Comparison of covariates and blood pressure between included and excluded active workers
| Population characteristics | Included, N=63 800 | Excluded, N=55 298 | P value |
| Age (years), Mean (SD) | 41.3 (10.5) | 41.8 (10.3) | <0.01 |
| Female, N (%) | 37 836 (59.3) | 29 782 (53.9) | <0.01 |
| BMI (kg/m2), mean (SD) | 25.7 (4.2) | 26.0 (4.2) | <0.01 |
| Education | <0.01 | ||
| Low, N (%) | 7983 (12.5) | 6715 (12.2) | |
| Medium, N(%) | 33 404 (52.4) | 30 349 (54.9) | |
| High, N (%) | 21 418 (33.6) | 17 338 (31.4) | |
| Unclassifiable, N (%) | 944 (1.5) | 846 (1.5) | |
| Monthly income | <0.01 | ||
| Low, N (%) | 8668 (13.7) | 7263 (13.2) | |
| Medium, N (%) | 16 405 (25.9) | 13 432 (24.5) | |
| High, N (%) | 30 132 (47.6) | 26 902 (49.0) | |
| Unknown, N (%) | 8158 (12.9) | 7259 (13.2) | |
| Alcohol consumption (gram/per day), mean (SD) | 6.4 (8.9) | 6.8 (8.9) | <0.01 |
| Pack-years in ever smokers, median (IQR) | 8.4 (12.5) | 8.0 (11.6) | <0.01 |
| Smoking | <0.01 | ||
| Never smokers, N (%) | 29 886 (49.0) | 24 594 (46.5) | |
| Ex-smokers, N (%) | 18 348 (30.1) | 16 467 (31.2) | |
| Current smokers, N (%) | 12 759 (20.9) | 11 780 (22.3) | |
| Antihypertensive drugs, N (%) | 4617 (7.3) | 4342 (7.9) | <0.01 |
| Job strain (predicted probabilities), median (IQR) | 0.21 (0.18) | — | — |
| Effort-reward imbalance (predicted probabilities), median (IQR) | 0.04 (0.08) | — | — |
| Emotional demands, median (range) | 2.31 (0–5) | — | — |
| Systolic blood pressure, mean (SD) | 123.8 (14.3) | 124.4 (14.4) | <0.01 |
| Diastolic blood pressure, mean (SD) | 73.3 (9.3) | 73.8 (9.4) | <0.01 |
| Hypertension, N (%) | 12 541 (19.7) | 11 560 (20.9) | <0.01 |
Education: low education (no training, primary education, lower or prevocational education); medium education (general secondary education, secondary vocational or professional guiding, preuniversity education); high education (higher professional or university degree); unclassifiable (participants with other than above-mentioned education).
Monthly income: low income (monthly net income ≤ €1500); medium income (monthly net income between €1500 and €2500); high income (monthly net income ≥ €2500); unknown (I don’t know/I don’t want to say).
Smoking: never smokers (never smoked or smoked for <1 year); ex-smokers (smoked for ≥1 year and stopped smoking for ≥1 month); current smokers (current smoker or stopped smoking <1 month).
Alcohol consumption: alcohol intake was measured in grams of alcohol consumed per day and was evaluated based on the Lifelines 110-item Food-Frequency Questionnaire, which assessed food intake over the previous month.
BMI, body mass index.