Table 1.
Summary of Household‐ and Individual‐Level Characteristics Across Countries
| United States | England | China | India | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wives | Husbands | Wives | Husbands | Wives | Husbands | Wives | Husbands | |
| Sample size (n for couples) | 3989 | 1086 | 6514 | 22 389 | ||||
| Shared household characteristics | ||||||||
| Residence (Rural, %) | 26 (22.4–29.6) | … | 78 (76.5– 79.5) | 69.2 (66.9–71.4) | ||||
| Wealth quintile of household | ||||||||
| 1 (Poorest) | 20.2 (18–22.5) | 14.1 (7.4–20.8) | 20.9 (19.4–22.4) | 20.1 (19.2–20.9) | ||||
| 2 (%) | 20.3 (18.4–22.2) | 20.6 (10.1–31.1) | 20.8 (19.3–22.3) | 20.4 (19.6–21.2) | ||||
| 3 (%) | 19.9 (18.1–21.7) | 20.9 (18.1–23.6) | 20.7 (19.2–22.2) | 20.1 (19.3–20.9) | ||||
| 4 (%) | 19.8 (17.7–21.9) | 22.2 (15.9–28.5) | 19.7 (18.2–21.1) | 19.7 (18.9–20.5) | ||||
| 5 (Wealthiest) (%) | 19.8 (17.5–22) | 22.2 (12.8–31.5) | 18 (16.1, 19.9) | 19.7 (18.8, 20.6) | ||||
| Length of current marriage, y | 33.6 (32.7–34.6) | 45.7 (44.2–47.3) | 37.7 (37.3–38) | 34.7 (34.5–34.9) | ||||
| Current marriage length ≥10 y | 91.0 (89–93) | 99.9 (99.6–99.9) | 99.0 (98.7–99.3) | 99.6 (99.5–99.7) | ||||
| Number of people in the same household | 2.6 (2.5–2.6) | 2.0 (2.0–2.0) | 3.2 (3.2–3.3) | 5.2 (5.2–5.3) | ||||
| Number of children | 3.0 (2.9–3) | 2.4 (2.3–2.5) | 2.7 (2.7– 2.7) | 3.7 (3.6–3.7) | ||||
| Sociodemographic characteristics | ||||||||
| Age, y | 62.9 (62.3–63.4) | 65.7 (65.1–66.3) | 72.5 (71.8–73.3) | 74.2 (73.4–75) | 59.2 (58.9–59.5) | 61.5 (61.2–61.8) | 51.1 (50.9–51.3) | 57.2 (57.1–57.4) |
| Education level | ||||||||
| Less than lower secondary (%) | 8.5 (6.6–10.4) | 11.1 (9.2–12.9) | 32 (25.8–38.1) | 26.3 (20–32.6) | 92.5 (91.7–93.4) | 84.5 (83.3–85.7) | 77.3 (76.1–78.4) | 62.3 (61.1–63.6) |
| Upper secondary and vocational training (%) | 59.9 (57.1–62.6) | 54.3 (51.5–57.2) | 43.1 (37.1–49) | 49.4 (45.2–53.7) | 6.4 (5.7–7.1) | 12.8 (11.7–14) | 19.3 (18.4–20.2) | 30.2 (29.2–31.2) |
| Tertiary (%) | 31.6 (28.7–34.6) | 34.5 (31.3–37.7) | 13.5 (9.8–17.1) | 19.4 (15.8–23.1) | 1.1 (0.5–1.7) | 2.7 (2.2–3.1) | 3.5 (3–3.9) | 7.4 (6.8–8.1) |
| Employment status | ||||||||
| No wage employment (%) | 10.1 (8.6–11.5) | 3.6 (2.7–4.4) | 8.8 (6.2–11.5) | 2.2 (1.5–2.8) | 2.7 (2.3–3.1) | 1.1 (0.6–1.7) | 65.3 (64.1–66.6) | 22.9 (22.1–23.7) |
| Wage employment (%) | 38.7 (36.3–41.1) | 42.2 (39.4–45) | 7.8 (6.3–9.4) | 10.2 (7.8–12.5) | 64.2 (62.8–65.6) | 74 (72.7–75.4) | 33.9 (32.6–35.2) | 70.4 (69.5–71.3) |
| Retired (%) | 50.6 (47.9–53.3) | 53.4 (50.6–56.3) | 83.3 (79.6–87) | 87.6 (84.9–90.2) | 33.1 (31.7–34.5) | 24.8 (23.5–26.2) | 0.8 (0.6–0.9) | 6.7 (6.2–7.1) |
