Table 1.
Descriptive statistics of adults aged 65 and over in the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) in 1998, 2004 and 2008.
| 1998 (n=10390) |
2004 (n=10621) |
2008 (n=10557) |
p-value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Demographic characteristics |
||||
| Mean age, y | 74.4 | 74.9 | 74.5 | <0.001 |
| Female sex, % | 58.1 | 57.1 | 56.9 | 0.26 |
| Non-Hispanic White, % Hispanic, % Black, % Other, % |
85.0 4.9 8.3 1.8 |
85.1 5.1 7.8 2.0 |
84.2 5.7 8.0 2.0 |
0.08 |
| Married, % | 55.3 | 55.9 | 54.1 | 0.05 |
| Education, % Under 8th grade 8–11 grade High school Above high school |
9.6 24.2 33.1 33.1 |
7.1 20.2 35.8 36.9 |
6.0 18.0 35.7 40.3 |
<0.001 |
| Current Smoker, % | 10.9 | 9.3 | 10.1 | 0.002 |
| Obesity (BMI≥30), % | 18.2 | 22.2 | 26.0 | <0.001 |
|
Comorbidities, % Hypertension Heart conditions Congestive heart failure Stroke Diabetes Cancer Chronic lung disease Arthritis |
52.5 30.7 4.0 9.8 15.2 14.6 10.8 59.1 |
60.5 31.9 4.4 8.9 19.3 18.1 11.6 67.7 |
65.0 31.6 4.9 9.2 22.7 19.1 12.3 68.8 |
<0.001 0.20 0.01 0.15 <0.001 <0.001 0.01 <0.001 |
|
Impairments, % Severe Cognitive Impairment Visual Impairment Hearing Impairment |
4.9 25.4 25.4 |
4.2 23.6 27.2 |
4.0 22.4 25.0 |
0.01 <0.001 0.003 |
|
Disability, % Mobility Complex ADL Self Care ADL |
40.8 17.8 17.9 |
41.4 17.7 16.2 |
40.0 16.6 17.2 |
0.14 0.06 0.01 |
Abbreviations: CI, confidence interval; ADL, activities of daily living.
Note: All estimates used sampling weights to account for survey design; p- values were derived from the Wald chi-square tests for categorical variables and ANOVA F-test for continuous variables for association between the proportion or characteristics of respondents and year of survey