Baseline Characteristics of the Study Population by Gender.

Persons with prevalent MACE and pregnant women have been excluded. Binary variables are shown in absolute counts and percentages. For continuous variables the median and the IQR are shown.MI = Myocardial infarction, MACE = major adverse cardiac events, BP = blood pressure, HDL = high-density-lipoprotein, CRP = c-reactive protein, NT-proBNP = N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide, IQR = interquartile range, CVD = cardiovascular disease, cs-cTnI = troponin I measured by contemporary-sensitivity assay, hs-cTnI = troponin I measured by high-sensitivity assay, ss-cTnI = troponin measured by super-sensitivity assay