TABLE 1—

Sample Characteristics of Finnish Adults 65 Years or Older Living With a Spouse at the Beginning of the Study Period, by Gender: Finland, December 1997

	Men (n = 78 151), % or mean (SD)	Women (n = 62 751), % or mean (SD)
Age, y	72.0 (5.6)	71.2 (5.0)
Education
Tertiary or intermediate	28.3	23.7
Basic or less	71.7	76.3
Household income
Fifth quintile (highest)	21.0	18.5
Fourth quintile	20.5	20.0
Third quintile	19.2	19.8
Second quintile	19.9	20.9
First quintile (lowest)	19.4	20.8
Prevalence of chronic medical conditions
Cancer	5.1	4.0
Diabetes	10.0	9.4
Dementia	0.5	0.4
Psychosis	1.3	2.2
Depressive symptoms	5.9	9.1
Other mental health disorders	3.7	3.9
Parkinson’s disease	1.8	1.4
Other neurological diseases	4.7	3.7
Heart disease	29.8	21.7
Stroke	2.5	1.3
Chronic asthma or COPD	7.7	6.8
Other respiratory diseases	3.7	2.0
Arthritis	2.5	4.8
Osteoarthritis	1.9	2.8
Hip fracture	0.4	0.6
Other accident or violence	3.0	2.9
Other hospital diagnoses	24.5	22.3
Other diseases	34.7	40.7

Note. COPD = chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.