
Age and lack of sleep	1.3	0.8–1.9	2.5	1.5–4.2
Age and educational level	1.4	0.9–2.1	2.8	1.7–4.6
Age and previous hyperlipidaemia	1.3	0.8–1.8	2.8	1.7–4.5
Age and previous CVD	1.2	0.8–1.9	2.7	1.7–4.4
All above	1.0	0.6–1.7	2.3	1.2–4.3

Notes: Associations between self-rated health (independent variable, low versus high) and impaired glucose tolerance (dependent variable) were analysed using logistic regression analysis and expressed as odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). Age, body mass index, fasting glucose, HOMA-ir (the homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance), and HDL cholesterol were all entered into the model as continuous variables, whereas the rest of the variables were dichotomized. Missing values: body mass index: 9 women and 5 men; previous hyperlipidaemia: 1 man; previous CVD: 2 women; level of education: 34 women and 21 men; leisure-time physical activity (LTPA): 41 women and 38 men; lack of sleep: 9 women and 5 men; alcohol consumption: 39 women and 31 men; daily smoking: 2 women and 6 men; HOMA-ir: 7 women and 7 men. *p = 0.033.