Baseline characteristics by study group (n=143)
| Intervention | Control | P value | |
| Sociodemographics | n=91 | n=52 | |
| Age, mean±SD | 56±10 | 62±14 | <0.001* |
| Female, n (%) | 70 (77) | 31 (57) | 0.024† |
| Married/ in relationship, n (%) | 73 (81) | 39 (80) | 0.925† |
| Participated with family, n (%) | 26 (29) | 15 (29) | 0.852† |
| Men | 12 (57) | 7 (33) | 0.215† |
| Women | 14 (20) | 8 (26) | 0.603† |
| Education, n (%) | 0.266† | ||
| Lower secondary school | 21 (23) | 13 (27) | |
| Higher secondary school | 29 (32) | 17 (35) | |
| High school | 21 (23) | 5 (10) | |
| University | 19 (21) | 14 (29) | |
| Anthropometrics | n=90 | n=51 | |
| Weight (kg), mean±SD | 85±19 | 80±18 | 0.113‡ |
| BMI (kg/m²), mean±SD | 28.7±5.4 | 27.0±6.5 | 0.020‡ |
| Participants with overweight/ obesity§, n (%) | 67 (74) | 28 (55) | 0.015† |
| Waist circumference (cm), mean±SD | 98±14 | 98±17 | 0.770‡ |
| Participants with elevated risk¶, n (%) | 60 (67) | 31 (61) | 0.465† |
| Blood parameters | n=81 | n=51 | |
| lipids | |||
| Total-C (mg/dL), mean±SD | 196±33 | 193±46 | 0.692* |
| Participants with elevated risk**, n (%) | 39 (48) | 23 (45) | 0.858† |
| LDL-C (mg/dL), mean±SD | 125±36 | 127±41 | 0.836‡ |
| Participants with elevated risk††, n (%) | 36 (46) | 25 (49) | 0.867† |
| LDL/HDL ratio, mean±SD | 2.2±1.0 | 2.5±1.1 | 0.117* |
| HDL-C (mg/dL), mean±SD | 65±19 | 56±18 | 0.038* |
| Participants with elevated risk‡‡, n (%) | 7 (9) | 13 (25) | 0.010† |
| TG (mg/dL), mean±SD | 121±69 | 125±76 | 0.612* |
| Participants with elevated risk§§, n (%) | 17 (21) | 11 (22) | 1.000† |
| Diabetic parameters | n=81 | n=51 | |
| FG (mg/dL), mean±SD | 95±15 | 97±26 | 0.032* |
| Participants with elevated risk¶¶, n (%) | 20 (25) | 25 (49) | 0.004† |
| HbA1c (%), mean±SD | 5.4±0.6 | 5.6±0.5 | 0.001* |
| Participants with elevated risk***, n (%) | 14 (18) | 17 (33) | 0.057† |
| n=76 | n=51 | ||
| FI (µU/mL), mean±SD | 10±6 | 11±8 | 0.760* |
| HOMA-IR, mean±SD | 2.4±1.7 | 2.8±2.9 | 0.571* |
| Participants with impaired insulin sensitivity†††, n (%) | 28 (37) | 22 (43) | 0.579† |
| Vital parameters | n=89 | n=51 | |
| SBP (mm Hg), mean±SD | 136±20 | 131±20 | 0.148* |
| Participants with elevated risk‡‡‡, n (%) | 70 (79) | 36 (71) | 0.310† |
| DBP (mm Hg), mean±SD | 86±1 | 81±9 | 0.002* |
| Participants with elevated risk§§§, n (%) | 64 (72) | 31 (61) | 0.192† |
| Dietary intake | |||
| Energy intake (kcal/day), mean±SD | 1815±424 | 2028±450 | <0.001* |
| Adherence to provegetarian food pattern¶¶¶, n (%) | n=82 | n=45 | 0.964† |
| Very low | 10 (12) | 6 (13) | |
| Low | 21 (26) | 10 (22) | |
| Moderate | 34 (42) | 20 (44) | |
| High | 11 (13) | 7 (16) | |
| Very high | 6 (7) | 2 (4) | |
Bold p-values ≤0.05
*Mann-Whitney U test.
†Fisher’s exact test.
‡Two-sample t-test.
§BMI ≥25 kg/m².
¶≥102 cm and ≥88 cm for men and women, respectively.
**≥200 mg/dl
††≥130 mg/dl
‡‡≤40 and 45 mg/dL for men and women, respectively.
§§≥150 mg/dL.
¶¶≥100 mg/dL.
***>5.7%.
†††HOMA-IR ≥2.5.
‡‡‡≥120 mm Hg.
§§§≥80 mm Hg.
¶¶¶Adherence according to points of the provegetarian food score: very low (<30 points), low (30–34 points), moderate (35–39 points), high (40–44 points) and very high (>44 points).24
BMI, body mass index; DBP, diastolic blood pressure; FG, fasting glucose; FI, fasting insulin; HbA1c, glycated haemoglobin A1c; HDL-C, high density lipoprotein cholesterol; HOMA-IR, Homeostasis Model Assessment-insulin resistance; LDL-C, low density lipoprotein cholesterol; SBP, systolic blood pressure; TG, triglycerides; Total-C, total cholesterol.