Baseline characteristics of the study population across included cohorts
| DCH | SNAC-K | SALT | MDC | PPS | Total | |
| Enrolment area | Copenhagen, Aarhus | Stockholm city | Stockholm county | Malmö | Gothenburg | |
| Total participants, N | 47 310 | 1157 | 5891 | 19 350 | 4681 | 78 389 |
| Recruitment period | 1993–1997 | 2001–2004 | 1998–2002 | 1991–1996 | 1970–1973 | |
| Follow-up time (years) | 20.3 (6.2–22.0) | 13.4 (0.9–15.3) | 16.2 (3.5–18.6) | 21.1 (7.8–23.2) | 29.5 (15.4–39.8) | 20.2 (6.2–23.7) |
| Stroke cases, N | 4375 | 120 | 524 | 1672 | 1086 | 7777 |
| Men, % | 47.7 | 40.1 | 45.2 | 40.4 | 100 | 48.7 |
| Age at inclusion | 55.9 (50.7–64.1) | 66.1 (60.2–87.6) | 56.1 (44.3–78.8) | 56.3 (47.1–67.1) | 51.2 (47.6–54.4) | 55.6 (48.3–65.6) |
| Educational level, % | ||||||
| Low | 24.7 | 19.3 | 25.3 | 62.7 | 68.8 | 34.0 |
| Medium | 50.3 | 36.9 | 36.3 | 19.4 | 20.2 | 41.8 |
| High | 25.0 | 43.8 | 38.4 | 18.0 | 11.0 | 24.3 |
| Marital status, % | ||||||
| Married/Cohabiting | 77.1 | 53.4 | 67.8 | 67.7 | 86.2 | 75.1 |
| Area-level income, % | ||||||
| First quartile | 33.7 | 2.4 | 6.9 | 20.1 | 25.8 | 28.3 |
| Second quartile | 22.5 | 0 | 10.3 | 19.3 | 22.1 | 20.7 |
| Third quartile | 17.0 | 0 | 18.5 | 27.2 | 24.6 | 19.1 |
| Fourth quartile | 26.8 | 97.6 | 64.4 | 33.5 | 27.5 | 32.0 |
| Smoking status, % | ||||||
| Current | 35.8 | 18.5 | 20.3 | 28.2 | 39.6 | 33.3 |
| Former | 28.5 | 40.2 | 36.4 | 33.7 | 33.2 | 30.5 |
| Never | 35.7 | 41.4 | 43.4 | 38.1 | 27.2 | 36.3 |
| Physical activity, % | ||||||
| Low | 51.1 | 71.8 | 54.3 | 50.8 | 24.9 | 49.8 |
| Medium | 19.9 | 21.9 | 36.6 | 21.8 | 58.8 | 24.3 |
| High | 29.0 | 6.3 | 9.1 | 27.4 | 16.3 | 25.9 |
| BMI | 25.5 (20.5–33.1) | 25.3 (20.1–32.4) | 24.2 (19.6–30.7) | 25.0 (20.2–32.4) | 25.1 (20.7–30.5) | 25.3 (20.3–32.7) |
| Smoking intensity, g/day*† | 14.9 (3.9–34.0) | 7.5 (1.3–20.0) | 13.0 (3.0–30.0) | 15.0 (2.0–30.0) | – | 14.6 (3.0–33.3) |
| Missing, % | 1.8 | 1.3 | 0 | 0 | – | 1.5 |
| Alcohol intake, %† | ||||||
| Daily | 19.9 | 10.2 | 9.0 | 18.7 | Missing | 17.3 |
| Weekly | 60.1 | 55.2 | 63.8 | 36.9 | Missing | 52.5 |
| Seldom | 17.3 | 29.3 | 24.5 | 30.4 | Missing | 19.0 |
| Never | 2.6 | 5.2 | 2.7 | 13.0 | Missing | 4.2 |
| Missing | 0.06 | 0 | 0.03 | 1.1 | 100 | 7.1 |
Median and 5–95 percentiles, unless otherwise stated.
*Among smokers.
†Only available for a subpopulation of the entire cohort.
BMI, body mass index; DCH, Diet, Cancer and Health; MDC, Malmö Diet and Cancer Study; PPS, Primary Prevention Study; SALT, Stockholm part of the Screening Across the Lifespan Twin Study; SNAC-K, Swedish National Study of Aging and Care in Kungsholmen.