Table 1 Characteristics of the study population

n

1,506

2,999

4,505

204

954

869

248

2,275

age (years)

63.4 (11.8)

58.1 (10.8)

59.9 (11.4)

66.1 (8.7)

65.7 (8.5)

65.0 (8.2)

62.1 (8.0)

65.1 (8.4)

<0.0001 ^a

 % age < 55 years

28.0 (421)

39.7 (1,190)

35.8 (1,611)

9.8 (20)

10.2 (97)

11.1 (96)

18.2 (45)

11.3 (258)

<0.0001 ^b

 % age 55-64 years

28.0 (421)

28.8 (863)

28.5 (1,284)

27.5 (56)

31.9 (304)

34.4 (299)

43.2 (107)

33.7 (766)

 % age 65-74 years

21.4 (322)

24.5 (734)

23.4 (1,056)

48.0 (98)

44.6 (425)

44.0 (382)

31.9 (79)

43.3 (984)

 % age > 74 years

22.7 (342)

7.1 (212)

12.3 (554)

14.7 (30)

13.4 (128)

10.6 (92)

6.9 (17)

11.7 (267)

 % males

48.1 (724)

49.9 (1,496)

49.3

60.3 (123)

60.6 (578)

61.1 (531)

64.1 (159)

61.1

<0.0001 ^b

FEV₁ (liter)

3.06 (0.9)

3.16 (0.8)

3.13 (0.8)

2.62 (0.6)

1.85 (0.5)

1.20 (0.3)

0.75 (0.2)

1.55 (0.6)

<0.0001 ^a

FVC (liter)

3.92 (1.1)

3.96 (1.0)

3.95 (1.1)

4.11 (0.9)

3.31 (0.9)

2.67 (0.8)

2.05 (0.6)

3.00 (1.0)

<0.0001 ^a

% basic education (≤9 school years)

56.2 (847)

21.8 (854)

33.3 (1,501)

48.0 (98)

52.1 (497)

60.0 (521)

57.7 (143)

55.3 (1,259)

<0.0001 ^b

% secondary education (10–11 school years)

22.7 (342)

52.8 (1,584)

42.8 (1,926)

25.5 (52)

28.6 (273)

25.2 (219)

29.4 (73)

27.1 (617)

% higher education (>11 school years)

21.1 (317)

25.4 (761)

23.9 (1,078)

26.5 (54)

19.3 (184)

14.8 (129)

12.9 (32)

17.5 (399)

% smoker

11.3 (170)

16.1 (484)

14.5 (654)

29.9 (61)

28.9 (276)

21.8 (189)

14.5 (36)

24.7 (562)

<0.0001 ^b

% former smoker

39.2 (590)

44.4 (1,332)

42.7 (1,922)

62.8 (128)

63.7 (608)

72.6 (631)

80.2 (199)

68.8 (1,566)

% never smoker

49.5 (746)

39.5 (1,183)

42.8 (1,929)

7.4 (15)

7.3 (70)

5.6 (49)

5.2 (13)

6.5 (147)

BMI (kg/m²)

28.2 (4.7)

28.6 (4.7)

28.4 (4.7)

26.6 (4.7)

27.5 (5.1)

26.4 (5.4)

24.4 (5.0)

26.7 (5.2)

<0.0001 ^a

% normal weight (18.5 ≤ BMI < 25)

24.4 (368)

22.7 (681)

23.3 (1,049)

36.8 (75)

32.5 (310)

38.4 (334)

50.0 (124)

37.1 (843)

<0.0001 ^b

% overweight (25 ≤ BMI < 30)

45.8 (690)

43.8 (1,313)

44.5 (2,003)

41.7 (85)

39.0 (372)

36.1 (314)

28.6 (71)

37.0 (842)

% obese (BMI ≥ 30)

29.6 (445)

33.4 (1,003)

32.1 (1,448)

20.1 (41)

27.0 (258)

20.9 (182)

11.7 (29)

22.4 (510)

% underweight (BMI < 18.5)

0.2 (3)

0.1 (2)

0.1 (5)

1.5 (3)

1.5 (14)

4.5 (39)

9.7 (24)

3.5 (80)

% diabetes

10.4 (156)

13.3 (399)

12.3 (555)

10.3 (21)

13.3 (127)

12.8 (111)

11.3 (28)

12.6 (287)

0.73 ^b

% stroke

4.1 (61)

2.5 (75)

3.0 (136)

3.9 (8)

4.3 (41)

4.8 (42)

2.4 (6)

4.3 (97)

0.008 ^b

% myocardial infarction

5.1 (76)

3.5 (106)

4.0 (182)

6.4 (13)

8.8 (84)

9.6 (83)

5.2 (13)

8.5 (193)

<0.0001 ^b

% cancer

9.5 (143)

8.1 (242)

8.6 (385)

11.8 (24)

12.2 (116)

10.1 (88)

7.3 (18)

10.8 (246)

0.002 ^b

% arthritis

12.4 (186)

5.6 (168)

7.9 (354)

10.3 (21)

8.1 (77)

8.6 (75)

4.8 (12)

8.1 (185)

0.69 ^b

EQ-5D utility score

0.90 (0.14)

0.90 (0.14)

0.90 (0.14)

0.85 (0.18)

0.84 (0.19)

0.81 (0.21)

0.74 (0.24)

0.82 (0.21)

<0.0001 ^a

EQ-5D valuation score

0.76 (0.14)

0.77 (0.13)

0.77 (0.13)

0.71 (0.14)

0.68 (0.16)

0.64 (0.17)

0.58 (0.17)

0.66 (0.17)

<0.0001 ^a