| Characteristic | Men (n = 1759)* | Women (n = 2665)* |
| Age (y) | 71.2 (66.6–76.4) | 72.5 (67.1–78.7) |
| Systolic blood pressure (mm Hg) | 142 (129–157) | 142 (128–156) |
| Intima–media thickness (mm) | 0.89 (0.80–0.99) | 0.83 (0.75–0.93) |
| MMSE score | 28 (27–29) | 28 (27–29) |
| Diabetes mellitus | 266 (15%) | 346 (13%) |
| Cigarette smoking (ever) | 1546 (88%) | 1314 (49%) |
| Cigarette smoking (current) | 314 (18%) | 414 (16%) |
| History of myocardial infarction | 304 (17%) | 189 (7%) |
| History of PTCA or CABG | 167 (9%) | 83 (3%) |
| History of TIA | 107 (6%) | 156 (6%) |
| Antithrombotic drug use | 476 (27%) | 535 (20%) |
| Antihypertensive drug use | 654 (37%) | 1051 (39%) |
| Cholesterol lowering drug use | 224 (13%) | 294 (11%) |
| Psycholeptic drug use | 143 (8%) | 526 (20%) |
| Psychoanaleptic drug use | 35 (2%) | 102 (4%) |
*Values are presented as median (interquartile range) or number (%).
CABG, coronary artery bypass graft; MMSE, Mini-Mental State Examination; PTCA, percutaneous transluminal angioplasty; TIA, transient ischaemic attack.