Table 1.
Characteristics of participants in the Health and Retirement Study
| Hispanic | Black | Whites/others | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n/mean | %/(std) | n/mean | %/(std) | n/mean | %/(std) | |
| n | 1,313 | 100 | 2,557 | 100 | 14,778 | 100 |
| Mean years of follow-up | 8.2 | (3.1) | 7.9 | (3.2) | 8.2 | (3.2) |
| Total person-years of follow-up | 10,767 | 20,305 | 121,365 | |||
| Incident strokes | 121 | 9.2 | 334 | 13.1 | 1,543 | 10.4 |
| Crude stroke rate/1,000 person-years | 11.2 | 16.4 | 12.7 | |||
| Elevated depressive symptoms, all eligible | 433.0 | 33.0 | 692.0 | 27.1 | 2,601.0 | 17.6 |
| Elevated depressive symptoms, incident stroke cases | 50.0 | 41.3 | 111.0 | 33.2 | 369.0 | 23.9 |
| Core demographic variables | ||||||
| Mean age at enrollment (std) | 63.7 | (8.9) | 64.9 | (9.6) | 66.1 | (9.7) |
| Male | 512 | 39 | 910 | 36 | 6,213 | 42 |
| Southern birthstate | 392 | 30 | 1,657 | 65 | 4,498 | 30 |
| Mother’s education | ||||||
| <8 Years | 904 | 69 | 1,155 | 45 | 5,920 | 40 |
| 8+ Years | 243 | 19 | 953 | 37 | 7,597 | 51 |
| Unknown | 166 | 13 | 449 | 18 | 1,261 | 9 |
| Father’s education | ||||||
| <8 Years | 840 | 64 | 1,193 | 47 | 6,381 | 43 |
| 8+ Years | 255 | 19 | 712 | 28 | 6,770 | 46 |
| Unkown | 218 | 17 | 652 | 25 | 1,627 | 11 |
| Adult social conditions | ||||||
| Mean years of education (std) | 8.3 | (4.6) | 10.7 | (3.6) | 12.5 | (2.8) |
| Median household wealth (interquartile range)a | 19,395 | (54,480) | 20,658 | (54,839) | 95,837 | (171,735) |
| Median household income (interquartile range)a | 8,470 | (12,434) | 11,275 | (16,410) | 21,438 | (25,992) |
| Marital status | ||||||
| Married | 904 | 69 | 1,289 | 50 | 10,609 | 72 |
| Divorced or separated | 171 | 13 | 504 | 20 | 1,188 | 8 |
| Never married | 40 | 3 | 138 | 5 | 399 | 3 |
| Widowed | 197 | 15 | 615 | 24 | 2,563 | 17 |
| Cardiovascular risk factors | ||||||
| Current smoker | 212 | 16 | 539 | 21 | 2,482 | 17 |
| Past smoker | 470 | 36 | 934 | 37 | 6,186 | 42 |
| Overweight | 573 | 44 | 1,048 | 41 | 5,714 | 39 |
| Obese | 339 | 26 | 823 | 32 | 2,641 | 18 |
| Alcohol use | ||||||
| Never | 803 | 61 | 1,614 | 63 | 6,596 | 45 |
| Some | 490 | 37 | 899 | 35 | 7,748 | 52 |
| Heavy | 20 | 2 | 44 | 2 | 434 | 3 |
| Hypertension | 512 | 39 | 1,457 | 57 | 5,526 | 37 |
| Diabetes | 231 | 18 | 498 | 19 | 1,407 | 10 |
| Heart disease | 135 | 10 | 403 | 16 | 2,712 | 18 |
Sample members were stroke-free aged 50 + at baseline in 1996 (born 1899–1947)
aIncome and wealth were standardized by dividing by the square root of household size