Table 1

Baseline characteristics of participants in each study

MenWomen
Malawi (rural)Malawi (urban)UgandaEXTENDEFSMalawi (rural)Malawi (urban)UgandaEXTENDEFS
n45343988217726469525894719224244641507
Age (years)*33283758323429435531
(24–46)(22–39)(25–51)(44–67)(29–36)(25–48)(22–37)(30–56)(43–65)(29–35)
BMI (kg/m2)†21.522.320.726.726.223.225.022.325.724.4
(21.3 to 21.6)(22.2 to 22.4)(20.6 to 20.9)(26.5 to 26.8)(26.0 to 26.5)(23.1 to 23.3)(24.9 to 25.1)(22.2 to 22.5)(25.6 to 25.8)(24.1 to 24.8)
BMI category‡
Underweight
(BMI <18.5)
9.27.016.50.40.66.13.611.01.31.6
(8.4 to 10.1)(6.3 to 7.9)(15.0 to 18.1)(0.2 to 0.7)(0.3 to 1.4)(5.5 to 6.7)(3.2 to 4.1)(9.8 to 12.3)(1.0 to 1.6)(0.8 to 3.1)
Healthy weight
(BMI 18.5–25)
81.173.776.533.434.865.851.066.047.261.3
(80.0 to 82.2)(72.3 to 75.0)(74.7 to 78.3)(31.6 to 35.2)(31.8 to 37.9)(64.6 to 67.0)(49.9 to 52.2)(64.1 to 67.9)(45.8 to 48.7)(57.0 to 65.5)
Overweight
(BMI 25–30)
8.615.26.346.747.920.126.917.333.025.8
(7.8 to 9.5)(14.2 to 16.4)(5.4 to 7.4)(44.8 to 48.6)(44.7 to 51.1)(19.1 to 21.1)(25.8 to 27.9)(15.9 to 18.9)(31.7 to 34.4)(22.2 to 29.8)
Obese
(BMI >30)
1.04.00.719.516.78.018.55.718.511.2
(0.8 to 1.4)(3.5 to 4.7)(0.4 to 1.2)(18.0 to 21.1)(14.5 to 19.2)(7.4 to 8.8)(17.6 to 19.4)(4.8 to 6.7)(17.4 to 19.7)(8.8 to 14.3)
Waist circumference (cm)†77.277.775.693.991.380.279.278.082.482.2
(76.9 to 77.6)(77.4 to 78.0)(75.3 to 76.1)(93.4 to 94.3)(90.6 to 92.0)(80.0 to 80.5)(79.0 to 79.4)(77.6 to 78.4)(82.1 to 82.7)(81.3 to 83.0)
Waist to hip ratio†0.860.840.850.920.880.850.800.830.810.81
(0.86 to 0.86)(0.84 to 0.84)(0.85 to 0.86)(0.91 to 0.92)(0.87 to 0.88)(0.85 to 0.85)(0.80 to 0.80)(0.83 to 0.83)(0.80 to 0.81)(0.80 to 0.81)
Systolic blood pressure (mm Hg)†123.3127.0125.5133.6118.0120.5123.8125.5
(122.9 to 123.8)(126.5 to 127.5)(124.7 to 126.1)(133.0 to 134.3)(117.7 to 118.4)(120.2 to 120.9)(123.2 to 124.6)(125.1 to 126.0)
Diastolic blood pressure (mm Hg)†72.273.074.778.272.373.375.973.0
(72.0 to 72.5)(72.7 to 73.3)(74.3 to 75.1)(77.8 to 78.6)(72.1 to 72.6)(73.0 to 73.5)(75.5 to 76.3)(72.7 to 73.3)
Currently smoke‡12.98.421.26.827.50.20.22.95.5
(11.9 to 13.9)(7.6 to 9.3)(19.5 to 23.0)(5.8 to 7.7)(24.6 to 30.6)(0.1 to 0.3)(0.1 to 0.3)(2.3 to 3.7)(4.9 to 6.3)
Consumes alcohol daily‡2.22.08.60.00.10.12.30.0
(1.8 to 2.7)(1.5 to 2.4)(7.5 to 9.9)(0.0 to 0.0)(0.0 to 0.1)(0.0 to 0.2)(1.7 to 3.0)(0.0 to 0.0)
  • *Median (IQR).

  • †Geometric mean (95% CI).

  • ‡Percentage (95% CI).

  • –, data that were unavailable; BMI, body mass index; EFS, Exeter Family Study; EXTEND, Exeter 10,000 cohort.