Table 1.
Subjective Social Status* is Associated with Sociodemographic Characteristics, Functional Status and Health Status(N = 2,523)
| Characteristic | Low SSS (N = 216) | Middle SSS (N = 1645) | High SSS (N = 662) | p-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sociodemographics | ||||
| Age, yrs (mean ± SD) | 62.9 ± 10.8 | 63.6 ± 10.7 | 65.7 ± 11.1 | 0.006 |
| Male, % | 48.9 | 43.8 | 51.0 | 0.044 |
| Married, % | 50.0 | 67.6 | 74.5 | <0.001 |
| Race / Ethnicity‡, % | ||||
| White | 70.0 | 83.8 | 91.4 | <0.001 |
| Black | 13.9 | 9.3 | 3.1 | |
| Latino | 11.7 | 5.5 | 4.7 | |
| Other | 4.4 | 1.4 | 0.8 | |
| Education, % | ||||
| Less than high school | 41.0 | 15.2 | 10.7 | <0.001 |
| High school or GED | 35.7 | 37.8 | 23.9 | |
| Some college or higher | 23.3 | 47.0 | 65.5 | |
| Net worth, thousands, median (IQR)1 | 28K (650-90K) | 161K (57K-406K) | 401K (166K-863K) | <0.001 |
| Income, median (IQR)1 | 19K (10K-31K) | 43K (23K-70K) | 61K (32K-120K) | <0.001 |
| Health Status§, % | ||||
| High blood pressure | 58.5 | 49.3 | 42.6 | <0.001 |
| Diabetes | 28.4 | 14.6 | 11.7 | <0.001 |
| Cancer | 13.8 | 10.4 | 16.4 | 0.088 |
| Lung disease | 17.6 | 8.9 | 6.0 | 0.001 |
| Heart Condition | 25.1 | 20.1 | 19.6 | 0.216 |
| Stroke | 10.3 | 5.5 | 5.3 | 0.188 |
| Self-rated health, fair or poor | 60.8 | 25.1 | 16.9 | <0.001 |
| ADL Difficulty§, % | ||||
| Bathing | 17.9 | 4.3 | 3.8 | <0.001 |
| Transferring | 20.0 | 4.1 | 3.9 | <0.001 |
| Toileting | 11.5 | 3.6 | 3.7 | 0.003 |
| Dressing | 21.1 | 5.3 | 6.0 | <0.001 |
| Eating | 4.8 | 2.8 | 1.7 | 0.316 |
| Mobility Difficulty§, % | ||||
| Walk Several Blocks | 51.4 | 24.6 | 21.1 | <0.001 |
| Climb 1 Flight of Stairs | 40.9 | 15.6 | 13.2 | <0.001 |
* Subjective social status categorized according to self-report (Low = Rungs 1-3, Middle = Rungs 4-7, high = rungs 8-10 on a ladder scale of rungs 1-10)
† P-value calculated using chi-square for categorical variables and trend tests for binary and continuous variables. P-values are based on log-transformed values for income and wealth.
‡ Other race/ethnicity includes Native American, Asian and those who identify as “other”
§ Health status, ADL Difficulty and Mobility Difficulty based on self-report