| GOLD stage | p-value | |||||
| No COPD | I | II | III | IV | ||
| Subjects n | 14051 | 516 | 1564 | 457 | 108 | |
| Male n (%) | 6251 (44.5) | 313 (60.7) | 866 (55.4) | 261 (57.1) | 75 (69.4) | <0.001 |
| Age years | 54±9 | 57±10 | 57±10 | 59±9 | 62±9 | <0.001 |
| Resting heart rate beats·min−1 | 73.4±13 | 72.6±12 | 74.6±13 | 77.5±13 | 84.9±14 | <0.001 |
| Systolic blood pressure mmHg | 137±22 | 138±22 | 141±23 | 141±22 | 144±20 | <0.001 |
| Body mass index kg·m−2 | 25.5±4.2 | 24.4±3.2 | 25.1±4.2 | 25.1±4.8 | 24.6±5.1 | 0.894 |
| FEV1 % pred | 89±17 | 89±16 | 65± 8 | 42±6 | 24±5 | <0.001 |
| Sedentary physical activity | 17.6 | 21.4 | 24.3 | 31.1 | 47.7 | <0.001 |
| Smoking status | ||||||
| Never | 21.9 | 15.6 | 10.9 | 7.3 | 7.5 | <0.001 |
| Former | 19.2 | 19.9 | 12.9 | 15.4 | 34.9 | <0.001 |
| Current | 58.9 | 64.5 | 76.2 | 77.3 | 57.5 | <0.001 |
| Daily alcohol consumption | 24.3 | 32.5 | 33.6 | 34.4 | 38.3 | <0.001 |
| Cholesterol mmol·L−1 | 6.1±1.2 | 6.0±1.2 | 6.0±1.2 | 6.0±1.1 | 5.9±1.2 | 0.009 |
| Use of heart medication | 9.0 | 7.8 | 10.1 | 15.0 | 16.8 | <0.001 |
| Previous coronary heart disease | 2.2 | 1.7 | 3.0 | 2.8 | 3.7 | 0.219 |
| Previous stroke | 1.0 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 2.8 | 0.152 |
| Previous cancer | 4.1 | 2.9 | 5.4 | 5.9 | 8.3 | 0.004 |
| Diabetes | 3.1 | 1.8 | 4.2 | 5.4 | 10.6 | <0.001 |
Data are presented as mean±sd or %, unless otherwise stated. GOLD: Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease; COPD: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; FEV1: forced expiratory volume in 1 s; % pred: % predicted.