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Table 1 Comparisons of anthropometrics (means) and percentages reporting symptoms and diseases between responders to the main questionnaires (Q1 or Q2) and the nonparticipation questionnaire (QNP)

From: The HUNT study: participation is associated with survival and depends on socioeconomic status, diseases and symptoms

  Women Men
  Q1 QNP p Q1 + QNP  Q1 QNP p Q1 + QNP 
Number invited ¤ 47 293 19 004    46 567 23020   
Number participated 27 758 3241   30 999 23 049 3677   26 726
Percent of invited to HUNT3 58.7 6.9   65.6 49.5 7.9   57.4
Height (cm) # 164.6 166.3 <0.01 164.7 177.8 179.6 <0.01 178.0
Weight (kg) # 72.9 71.5 <0.01 72.8 86.9 86.7 0.51 86.8
BMI (kg/m2) # 26.9 25.8 <0.01 26.8 27.5 26.9 <0.01 27.4
General practitioner last 12 months 83.9 84.6 0.30 83.9 74.5 74.2 0.74 74.4
Hospitalized last year 12.4 20.1 <0.01 13.1 10.9 14.0 <0.01 11.3
Current health poor or very poor 28.4 29.6 0.20 28.5 23.4 24.1 0.36 23.5
Mental distress £ 7.9 12.1 <0.01 8.3 6.3 9.4 <0.01 6.8
Insomnia many evenings a week 14.8 16.2 0.03 15.0 7.5 10.2 <0.01 8.0
Wake up early in the morning many days a week 12.2 11.9 0.66 12.1 9.6 8.2 <0.01 9.4
Chronic disease limiting daily functions 33.9 33.9 1.00 33.9 32.4 27.9 <0.01 31.8
Daily cough in periods (Q2) 19.1 20.7 0.04 19.3 22.6 20.3 <0.01 22.2
Attacks of wheezing or breathlessness 12.4 11.3 0.09 12.3 12.3 12.2 0.95 12.3
Allergic rhinitis (Q2) 23.1 25.3 <0.01 23.4 18.7 21.8 <0.01 19.2
Heartburn (a lot) (Q2) 7.1 4.4 <0.01 6.7 7.2 4.8 <0.01 6.8
Headache (Q2) 42.1 44.7 <0.01 42.4 27.8 27.3 0.51 27.7
Migraine (Q2) 10.9 11.8 0.09 11.0 5.0 5.3 0.45 5.0
Musculoskeletal pain of more than 3 months 54.6 41.9 <0.01 53.0 45.1 31.6 <0.01 42.9
Urine incontinence (Q2) 26.8 20.6 <0.01 26.1 8.7 5.2 <0.01 8.2
Medication for arterial hypertension 20.5 24.9 <0.01 20.8 21.4 23.8 <0.01 21.7
Myocardial infarction 1.6 3.1 <0.01 1.7 5.2 6.9 <0.01 5.4
Angina pectoris 2.5 3.2 0.04 2.7 4.8 5.9 0.01 5.0
Cerebral insult 2.2 3.5 <0.01 2.3 3.0 3.7 0.03 3.1
Renal disease 2.6 3.9 <0.01 2.7 2.5 3.8 <0.01 2.7
Asthma 10.4 10.9 0.39 10.4 9.4 10.5 0.04 9.5
COPD or chronic bronchitis 3.3 3.9 0.14 3.3 3.4 5.3 <0.01 3.7
Diabetes 3.8 5.7 <0.01 4.0 4.9 6.6 <0.01 5.2
Cancer 5.6 5.6 0.94 5.6 4.9 4.6 0.55 4.8
Osteoporosis 5.3 5.9 0.20 5.3 0.7 1.1 0.03 0.8
Fibromyalgia 6.3 7.4 0.03 6.4 0.8 1.3 <0.01 0.9
Arthrosis 18.8 21.4 <0.01 19.0 10.3 11.9 0.01 10.5
Sought help for mental problem 16.9 20.6 <0.01 17.7 9.9 11.7 <0.01 10.1
Hyperthyreosis 2.8 3.0 0.56 2.8 0.9 0.5 0.05 0.8
Hypothyreosis 9.3 10.0 0.30 9.4 2.3 1.8 0.06 2.2
Never-smoker § 47.3 44.4 <0.01 47.0 44.3 41.1 <0.01 43.8
Ex-smoker 27.4 26.1 0.13 27.3 35.2 31.1 <0.01 34.6
Occasional smoker 9.4 9.3 0.92 9.4 9.7 9.2 0.38 9.6
Daily smoker 20.6 20.2 0.59 20.6 16.9 18.7 <0.01 17.1
Daily use of snuff 1.2 1.9 <0.01 1.3 13.8 17.0 <0.01 14.3
Alcohol > 2-3 times a week 12.0 9.5 <0.01 11.3 18.8 17.8 0.16 18.6
Exercise > 2-3 times a week 20.5 14.0 <0.01 19.8 17.3 13.9 <0.01 16.9
  1. Questions from Q2 are marked.
  2. ¤ Invited to QNP, persons having died or emigrated between HUNT3 and QNP are excluded.
  3. # Height and weight measured at the screening stations, self-reported in QNP.
  4. § Questions on tobacco smoking; included in n if answered at least one of the smoking related questions.
  5. £ CONOR Mental Health Index (CONOR MHI) consists of 7 questions on mental distress with score 1-4. Mean score calculated and cut-off for dichotomization was ≥ 2.15.
  6. Corresponding data stratified by age and sex are given in Table S1 and Table S2.
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BMC Medical Research Methodology

ISSN: 1471-2288

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