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Table 1 Characteristics of the intervention and control groups (participants with baseline MRI measurements)

From: Brain volumes and cortical thickness on MRI in the Finnish Geriatric Intervention Study to Prevent Cognitive Impairment and Disability (FINGER)

Characteristics at baseline Total, n Intervention, n = 68 Control, n = 64 p
Demographic characteristics
 Age at the baseline visit (years) 132 70.3 69.8 0.50
 Sex (women, %) 132 29 (42.6) 33 (51.5) 0.30
 Education (years) 132 9.3 (2.9) 9.2 (2.6) 0.87
Baseline vascular factors
 Systolic blood pressure (mmHg) 129 139.6 (15.9) 139.0 (14.7) 0.83
 Diastolic blood pressure (mmHg) 129 79.4 (8.9) 78.6 (8.9) 0.61
 Fasting plasma glucose (mmol/l) 132 6.1 (0.77) 6.1 (1.03) 0.94
 Body mass index (kg/m2) 129 27.9 (3.7) 26.9 (3.4) 0.12
 History of hypertension (%) 128 46 (69.7) 36 (58.1) 0.17
 History of diabetes (%) 128 7 (10.6) 8 (12.9) 0.68
Baseline lifestyle factors
 Physical activity 2 or more times/week (%) 128 50 (73.5) 48 (80.0) 0.38
 Current smokers (%) 130 1 (1.49) 4 (6.3) 0.15
 Alcohol drinking at least once/week (%) 131 31 (45.5) 30 (47.6) 0.81
 Fish intake at least twice/week (%) 130 42 (61.8) 33 (53.2) 0.32
 Daily intake of vegetables (%) 132 47 (69.1) 41 (64.0) 0.53
*Baseline MRI measures
 Total hippocampal volume, ml 132 7.4 (4.8–9.3) 7.2 (4.7–8.7) 0.18
 Total intracranial volume, ml 132 1572.9 (1108.5–2032.7) 1545.4 (957.9–1955.9) 0.42
 AD signature cortical thickness, mm 132 2.8 (2.4–3.1) 2.7 (2.4–3.1) 0.61
 Total GM volume, ml 132 563.3 (450.7–669.7) 559.1 (420.7–695.8) 0.62
 WML volume, ml 118 10.9 (12.5) 10.9 (14.3) 0.97
Cognitive measures
 Baseline
  NTB total score 132 − 0.12 (0.49) − 0.009 (0.54) 0.22
  Executive functioning 132 − 0.02 (0.55) − 0.05 (0.60) 0.75
  Processing speed 132 − 0.15 (0.80) 0.07 (0.75) 0.10
  Memory 132 − 0.18 (0.58) − 0.01 (0.60) 0.09
 1 year follow-up
  NTB total score 130 0.04 (0.61) 0.05 (0.58) 0.95
  Executive functioning 129 0.05 (0.61) − 0.05 (0.68) 0.33
  Processing speed 130 − 0.04 (0.86) 0.07 (0.76) 0.39
  Memory 130 0.09 (0.76) 0.11 (0.68) 0.87
 2 year follow-up
  NTB total score 122 0.09 (0.67) 0.09 (0.66) 0.98
  Executive functioning 122 0.08 (0.65) − 0.006 (0.70) 0.47
  Processing speed 122 − 0.014 (0.94) 0.05 (0.85) 0.67
  Memory 122 0.17 (0.77) 0.19 (0.78) 0.88
  1. Values are means (SD) unless otherwise specified. Differences between the intervention and control groups were analyzed with chi-square and t tests as appropriate. Scores on the NTB total score, executive functioning, processing speed, memory, and abbreviated memory are mean values of Z scores of the cognitive tests included in each cognitive outcome. Higher scores indicate better performance. AD signature cortical thickness: cortical thickness in AD signature regions calculated as the average of cortical thickness in entorhinal, inferior temporal, middle temporal and fusiform regions as previously described [38]
  2. GM gray matter, WML white matter lesions, NTB neuropsychological test battery
  3. *MRI values are mean (minimum–maximum). MRI measures are based on longitudinal FreeSurfer analyses
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