Table 1.
Characteristics of Elders With Self-neglect and Without Self-neglect in a Community-Dwelling Population
| Self-neglect (n = 1,068) | No self-neglect (n = 4,502) | |
| Age, years, M (SD) | 74.0 (6.3) | 72.5 (6.0) |
| Women, n (%) | 714 (66.9) | 2700 (59.9) |
| Blacks, n (%) | 928 (86.9) | 2655 (58.9) |
| Education, years, M (SD) | 10.9 (3.5) | 12.5 (3.6) |
| Medical conditions, n (SD) | 1.0 (0.9) | 0.9 (0.9) |
| Coronary artery disease, n (%) | 161 (15.1) | 534 (11.9) |
| Stroke, n (%) | 106 (9.9) | 329 (7.3) |
| Cancer, n (%) | 189 (17.7) | 819 (18.2) |
| Thyroid disease, n (%) | 91 (8.5) | 346 (7.7) |
| Hypertension, n (%) | 659 (61.7) | 2369 (52.6) |
| Diabetes, n (%) | 252 (23.6) | 710 (15.8) |
| Hip fracture, n (%) | 34 (3.2) | 129 (2.9) |
| Shingles, n (%) | 33 (3.1) | 266 (5.9) |
| Parkinson’s disease, n (%) | 7 (0.7) | 31 (0.7) |
| Global cognitive function, M (SD) | −0.07 (0.77) | 0.27 (0.73) |
| MMSE, M (SD) | 25.4 (4.6) | 26.7 (4.2) |
| CES-D, M (SD) | 1.9 (2.2) | 1.4 (1.8) |
| Social network, M (SD) | 7.2 (6.1) | 8.0 (6.7) |
Note: CES-D = Center for the Epidemiological Studies-Depression scale; MMSE = Mini-Mental State Examination.