Table 1.
Characteristics of Costa Rican elderly.
| Variable (n*) |
Males (n = 1,293) |
Females (n = 1,534) |
| Mean age (± SD) | 76.3 (± 10.2) | 76.4 (± 10.3) |
| Sex (2,827) | 47.5 | 52.5 |
| Age groups (2,827) | ||
| 60–69 | 55.5 | 52.4 |
| 70–79 | 31.1 | 31.9 |
| 80+ | 13.4 | 15.7 |
| Completed elementary education (2,815) | 50.5 | 47.2 |
| Has a job (2,827) | 50.0 | 29.0 |
| Has health insurance (2,827) | 92.9 | 96.1 |
| Low income (2,822) | 33.6 | 36.5 |
| Live in greater metropolitan area of San Jose (2,827) | 50.7 | 55.0 |
| Co-reside with a partner (2,822) | 77.1 | 45.3 |
| Body Mass Index (2,703) | ||
| Underweight | 2.9 | 3.6 |
| Normal | 32.4 | 24.9 |
| Overweight | 45.6 | 39.0 |
| Obesity | 19.1 | 32.5 |
| Alcohol consumption (2,827) | ||
| Current use | 5.3 | 0.3 |
| Occasional use | 39.0 | 22.2 |
| Consumed in the past, but not anymore | 48.2 | 15.8 |
| Never | 7.5 | 61.7 |
| Tobacco use (2,827) | ||
| Current smokers | 16.76 | 3.84 |
| Smoked in the past, but not anymore | 50.9 | 16.94 |
| Never | 32.34 | 79.23 |
| Physically active (2,827) | 40.2 | 23.3 |
| Family history of hypertension (2,527) | 51.7 | 58.0 |
| Home visits by community health workers (2,820) | 39.4 | 45.9 |
| Consumes > 3,000 calories/day (2,819) | 16.0 | 9.0 |
| Consumes > 400 grams of carbohydrates/day (2,819) | 20.1 | 11.3 |
| Consumes > 40 grams of fat/day (2,819) | 15.9 | 12.2 |
| Has ever been diagnosed as diabetic (2,827) | 17.0 | 24.2 |
| Has ever had heart disease (2,827) | 15.5 | 14.7 |
| Has ever had a stroke (2,827) | 3.5 | 4.1 |
| Self-reported health status (2,820) | ||
| Excellent | 9.9 | 5.7 |
| Very good | 14.1 | 13.0 |
| Good | 32.0 | 31.2 |
| Fair | 36.7 | 42.0 |
| Poor | 7.3 | 8.1 |
*Sample sizes are unweighted, whereas relative distributions correspond to weighted samples.