Table 3.
The prevalence of fatigue among men and women aged 60 + years by selected characteristics in this study (N = 5,484).
| Characteristics | % (n/N) of participants with fatigability | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Higher physical fatigability (PFS ≥ 15)a | χ 2 | p-valueb | Higher mental fatigability (PFS ≥ 13)a | χ 2 | p-valueb | ||
| Overall | 59.0 (3,233/5484) | 51.1 (2,803/5484) | |||||
| Age (years) | 60–69 | 56.5 (1785/3157) | 49.1 (1,549/3157) | ||||
| 70–79 | 60.1 (1,029/1711) | 29.51 | <0.001 | 51.9 (888/1711) | 22.71 | <0.001 | |
| 80+ | 68.0 (419/616) | 59.4 (366/616) | |||||
| Gender | Men | 57.9 (1,556/2687) | 2.38 | 0.123 | 50.5 (1,356/2687) | 0.88 | 0.347 |
| Women | 60.0 (1,677/2797) | 51.7 (1,447/2797) | |||||
| Area c | Urban | 58.8 (1,260/2144) | 0.05 | 0.824 | 52.5 (1,125/2144) | 2.61 | 0.107 |
| Suburban | 59.1 (1973/3340) | 50.2 (1,678/3340) | |||||
| Educational attainment (schooling years) | 0–6 | 61.6 (1,675/2721) | 52.7 (1,435/2721) | ||||
| 7-,12 | 55.6 (1,371/2465) | 20.73 | <0.001 | 48.8 (1,202/2465) | 10.84 | 0.004 | |
| 13+ | 62.8 (187/298) | 55.7 (166/298) | |||||
| Occupation d | Domestic worker | 62.3 (670/1075) | 54.1 (582/1075) | ||||
| Industrial worker | 58.3 (1,357/2327) | 51.0 (1,187/2327) | |||||
| Service/sales worker | 60.4 (204/338) | 5.78 | 0.181 | 49.1 (166/338) | 6.43 | 0.266 | |
| Office worker | 58.2 (258/443) | 51.5 (228/443) | |||||
| Academic/research staff | 57.8 (222/384) | 49.2 (189/384) | |||||
| Self-employed | 56.9 (522/917) | 49.2 (451/917) | |||||
| Marital status | Single | 63.6 (482/758) | 7.81 | 0.005 | 55.3 (419/758) | 6.11 | 0.013 |
| Married/having a partner | 58.2 (2,751/4726) | 50.4 (2,384/4726) | |||||
| Smoking e | No | 59.2 (2,468/4168) | 0.48 | 0.487 | 51.3 (2,140/4168) | 0.37 | 0.542 |
| Yes | 58.1 (765/1316) | 50.4 (663/1316) | |||||
| Drinking f | No | 59.6 (2,847/4773) | 7.34 | 0.007 | 51.9 (2,479/4773) | 10.04 | 0.002 |
| Yes | 54.3 (386/711) | 45.6 (324/711) | |||||
| Body weight status g | BMI < 24 | 58.6 (1,374/2346) | 51.1 (1,199/2346) | ||||
| 24 ≤ BMI < 28 | 58.9 (1,350/2293) | 0.73 | 0.696 | 51.1 (1,172/2293) | 0.00 | 1.000 | |
| BMI ≥ 28 | 60.2 (509/845) | 51.1 (432/845) | |||||
a: Fatigability was assessed using Pittsburgh Fatigability Scale (PFS), with PFS≥15 and 1 ≥ 3 indicating high physical and mental fatigability, respectively. b: Chi-square test. c: Areas were categorized as urban or suburban districts based on the official classifications released by China National Bureau of Statistics. d: Occupation referred to job before retirement, and was classified for each participant based on recommendations by China National Center for Chronic Non-communicable Disease Prevention and Control. e: Smoking status was defined as smokers (current- and ex-smokers) and non-smokers (who never smoked cigarettes). f: Drinkers were defined as persons who drank alcohol, on average, at least two times a week for more than 1 year, while non-drinkers were those people who did not meet drinker’s definition. g: Body weight status was categorized based on cutoffs of body mass index (BMI) recommendations for Chinese adults.