Ways of Coping and Biomarkers of an Increased Atherothrombotic Cardiovascular Disease Risk in Elderly Individuals

Table 1

Participant characteristics.

Variables	All participants (𝑛=136)	Caregivers (𝑛=93)	Noncaregivers (𝑛=43)	𝑃
Age (years)	74.5±7.7	74.6±8.4	74.5±6.2	0.937
Women (%)	67.6	67.7	67.4	0.972
Education (years)	15.4±3.2	15.3±3.1	15.5±3.4	0.722
Body mass index (kg/m^2)	26.4±5.2	26.7±4.9	25.9±5.9	0.447
LDL-C/HDL-C ratio	2.2±0.9	2.2±0.8	2.2±1.0	0.904
Systolic blood pressure (mm Hg)	134±15	135±15	132±15	0.432
Heart rate (beats/min)	66±10	66±10	66±9	0.802
Ever smoker (%)	40.4	43.0	34.9	0.369
Diabetes (%)	9.6	12.9	2.3	0.062
Any cardiovascular disease (%)	14.7	19.4	4.7	0.035
Number of health problems	3.1±1.8	3.5±1.9	2.5±1.4	0.001
Alcohol consumption (score)	5.4±5.8	5.4±5.7	5.5±6.1	0.908
Rapid Assessment of Physical Activity (score)	3.6±1.6	3.3±1.6	4.1±1.4	0.005
Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index	6.1±3.4	6.7±3.5	4.8±2.5	<0.001
Problem-focused coping (score)	22.2±7.2	22.4±6.8	21.9±8.1	0.702
Seeks social support (score)	6.3±4.2	6.9±3.9	5.2±4.5	0.027
Blamed self (score)	2.3±1.9	2.3±2.0	2.1±1.8	0.626
Wishful thinking (score)	7.2±4.8	7.8±4.9	5.8±4.3	0.020
Avoidance coping (score)	7.2±4.0	7.5±4.1	6.3±3.6	0.098
Negative affect (score)	16.7±6.3	17.9±6.2	14.0±5.7	0.001
Positive affect (score)	33.6±7.5	31.8±7.4	37.4±6.4	<0.001
Number of life events	4.7±3.3	5.0±3.3	4.0±3.1	0.108
Perceived social support (score)	26.6±3.9	25.9±3.9	28.0±3.5	0.004
Fasting state (%)	15.4	12.9	20.9	0.307
Norepinephrine (pg/mL)	471±210	472±218	467±193	0.885
Tumor necrosis factor-α (pg/mL)	5.76 (4.11–7.64)	5.79 (4.12–7.70)	5.41 (4.09–7.66)	0.603
Interleukin-6 (pg/mL)	1.12 (0.80–1.67)	1.07 (0.84–1.53)	1.30 (0.75–1.86)	0.189
Interleukin-8 (pg/mL)	6.91 (4.22–9.54)	6.88 (4.15–9.11)	7.07 (4.25–10.1)	0.267
Interferon-γ (pg/mL)	1.61 (0.96–2.39)	1.59 (1.06–2.41)	1.74 (0.80–2.29)	0.348
Serum amyloid A (mg/mL)	2.44 (1.13–7.39)	2.53 (1.14–7.30)	2.09 (1.01–8.06)	0.933
C-reactive protein (mg/mL)	1.42 (0.81–3.92)	1.49 (0.85–4.16)	1.24 (0.69–3.05)	0.422
Intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ng/mL)	295 (217–489)	275 (208–486)	316 (224–490)	0.480
Vascular cellular adhesion molecule-1 (ng/mL)	541 (369–950)	545 (365–956)	539 (397–930)	0.842
Endothelin-1 (pg/mL)	1.10 (0.81–1.40)	1.08 (0.80–1.40)	1.15 (0.84–1.42)	0.514
von Willebrand Factor (%)	158 (83–270)	156 (92–269)	144 (75–287)	0.457
D-dimer (ng/mL)	630 (452–954)	671 (487–980)	613 (415–957)	0.300
Plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (ng/mL)	25.9 (15.6–43.3)	29.1 (16.7–47.8)	21.1 (12.6–33.6)	0.149

Nonnormal distribution (even after log transformation)/all biomarkers (IVs) were log transformed/shown as median (IQR) Fischer Definition?