| Health behaviors and self‐reported health outcomes | ||||||||
| Smoking | ||||||||
| Never (%) | 53.8 (51.7–55.9) | 40.3 (38.1–42.6) | 42.4 (39–45.8) | 25.8 (21–30.5) | 92.8 (92.1–93.4) | 18.5 (17.3–19.7) | 97.3 (96.9–97.7) | 65.8 (64.6–66.9) |
| Former (%) | 35.3 (33.3–37.4) | 47.6 (45.4–49.8) | 51.3 (48.5–54.1) | 68.4 (64.3–72.5) | 3.1 (2.6–3.5) | 29.1 (27.7–30.5) | 0.5 (0.4–0.6) | 7.1 (6.7–7.6) |
| Current (%) | 9.9 (8.7–11.1) | 11 (9.7–12.4) | 6.3 (4–8.6) | 5.8 (4.8–6.8) | 4.2 (3.7–4.7) | 52.4 (50.9–53.9) | 2.2 (1.8–2.5) | 27.1 (26–28.2) |
| Heavy drinking (Yes, %) | 19.7 (17.6–21.9) | 26.9 (24.9–29) | 14.5 (11.2–17.8) | 13.6 (10.9–16.2) | 3.1 (2.9–3.3) | 11.2 (10.8–11.6) | 0.6 (0.5–0.8) | 10 (9.3–10.6) |
| Moderate physical activity (d/wk) | 2.5 (2.4–2.5) | 2.6 (2.5–2.7) | 0.6 (0.5–0.6) | 0.6 (0.6–0.7) | 3.5 (3.4–3.7) | 2.8 (2.7–2.9) | 3.8 (3.8–3.8) | 3.1 (3–3.1) |
| Vigorous Physical activity (d/wk) | 1.1 (1–1.2) | 1.5 (1.4–1.6) | 0.1 (0.1–0.2) | 0.2 (0.2–0.2) | 1.6 (1.5–1.8) | 2.3 (2.1–2.4) | 1.9 (1.8–1.9) | 2.7 (2.7–2.7) |
| Self‐reported diagnosis of hypertension (%) | 48.5 (46.3–50.7) | 56 (53.8–58.2) | 52.6 (48.4–56.8) | 56.1 (51.2–61) | 36.8 (35.2–38.4) | 35.7 (34.2–37.2) | 24.4 (23.6–25.3) | 22.6 (21.8–23.4) |
| Self‐reported diagnosis of diabetes (%) | 20.1 (18.6–21.7) | 25.6 (23.8–27.3) | 11.7 (9.8–13.7) | 16.9 (14.1–19.7) | 10.8 (9.9–11.7) | 8.6 (7.8–9.5) | 9.3 (8.8–9.8) | 12.4 (11.8–13) |
| Clinical measures | ||||||||
| Body mass index, kg/m2 | 28.7 (28.4–29) | 29.1 (28.9–29.3) | 28.1 (27.6–28.6) | 28.1 (27.6–28.6) | 25.3 (24.4–26.2) | 24 (23.5–24.4) | 23.5 (23.4–23.7) | 22.2 (22.1–22.3) |
| Waist circumference, cm | 99.1 (98.2–100.1) | 107.3 (106.4–108.2) | 86.1 (85.8–86.5) | 85.9 (85.5–86.3) | 84.7 (84.3–85) | 85.9 (85.6–86.2) | ||
| Systolic blood pressure, mm Hg | 121.9 (121.3–122.6) | 129.3 (128.6–130) | 131.5 (129.7–133.3) | 131.5 (129.7–133.3) | 126.1 (125.5–126.8) | 128.5 (127.9–129.2) | 122.5 (122.2–122.9) | 126.4 (126–126.8) |
| Diastolic blood pressure, mm Hg | 77.6 (77.2–78) | 78.4 (77.9–78.8) | 70.4 (68.9–71.9) | 70.4 (68.9–71.9) | 74.1 (73.8–74.5) | 76.3 (75.9–76.8) | 80.1 (79.9–80.3) | 82.2 (82–82.4) |
| Hypertension*, % | 54.6 (52.3–56.9) | 64.5 (62.5–66.6) | 64.5 (61.0–67.9) | 67.8 (64.9–70.7) | 46.5 (44.9–48.1) | 48.1 (46.5–49.7) | 38.7 (37.8–39.7) | 42.8 (41.9–43.8) |
| Concordant hypertension, % | 37.9 (35.8–40) | 47.1 (43.2–50.9) | 20.8 (19.6–21.9) | 19.8 (19–20.5) | ||||
All values are survey‐weighted means or percentages with 95% CIs.
*
Defined as self‐reported diagnosis of hypertension by a doctor or physician (=yes) or high blood pressure (>140/90 mm Hg).