Baseline clinical characteristics of the participants
| Syrians (n=137) | North West England (n=136) | P value | ||||
| N | % | N | % | |||
| Sex | Male | 75 | 54.70% | 71 | 52.20% | 0.674 |
| Female | 62 | 45.30% | 65 | 47.80% | ||
| Age group | ≥ 40 | 58 | 42.30% | 64 | 47.10% | 0.433 |
| ≤ 39 | 79 | 57.70% | 72 | 53.90% | ||
| Ethnicity | White | 7 | 5.10% | 116 | 85.30% | <0.001*** |
| Indian | 0 | 0.00% | 4 | 2.90% | ||
| Pakistani | 0 | 0.00% | 1 | 0.70% | ||
| Bangladeshi | 0 | 0.00% | 1 | 0.70% | ||
| Other Asian | 3 | 2.20% | 3 | 2.20% | ||
| Caribbean | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | ||
| Black African | 0 | 0.00% | 2 | 1.50% | ||
| Others | 118 | 86.10% | 3 | 2.20% | ||
| Not stated | 9 | 6.60% | 6 | 4.40% | ||
| Smoking | Non-smoker | 57 | 41.60% | 107 | 78.70% | <0.001* |
| Ex-smoker | 8 | 5.80% | 10 | 7.40% | ||
| Heavy | 17 | 12.40% | 3 | 2.20% | ||
| Moderate | 33 | 24.10% | 4 | 2.90% | ||
| Light | 22 | 16.10% | 12 | 8.80% | ||
| Morbidities | DM1 | 4 | 2.90% | 1 | 0.70% | .006† |
| DM2 | 26 | 19.00% | 10 | 7.40% | ||
| CVD history in a first-degree relative | 31 | 22.60% | 8 | 5.90% | <0.001* | |
| CKD | 2 | 1.50% | 4 | 2.90% | 0.404 | |
| AF | 5 | 3.60% | 1 | 0.70% | 0.101 | |
| Migraines | 10 | 7.30% | 4 | 2.90% | 0.103 | |
| RA | 2 | 1.50% | 0 | 0.00% | 0.157 | |
| SLE | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | N/A | |
| Severe mental illness | 9 | 6.60% | 2 | 1.50% | .032‡ | |
| Erectile dysfunction | 1 | 70.00% | 1 | 0.70% | 0.996 | |
| Treatments | BP treatment | 22 | 16.10% | 14 | 10.30% | 0.159 |
| Atypical antipsychotics | 3 | 2.20% | 0 | 0.00% | 0.083 | |
| steroids | 5 | 3.60% | 1 | 0.70% | 0.101 | |
The differences were calculated using the Chi-square test and statistically significant associations were lined
*P-value<0.001.
†P-value<0.01.
‡P-value<0.05.
AF, atrial fibrillation; BP, blood pressure; CVD, cardiovascular disease; DM1, diabetes mellitus type 1; DM2, diabetes mellitus type 2; N/A, not applicable; RA, rheumatoid arthritis; SLE, systemic lupus erythematosus.