Table 2.
Comparison of Sociodemographic Characteristics and Chronic Illness among Persons 71 Years or Over with No Cognitive Impairment (CI), Cognitive impairment, not dementia (CIND), and Dementia in the 2002 Health and Retirement Study (N=7,130).
| Total Sample (N=7,130) |
No CI (n=4,400) |
CIND (n=1,674) |
Dementia (n=1,056) |
P-value for difference* |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age, mean (SD) | 79.2 (6.2) | 77.7 (5.3) | 80.5 (6.4) | 83.5 (7.0) | <.0001 |
| 71–79, % | 56.5 | 66.4 | 47.0 | 30.3 | <.0001 |
| 80–89, % | 36.1 | 30.5 | 43.0 | 48.9 | |
| 90 or over, % | 7.3 | 3.1 | 10.0 | 20.8 | |
| Gender | |||||
| Female, % | 59.2 | 58.2 | 58.4 | 64.8 | .0003 |
| Ethnicity | |||||
| Hispanic, % | 6.5 | 4.0 | 10.3 | 11.3 | <.0001 |
| Non-Hispanic Black, % | 11.0 | 6.4 | 15.9 | 22.6 | |
| Non-Hispanic White, % | 81.1 | 88.3 | 72.3 | 64.5 | |
| Non-Hispanic Other, % | 1.4 | 1.3 | 1.5 | 1.6 | |
| Education | |||||
| Years in school, mean (SD) | 11.6 (3.6) | 12.6 (2.9) | 10.5 (3.7) | 9.1 (4.1) | <.0001 |
| Chronic Conditions | |||||
| Hypertension, % | 59.6 | 58.2 | 62.5 | 60.8 | .0057 |
| Diabetes, % | 18.5 | 16.6 | 21.7 | 21.4 | <.0001 |
| Heart disease not CHF, % | 29.7 | 29.0 | 31.6 | 29.9 | .1431 |
| Congestive heart failure, % | 5.6 | 4.0 | 6.7 | 10.9 | <.0001 |
| Chronic lung disease, % | 10.8 | 10.4 | 11.5 | 10.9 | .4373 |
| Arthritis, % | 67.8 | 67.0 | 69.4 | 68.7 | .1642 |
| Cancer not skin, % | 18.2 | 19.0 | 17.4 | 15.9 | .0428 |
| Stroke, % | 10.9 | 6.8 | 13.6 | 23.5 | <.0001 |
*
p-values show significance comparing baseline characteristics across the three dementia status groups; they were obtained from a general linear model for continuous variables (age and education) and a chi-square test for categorical variables.