| Risk factor at baseline | Men, n | Mean (SD) or % |
| Age, years | 3122 | 41.6 (11.1) |
| Educational attainment | ||
| High | 1677 | 53.8 |
| Intermediate | 892 | 28.6 |
| Low | 547 | 17.6 |
| Social class | ||
| Professional and higher manager | 632 | 23.3 |
| Technical, lower management | 727 | 26.8 |
| Non-manual | 239 | 8.8 |
| Skilled manual | 496 | 18.3 |
| Unskilled manual | 623 | 22.9 |
| Supervisory status | ||
| Yes | 702 | 22.7 |
| No | 2386 | 77.3 |
| Mean income per year, 1000 | 3104 | 253.11 (137.98) |
| Swedish kronor | ||
| Perceived physical load at work (proxy quartiles) | ||
| 0–1 | 790 | 25.1 |
| 2–4 | 822 | 26.1 |
| 5–6 | 558 | 17.7 |
| 7–14 | 976 | 31.0 |
| Physical exercise | ||
| Never or very little | 785 | 24.9 |
| Now and then | 1153 | 36.5 |
| Regularly | 1221 | 38.7 |
| Smoking status | ||
| Never smoker | 1417 | 46.4 |
| Ex-smoker | 894 | 29.3 |
| Current | 742 | 24.3 |
| Body mass index, kg/m2 | 3119 | 25.2 (3.3) |
| Systolic blood pressure, mm Hg | 3118 | 123 (14) |
| Diastolic blood pressure, mm Hg | 3118 | 75 (10) |
| Total cholesterol, mmol/l | 3122 | 5.48 (1.15) |
| Total:HDL cholesterol ratio | 3121 | 4.29 (1.45) |
| Triglycerides, mmol/l | 3122 | 1.40 (1.02) |
| Fibrinogen, mmol/l | 3121 | 2.69 (0.73) |
| Diabetes | 3100 | 1.4 |
HDL, high density lipoprotein.