Sociodemographic and lifestyle factors

Information on participants’ age and sex was derived from the sampling frame. The self-administered questionnaires included questions on education, smoking habits and leisure time physical activity. The participants were categorised into educational tertiles based on self-reported total years of education, considering sex and birth year to adjust for the extension of the basic education system and increase in average school years over time. Smoking status (‘a current smoker’, ‘quit < 6 months ago’, ‘quit ≥ 6 months ago’, ‘a never smoker’) was determined based on answers on smoking history. The categories of ‘quit < 6 months ago’ and ‘quit ≥ 6 months ago’ were combined into one category (‘a former smoker’). Average leisure time physical activity was inquired covering the past 12 months and assessed according to a four-level scale (‘inactive’ [light activities such as reading and watching television], ‘moderately active’ [walking, gardening or other activities ≥ 4 h/week], ‘active’ [running, swimming or other physically demanding activities ≥ 3 h/week], ‘very active’ [competition or other heavy sports several times/week]). The categories of ‘active’ and ‘very active’ were combined into one category (‘active’) due to a small number of ‘very active’ participants.

Information on the current use of lipid-lowering medication (yes or no), antihypertensive medication (never, last time today or yesterday, 2−7 days ago, one week to six months ago, 6−12 months ago, 1−5 years ago,  > 5 years ago) and diabetes medication (no medication, insulin, tablet, insulin and tablet together) was also gathered in the self-administered questionnaires. Regarding antihypertensive medication, we considered medication use within the past seven days to indicate current use. Regarding diabetes medication, we considered the use of either insulin or tablet to indicate current use.