Table 1 Baseline characteristics of participants

No. of subjects

88

119

104

Age, mean (SD), year

66.12 (13.66)

67.04 (11.67)

68.80 (10.50)

0.281

BMI, mean (SD), kg/m²

22.75 (3.15)

23.15 (2.55)

22.99 (2.81)

0.595

HDL, mean (SD), mmol/L

1.45 (0.44)

1.42 (0.35)

1.43 (0.44)

0.837

LDL, mean (SD), mmol/L

2.53 (0.83)

2.61 (0.83)

2.55 (1.24)

0.810

TG, median (min–max), mmol/L

1.55 (0.03–6.22)

1.58 (0.04–7.61)

1.94 (0.03–6.99)

0.349

TC, mean (SD), µumol/L

4.56 (1.54)

4.27 (1.35)

4.45 (1.35)

0.302

FPG, mean (SD), mmol/L

5.32 (1.29)

5.27 (0.99)

8.45 (3.75)

< 0.001

HCY, mean (SD), µumol/L

13.53 (6.19)

16.11 (10.10)

13.25 (4.09)

0.007

Cr, mean (SD), µumol/L

77.50 (22.90)

77.71 (22.02)

79.33 (41.22)

0.894

BUN, mean (SD), mmol/L

6.08 (2.22)

6.26 (2.35)

6.67 (2.81)

0.240

UA, mean (SD), µumol/L

331.51 (118.72)

334.51 (113.32)

319.11 (99.52)

0.558

hs-CRP, median (min–max), mg/L

3.33 (0.21–704.00)

1.20 (0.15–84.24)

5.80 (0.04–85.69)

 < 0.001

MOCA, mean (SD)

24.41 (2.17)

24.50 (2.21)

24.21 (2.35)

0.618

Sex, n (%)

0.741

 Male

56 (63.64%)

73 (61.34%)

69 (66.35%)

 Female

32 (36.36%)

46 (38.66%)

35 (33.65%)

Cognitive impairment, n (%)

0.780

 No

53 (60.23%)

76 (63.87%)

62 (59.62%)

 Yes

35 (39.77%)

43 (36.13%)

42 (40.38%)

Education, n (%)

0.843

 Undergraduate, college or above

3 (3.41%)

2 (1.68%)

5 (4.81%)

 High school (including technical secondary school)

4 (4.55%)

9 (7.56%)

6 (5.77%)

 Junior high school

17 (19.32%)

24 (20.17%)

23 (22.12%)

 Primary school

36 (40.91%)

51 (42.86%)

46 (44.23%)

 Illiteracy

28 (31.82%)

33 (27.73%)

24 (23.08%)

Smoking status, n (%)

0.339

 Never-smoker

55 (62.50%)

86 (72.27%)

77 (74.04%)

 Past smoker who has quit

14 (15.91%)

16 (13.45%)

15 (14.42%)

 Current smoker

19 (21.59%)

17 (14.29%)

12 (11.54%)

Alcohol consumption, n (%)

0.014

 Yes

30 (34.09%)

20 (16.81%)

23 (22.12%)

 No

58 (65.91%)

99 (83.19%)

81 (77.88%)

Hypertension, n (%)

0.388

 Yes

55 (62.50%)

65 (54.62%)

65 (62.50%)

 No

33 (37.50%)

54 (45.38%)

39 (37.50%)

Diabetes mellitus, n (%)

 < 0.001

 Yes

2 (2.27%)

7 (5.88%)

49 (47.12%)

 No

86 (97.73%)

112 (94.12%)

55 (52.88%)

Hyperlipidemia, n (%)

0.633

 Yes

2 (2.27%)

4 (3.36%)

5 (4.81%)

 No

86 (97.73%)

115 (96.64%)

99 (95.19%)

Atrial fibrillation, n (%)

0.674

 Yes

2 (2.27%)

3 (2.52%)

1 (0.96%)

 No

86 (97.73%)

116 (97.48%)

103 (99.04%)

mRS score, n (%)

0.080

 1

7 (7.95%)

22 (18.49%)

9 (8.65%)

 2

69 (78.41%)

81 (68.07%)

82 (78.85%)

 3

10 (11.36%)

15 (12.61%)

9 (8.65%)

 4

0 (0.00%)

1 (0.84%)

0 (0.00%)

 5

2 (2.27%)

0 (0.00%)

4 (3.85%)

NIHSS score, n (%)

0.514

 0

13 (14.77%)

19 (15.97%)

8 (7.69%)

 1

21 (23.86%)

33 (27.73%)

33 (31.73%)

 2

29 (32.95%)

37 (31.09%)

38 (36.54%)

 3

25 (28.41%)

30 (25.21%)

25 (24.04%)