Table 1.

Characteristics of the study population (absolute figures and weighted ¹ percentages).

Characteristic	Number of Participants	Percentage of the Total
Total	4,544	100.0
Year of the Survey
2004	2,513	48.6
2008	2,031	51.4
Age, mean (SD)	4,544	77.3 (0.12)
Age (years)
65–74	1,958	57.4
75–84	1,442	35.7
≥85	1,144	6.9
Sex
female	2,690	57.2
male	1,854	42.8
Living situation
cohabitant with other(s) in a home situation	2,249	60.1
living alone	1,910	32.6
no information	385	7.3
Place of residence
Flemish region	1,751	61.7
Brussels Capital region	1,111	8.0
Walloon region	1,682	30.3
BMI
no information	324	6.1
<18.5	160	2.5
18.5–25	1,897	39.2
25–30	1,599	38.3
30+	564	13.9
Smoking status
No information	913	13.9
Never	2,185	50.4
Former	1,015	24.9
Occasionally/daily	431	10.8
Physical activity
No information	1,683	33.5
≥30 min/day	520	16.3
<30 min/day	2,341	50.2
Self-assessed health 2
No information	744	10.5
Good to very good health	2,145	51.3
Moderate, bad to very bad health	1,655	38.2
Longstanding illness or health problem
No information	815	12.0
No	2,110	50.6
Yes	1,619	37.4
Highest level of education within the household
No information	156	2.9
No degree or primary education	1,377	28.7
Lower secondary	1,045	24.6
Higher secondary	1,091	26.2
Higher education	866	17.6
Equivalent household income (€)
No information	699	14.4
<750	686	14.3
750–1,000	945	21.2
1,000–1,500	1,595	38.0
1,500–2,500	521	10.1
>2,500	98	2.0
Blood cholesterol measurement in past 5 years
No information	77	1.6
Yes	2,883	63.1
No	1,584	35.3
Blood sugar measurement in past 3 years
No information	1,256	22.1
Yes	2,378	55.3
No	910	22.6
Influenza immunization in past year
No information	77	1.6
Yes	2,883	63.1
No	1,584	35.3
Pneumococcus immunization in past 5 years
No information	596	14.0
Yes	653	13.4
No	3,259	72.6

Notes: ¹ See reference [37]; ² By answering the question “How is your health in general?”