Table 1 Characteristics of participants aged 50 years and older in NHANES 2011–14 based on serum zinc concentration tertile (total n = 1136)
Variables+ | Low Zn tertile (N = 404) | Middle Zn tertile (N = 380) | High Zn tertile (N = 352) | P value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mean Zn level (+/−SE) (μg/mL)§ | 0.67 (±0.01) | 0.81 (±0.01) | 0.98 (±0.01) | |
range | 0.409–0.748 | 0.749–0.870 | 0.872–1.698 | |
Basic physical functioning difficulty | 0.036 | |||
Yes (n = 283) | 102 (34.2%) | 105 (40.0%) | 76 (25.8%) | |
No (n = 853) | 302 (33.8%) | 275 (30.7%) | 276 (35.5%) | |
Age (+/− SE) years | 67.3+/− 0.5 | 66.9+/− 0.7 | 66.1+/− 0.4 | 0.186 |
(95% CI) | (66.2–68.4) | (65.5–68.4) | (65.4–66.9) | |
Sex | 0.016 | |||
Male (n = 561) | 203 (32.5%) | 172 (27.2%) | 186 (40.4%) | |
Female (n = 575) | 201 (35.2%) | 208 (37.7%) | 166 (27.1%) | |
BMI | ||||
Under (n = 19) | 6 (15.8%)+ | 10 (69.1%)+ | 3 (15.1%)+ | 0.031 |
Normal (n = 301) | 108 (35.1%) | 98 (33.3%) | 95 (31.6%) | |
Overweight (n = 400) | 131 (29.5%) | 136(33.0%) | 133 (37.4%) | |
Obese (n = 416) | 159 (38.6%) | 136(30.2%) | 121 (31.2%) | |
Race/ethnicity | 0.516 | |||
Non-Hispanic White (n = 533) | 186 (33.7%) | 174(32.0%) | 173 (34.3%) | |
Non-Hispanic Black (n = 261) | 102 (39.3%) | 87 (31.4%) | 72 (29.3%) | |
Others (n = 342) | 116 (31.8%) | 119 (37.6%) | 107 (30.6%) | |
Education | 0.786 | |||
< High school (n = 352) | 125 (31.6%) | 118(37.0%) | 109 (31.5%) | |
= High school (n = 253) | 87 (34.0%) | 83 (31.8%) | 83 (34.2%) | |
> High school (n = 531) | 192 (34.6%) | 179 (31.7%) | 160 (33.7%) | |
Heath insurance | 0.599 | |||
Yes (n = 1001) | 361 (34.5%) | 339 (32.6%) | 301 (32.9%) | |
No (n = 135) | 43(28.8%) | 41 (33.4%) | 51 (37.8%) | |
Drinker | 0.225 | |||
Yes (n = 605) | 202 (33.6%) | 219 (34.7%) | 184 (31.7%) | |
No (n = 531) | 202 (34.4%) | 161 (29.5%) | 168 (36.1%) | |
Smoking | 0.483 | |||
Never (n = 541) | 208 (36.5%) | 179 (32.0%) | 154 (31.5%) | |
Former (n = 410) | 128 (30.6%) | 143 (33.9%) | 139 (35.6%) | |
Current (n = 185) | 68 (34.2%) | 58 (31.9%) | 59 (33.9%) | |
Physical activity | 0.528 | |||
Yes (n = 405) | 134 (31.8%) | 135 (32.4%) | 136 (35.8%) | |
No (n = 731) | 270 (35.3%) | 245 (32.9%) | 216 (31.8%) | |
Diabetes | 0.252 | |||
Yes (n = 277) | 93 (30.7%) | 89 (29.8%) | 95 (39.5%) | |
No (n = 859) | 311 (34.8%) | 291 (33.5%) | 257(31.7%) | |
Serum albumin+ | < 0.01 between groups | |||
(mean +/− SE) (gm/dL) | 4.11+/−0.02 | 4.23+/−0.02 | 4.32+/−0.02 | |
(95% CI) | (4.07–4.14) | (4.19–4.27) | (4.27–4.37) | |
Hemoglobin | < 0.001 | |||
(mean +/− SE) (gm/dL) | 13.6+/−0.1 | 14.0+/− 0.1 | 14.1+/− 0.1 | |
(95% CI) | (13.4–13.8) | (13.8–14.1) | (14.1–14.6) | |