Association of Leukocyte Telomere Length with Fatigue in Nondisabled Older Adults
Table 1
Descriptive statistics of the study population, including data on mean LTL, fatigue and lifestyle, mental health and somatic disease covariates.
Characteristics
Total ()
Female ()
Male ()
value (sex diff.)
LTL (in kb)
Mean (SD)
4.59
4.67
4.47
0.005*
Fatigue score
Mean (SD)
5.35
5.29
5.46
0.170
0
(%)
4 (0.9%)
4 (1.4%)
0 (0.0%)
1
(%)
3 (0.7%)
3 (1.0%)
0 (0.0%)
2
(%)
17 (3.9%)
11 (3.7%)
6 (4.1%)
3
(%)
21 (4.8%)
15 (5.1%)
6 (4.1%)
4
(%)
29 (6.6%)
19 (6.5%)
10 (6.9%)
5
(%)
58 (13.2%)
42 (14.3%)
16 (11.0%)
6
(%)
307 (69.9%)
200 (68.0%)
107 (73.8%)
Age
Mean(SD)
78.4
78.5
78.1
0.334
Zygosity
MZ (%)
204 (46.5%)
138 (46.9%)
66 (45.5%)
DZ (%)
235 (53.5%)
156 (53.1%)
79 (54.5%)
Smoking
Never (%)
154 (35.1%)
129 (43.9%)
25 (17.2%)
Former (%)
155 (35.3%)
86 (29.3%)
69 (47.6%)
Current (%)
139 (29.6%)
79 (26.9%)
51 (35.2%)
BMI
Mean (SD)
24.13
23.65
25.09
<0.001*
<18.5
(%)
25 (5.7%)
23 (7.8%)
2 (1.4%)
18.5–24.9
(%)
236 (53.8%)
174 (59.2%)
62 (42.8%)
25–29.9
(%)
157 (35.8%)
80 (27.2%)
77 (53.1%)
>30
(%)
17(3.9%)
13 (4.4%)
4 (2.8%)
Physical activity
Mean (SD)
2.52
2.52
2.52
0.979
0
(%)
62 (14.1%)
43 (14.6%)
19 (13.1%)
1
(%)
14 (3.2%)
9 (3.1%)
5 (3.4%)
2
(%)
152 (34.6%)
98 (33.3%)
54 (37.2%)
3
(%)
55 (12.9%)
40 (13.6%)
15 (10.3%)
4
(%)
156 (35.5%)
104 (35.4%)
52 (35.8%)
Cognitive comp.
Mean (SD)
1.46
1.63
1.11
0.113
Depression sympt.
Mean (SD)
20.76
20.87
20.54
0.434
Rheumatic disease
No
283
172
115
Yes (%)
156 (35.5%)
122 (41.5%)
34 (23.4%)
CVD
No
280
182
98
Yes (%)
159 (36.2%)
112 (38.1%)
47 (32.4%)
Cancer
No
389
258
131
Yes (%)
50 (11.4%)
36 (12.2%)
14 (9.7%)
Diabetes
No
419
280
139
Yes (%)
20 (4.6%)
14 (4.8%)
6 (4.1%)
Significant difference between sexes. The value for sex-differences has been adjusted for age. LTL: leukocyte telomere length; CVD: cardiovascular disease; MZ: monozygotic twins; DZ: dizygotic twins.
