Table 2.

Baseline characteristics for men and women in the Nordic Research on Ageing Project^a

	Women	Men
Variable	(n = 591)	(n = 436)
	Mean (SD)	Mean (SD)
CES-D	12.29 (9.51)	8.81 (8.06) b
Number of Chronic Illnesses	n = 350	n = 227
	2.24 (1.50)	2.22 (1.44)
Neuropsychological scores
Digit Symbol	n = 515	n = 395
	28.65 (11.77)	28.05 (11.54)
Raven’s Matrices (number correct)	n = 519	n = 393
	15.79 (4.30)	17.21 (4.79) b
Functioning
IADLsτ	2.33 (2.73)	1.66 (2.67) b
Frailty Characteristics
Total Frailty Characteristicsτ	n = 382	n = 311
Mean	1.12 (1.05)	.91 (1.01) b
No. ≥ 3 frailty characteristics (% Frail)	52 (14%)	23 (7%)
Gait Speed (m/s)	n = 479	n = 377
Mean	1.47 (0.35)	1.71 (0.44) b
Frailty, No. Yes/No (% Frail)	235/270 (49%)	99/278 (26%)
Grip Strength (kg/f)	n = 482	n = 372
Mean	25.03 (6.82)	42.86 (10.04) b
Frailty, No. Yes/No (% Frail)	124/358 (26%)	98/274 (26%)
Fatigue Levelsτ	n = 463	n = 376
Mean	2.00 (2.14)	1.77 (2.18) b
Frailty, No. Yes/No (% Frail)	128/335 (28%)	93/283 (25%)
Physical Activity Levels	n = 542	n = 410
Mean	2.89 (0.88)	3.06 (1.04) b
Frailty, No. Yes/No (% Frail)	176/366 (33%)	107/303 (26%)

Abbreviations: CES-D = Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale; Digit Symbol = Digit Symbol Substitution Test of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised; Raven’s Matrices = Raven’s Progressive Matrices; IADLs = Instrumental Activities of Daily Living.

^aData are presented as means (SD) unless otherwise indicated. Neuropsychological scores are raw scores. Sample sizes are indicated for variables with missing data. Independent sample t-tests or χ² tests were used to detect gender differences for continuous or categorical variables.

^τNonparametric Mann-Whitney U tests were used to detect gender differences for variables with skewed distributions.

^bSignificant difference between men and women (P ≤ .05).