TABLE 1.
Demographic Characteristics, Self-Reported Health Status, and Social Support: Older Adults in the United States, 1999–2002
| Sample Frequency | Estimated US Frequency | Estimated US % (95% CI) | |
| Sample size | 3 706 | 44 499 821 | |
| Health status | |||
| Missing | 5 | 29 573 | 0.07 (0.0, 0.2) |
| Poor/fair | 1 255 | 12 125 182 | 27.3 (24.9, 29.6) |
| Good | 1 172 | 14 286 842 | 32.1 (30.2, 34.0) |
| Very good/excellent | 1 274 | 18 058 224 | 40.6 (38.1, 43.0) |
| Age | |||
| 60–71 y (below or at median) | 1 853 | 24 641 371 | 55.4 (52.3, 58.4) |
| ≥72 y | 1 853 | 19 858 450 | 44.6 (41.6, 47.6) |
| Gender | |||
| Women | 1 917 | 25 211 147 | 56.7 (55.5, 57.8) |
| Men | 1 789 | 19 288 674 | 43.4 (42.2, 44.5) |
| Race/ethnicity | |||
| All other | 978 | 4 973 907 | 11.2 (6.8, 15.6) |
| Non-Hispanic Black | 614 | 3 679 625 | 8.3 (5.7, 10.8) |
| Non-Hispanic White | 2 114 | 35 846 289 | 80.6 (76.5, 84.6) |
| Education groups | |||
| Missing | 33 | 348 892 | 0.8 (0.4, 1.1) |
| Less than high school | 1 650 | 14 293 339 | 32.1 (29.2, 35.1) |
| High school graduate | 840 | 12 704 609 | 28.6 (26.0, 31.1) |
| More than high school | 1 183 | 17 152 981 | 38.6 (35.5, 41.6) |
| Marital status | |||
| Divorced/separated/widowed | 1 367 | 14 871 435 | 33.4 (29.3, 37.5) |
| Married and othera | 2 339 | 29 628 386 | 66.6 (62.5, 70.7) |
| Need emotional support | |||
| Missing | 15 | 186 154 | 0.4 (0.2, 0.7) |
| Yes | 762 | 7 632 860 | 17.2 (15.3, 19.0) |
| No | 2 929 | 36 680 807 | 82.4 (80.6, 84.3) |
| Sources of emotional support | |||
| Missing | 109 | 1 382 352 | 3.1 (2.4, 3.9) |
| Family and otherb | 844 | 10 445 479 | 23.5 (21.0, 26.0) |
| Family only | 2 216 | 26 528 965 | 59.6 (56.9, 62.4) |
| Other only | 274 | 3 773 825 | 8.5 (7.1, 9.9) |
| No onec | 263 | 2 369 200 | 5.3 (4.2, 6.4) |
| Number of close friends | |||
| Missing | 77 | 741 012 | 1.7 (1.2, 2.1) |
| None | 176 | 1 623 273 | 3.7 (2.8, 4.5) |
| 1–4 | 1 372 | 14 528 392 | 32.7 (30.2, 35.2) |
| 5–50 | 2 081 | 27 607 144 | 62.0 (59.2, 64.9) |
| Financial support obtained | |||
| Missing | 60 | 733 852 | 1.7 (1.0, 2.3) |
| Obtained | 809 | 9 109 215 | 20.5 (17.8, 23.2) |
| Will not accept or not obtained | 2 837 | 34 656 754 | 77.9 (75.0, 80.7) |
Note. CI = confidence interval. Sampling weight and sample design adjustments have been made to all nationwide statistics presented here.
a
Living with a spouse, living with a partner, or never married.
b
Received support from both family and community members.
c
Received no emotional support.