It was ascertained that none of those workers had blood diseases and they did not regularly consume drugs with potential hematotoxicity: Workers with parasite infestation as anklystoma or blood losing diseases as piles were excluded.
It was ascertained that none were taking lipid-lowering or antidiabetic medications, insulin, nitro derivatives, systemic corticosteroids, or any hormonal contraception.
In addition, health insurance status was ascertained (private health insurance, HMO, Medicaid, Medicare, veteran's health care, or none).
Likewise, habitual consumption over the past one year was ascertained regarding coffee and other beverages, by using closed-ended questions with eight options (none, 1 2, 3 4 or 5 6 cups per week and 1 3, 4 6, 7 9 or ≥10 cups per day).
Furthermore, none of the children in this study had their tonsils and/or adenoids removed, while the possible confounding effect of obesity was ascertained.
Mortality was ascertained through verbal autopsies.
History of falls was ascertained by asking, "Have you had any falls over the past year?" with possible answers of "multiple times," "once" or "none".
Mortality was ascertained in 2007.
Muscle mass was ascertained from DXA scanning.
The purity was ascertained by SDS-PAGE.
