Descriptive statistics, using frequencies and percentages were calculated for demographic and categorical data, and chi-squared tests were undertaken to compare CM patterns of use with socio-demographic characteristics.
The angle subtended by the stripes ranged from 5.7° to 53° (a 1 10 cm pattern viewed from a distance of 10 cm, respectively) and from 1.4° to 14.2° (a 1 10 cm pattern viewed from a distance of 40 cm, respectively).
However, the prevalence of the CM pattern was lower in women.
The CM pattern has been repeatedly identified in previous studies and through a recent systematic review [ 14- 19].
There was also a decline in the prevalence of the CM pattern in women after the age of 85 years.
Among women over 65 years the most frequent pattern was the MEC pattern (33.3%), whereas among men it was the CM pattern (21.2%).
In general, men assigned to the CM pattern showed a significantly higher number of diseases of the corresponding pattern compared to women (p < 0.001).
Such was the case of the clustering, only in men, of osteoporosis within the PG pattern and/or of atherosclerosis within the CM pattern.
This decrease in the diagnosed prevalence of dyslipidemia might explain the dropping out of the latter from the CM pattern among older patients.
In the CM pattern, atherosclerosis, gout and/or iron deficiency were associated with the pattern in men but not in women, whereas ischemic heart disease was associated with the pattern only in women.
Such was the case of the ischemic heart disease among male patients with the CM pattern, thyroid disease among men with the MEC pattern, and/or the behaviour problems among women with the PG pattern.
