Table 3 Associations between risk factors and WMH degrees

Age^a

2.22 (1.88–2.62)

3.65 (3.01–4.43)

7.75 (5.93–10.13)

< 0.001

1.81 (1.61–2.05)

2.45 (1.97–3.05)

3.83 (2.96–4.95)

< 0.001

Male gender

0.79 (0.57–1.09)

1.06 (0.73–1.53)

1.51 (0.94–2.41)

0.004

0.95 (0.75–1.22)

0.82 (0.55–1.22)

0.77 (0.50–1.17)

0.56

Hypertension

1.96 (1.39–2.76)

2.56 (1.68–3.92)

4.06 (2.12–7.80)

< 0.001

1.88 (1.37–2.58)

2.65 (1.38–5.08)

2.27 (1.16–4.43)

< 0.001

eGFR^b

0.89 (0.78–1.01)

0.92 (0.80–1.06)

0.75 (0.61–0.92)

0.04

0.96 (0.87–1.07)

0.87 (0.72–1.06)

0.93 (0.75–1.14)

0.50

Diabetes mellitus

1.25 (0.91–1.72)

0.98 (0.68–1.40)

0.84 (0.52–1.33)

0.08

1.16 (0.91–1.47)

0.71 (0.46–1.10)

0.83 (0.53–1.31)

0.09

Hypercholesterolemia

1.00 (0.75–1.34)

0.85 (0.61–1.19)

0.76 (0.50–1.17)

0.37

1.05 (0.84–1.32)

1.14 (0.77–1.67)

0.66 (0.43–1.02)

0.16

Smoking

0.83 (0.58–1.20)

0.85 (0.56–1.28)

0.97 (0.58–1.61)

0.70

1.12 (0.85–1.47)

1.03 (0.65–1.65)

0.85 (0.51–1.41)

0.70

Atrial fibrillation

1.00 (0.42–2.39)

1.02 (0.40–2.60)

1.05 (0.36–3.01)

1.00

0.56 (0.31–1.01)

0.67 (0.27–1.69)

1.23 (0.57–2.65)

0.12

Ischemic heart disease

0.69 (0.41–1.17)

1.04 (0.60–1.80)

0.80 (0.41–1.54)

0.15

0.91 (0.63–1.31)

1.68 (1.01–2.79)

1.52 (0.89–2.61)

0.05

Ischemic stroke/TIA

1.09 (0.76–1.56)

1.42 (0.96–2.10)

2.58 (1.62–4.11)

< 0.001

1.36 (1.06–1.76)

1.27 (0.83–1.94)

2.35 (1.53–2.59)

0.001