Demographic, behavioural and health characteristics of participants (healthy retirees vs unhealthy retirees), Health and Retirement Study, 1992–2010
| Healthy retirees (n=1934) | Unhealthy retirees (n=1022) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Mean±SD or count (%) | p Valuea | ||
| Male | 967 (50.0) | 457 (44.7) | ** |
| White (vs non-White) | 1628 (84.2) | 775 (75.8) | *** |
| Age | 55.5±3.0 | 55.1±3.1 | *** |
| Education | *** | ||
| <High school | 307 (15.9) | 285 (27.9) | |
| High school | 1092 (56.4) | 562 (55.0) | |
| >High school | 535 (27.7) | 175 (17.1) | |
| Married (vs others) | 1487 (76.9) | 666 (65.2) | *** |
| Non-housing wealth | *** | ||
| Min—1st quartile | 405 (20.9) | 351 (34.3) | |
| 1st quartile—median | 472 (24.4) | 262 (25.6) | |
| Median—3rd quartile | 498 (25.8) | 251 (24.6) | |
| 3rd quartile—max | 559 (28.9) | 158 (15.5) | |
| Occupation | *** | ||
| White-collar | 680 (35.2) | 231 (22.6) | |
| Service | 756 (39.1) | 446 (43.6) | |
| Blue-collar | 498 (25.8) | 345 (33.8) | |
| Smoking | *** | ||
| Never-smoker | 754 (39.0) | 337 (33.0) | |
| Former | 756 (39.1) | 373 (36.5) | |
| Current | 424 (21.9) | 312 (30.5) | |
| Alcohol use (yes) | 1307 (67.6) | 622 (60.9) | *** |
| Frequent exercise | 1041 (53.8) | 498 (48.7) | ** |
| Body mass index | *** | ||
| Underweight/normal | 728 (37.6) | 282 (27.6) | |
| Overweight | 843 (43.6) | 422 (41.3) | |
| Obese | 363 (18.8) | 318 (31.1) | |
| Self-rated health | 3.9±0.9 | 3.3±1.1 | *** |
| Limitation in ≥1 ADL | 42 (2.2) | 81 (7.9) | *** |
| Chronic conditions | 0.9±0.9 | 1.5±1.2 | *** |
| Death | 234 (12.1) | 262 (25.6) | *** |
*p<0.05. **p<0.01. ***p<0.001.
aTwo-sample t test for continuous variables and χ2 test for categorical variables.
ADL, activities of daily living.