2.5. Assessment of other covariates

A valid and reliable questionnaire was used to assess the socioeconomic status (SES; Mozaffari et al., ²⁰¹⁹). The questionnaire considered occupation, education, vehicle and house ownership, modern household appliances, the number of rooms and family members, and trips through the previous year. For other covariates, a demographic questionnaire was used, which considered age, marital, and smoking status. Participants were asked about chronic diseases such as diabetes, hyperlipidemia, myocardial infarction, hypertension, stroke, angina, and thyroid disease. They were also asked about their drugs such as heart disease drugs, diabetes drugs, and lipid‐lowering and thyroid drugs.

Participants were asked to be seated for about 10 minutes, and blood pressure (BP) was measured twice within a one‐minute interval. Their bladders were emptied. Moreover, no caffeinated beverages consumed and no exercises were done within 1 h before the measurement. The average time for activities was presented as (MET‐h/week).