Baseline characteristics of the study participants.

<p>Data are median and interquartile range (IQR). A <i>P</i> value less than 0.05 was considered to indicate statistical significance based on the Mann-Whitney U test.</p><p>Abbreviations: BMI, body mass index (calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared); SBP, systolic blood pressure; DBP, diastolic blood pressure; HDL, high-density lipoprotein; LDL, low-density lipoprotein; NS, not significant.