| Subjects with COPD# | Subjects without COPD¶ | |||||||
| Low | Moderate | High | p-value | Low | Moderate | High | p-value | |
| Subjects n | 248 | 654 | 368 | 1274 | 4697 | 2763 | ||
| Males | 58.9 | 53.8 | 64.4 | 0.004 | 42.4 | 37.4 | 51.0 | <0.001 |
| Age years | 56.4±9.2 | 56.4± 9.0 | 55.6±10.6 | 0.435 | 50.3±11.9 | 49.4±12.0 | 46.0±13.4*,+ | <0.001 |
| Marital status | 0.025 | 0.025 | ||||||
| Married/cohabiting | 61.3 | 69.7 | 70.9 | 61.3 | 69.7 | 70.9 | ||
| Other | 38.7 | 30.3 | 29.1 | 38.7 | 30.3 | 29.1 | ||
| Cohabitation | 0.579 | 0.014 | ||||||
| Alone | 34.3 | 31.5 | 34.2 | 31.3 | 28.9 | 31.9 | ||
| With others | 65.7 | 68.5 | 65.8 | 68.7 | 71.1 | 68.1 | ||
| Education years at school | 8.0±1.8 | 8.3±1.9* | 8.7±2.1*,+ | <0.001 | 8.4±2.0 | 9.0±2.1* | 9.4±2.3*,+ | <0.001 |
| BMI kg·m−2 | 24.8±3.9 | 24.7±3.8 | 24.4±3.4 | 0.400 | 26.0±4.6 | 25.1±4.0* | 24.6±3.7*,+ | <0.001 |
| <20 | 8.5 | 8.9 | 10.3 | 0.878 | 5.8 | 6.7 | 6.8 | <0.001 |
| 20–25 | 49.2 | 48.9 | 50.0 | 39.8 | 48.7 | 53.8 | ||
| >25 | 42.3 | 42.2 | 39.7 | 54.4 | 44.5 | 39.4 | ||
| FEV1 L | 1.9±0.7 | 2.0±0.7* | 2.3±0.8*,+ | <0.001 | 2.7±0.8 | 2.8±0.8* | 3.2±0.9*,+ | <0.001 |
| FEV1 % predicted | 61.5±17.8 | 66.9±17.9* | 70.8±18.2*,+ | <0.001 | 87.8±15.9 | 90.7±15.4* | 92.7±15.0*,+ | <0.001 |
| FEV1/FVC % | 61.7±7.7 | 63.3±6.8* | 63.4±6.5* | 0.005 | 83.3±7.5 | 83.3±6.8 | 83.5±6.5 | 0.469 |
| GOLD stage | 0.000 | |||||||
| I | 18.5 | 23.2 | 30.2 | |||||
| II | 54.8 | 58.6 | 57.1 | |||||
| III | 22.6 | 15.9 | 11.4 | |||||
| IV | 4.0 | 2.3 | 1.4 | |||||
| Self-reported symptoms and comorbidities | ||||||||
| Diabetes | 1.2 | 0.3 | 0.8 | 0.268 | 3.8 | 2.3 | 1.9 | 0.001 |
| Cardiac comorbidities | 32.7 | 34.1 | 29.1 | 0.256 | 33.0 | 26.8 | 22.9 | <0.001 |
| Chest pain | 41.9 | 36.7 | 37.9 | 0.403 | 38.5 | 32.9 | 32.3 | 0.001 |
| Leg pain | 15.3 | 12.7 | 8.2 | 0.005 | 17.6 | 9.7 | 7.2 | <0.001 |
| Smokers | 84.3 | 79.2 | 75.3 | 0.007 | 62.1 | 55.3 | 50.6 | <0.001 |
| Smoking years | 36.5±10.4 | 34.1±11.6* | 33.8±12.0* | 0.010 | 26.7±12.3 | 24.9±12.7* | 22.9±12.8*,+ | <0.001 |
Data are presented as % or mean±sd, unless otherwise stated. The first examination may be different for each subject (Copenhagen City Heart Study examination 1, 2 or 3). COPD: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; BMI: body mass index; FEV1: forced expiratory volume in 1 s; FVC: forced vital capacity; GOLD: Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease. #: n = 1270; ¶: n = 8734; *: p<0.05 versus low physical activity level; +: p<0.05 versus moderate physical activity level.