Table 1.
Descriptive Statistics
| Variables | 2002 | 2005 | 2008 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean (%) | SD | Mean (%) | SD | N | Mean (%) | SD | N | |
| Loneliness (0–4) | 0.95 | 0.98 | 0.98 | 1.02 | 7,082 | 1.00 | 1.02 | 3,707 |
| Social activities (0–4) | 0.57 | 0.88 | 0.54 | 0.86 | 7,667 | 0.47 | 0.84 | 4,033 |
| Solitary leisure activities (0–4) | 1.51 | 1.11 | 1.45 | 1.08 | 7,667 | 1.36 | 1.00 | 4,033 |
| Physical exercise | 37.2 | 37.4 | 7,668 | 36.6 | 4,033 | |||
| Never smoked | 60.8 | 56.4 | 7,668 | 56.4 | 4,033 | |||
| Past smoker | 13.4 | 17.9 | 21.9 | |||||
| Current smoker | 25.7 | 25.7 | 21.6 | |||||
| Emotional health (0–4) | 2.66 | 0.71 | 2.60 | 0.72 | 7,238 | 2.47 | 0.66 | 3,789 |
| Self-rated health (0–4) | 2.46 | 0.91 | 2.40 | 0.94 | 7,230 | 2.40 | 0.95 | 3,784 |
| Functional difficulties (0–5) | 0.10 | 0.46 | 0.16 | 0.64 | 7,668 | 0.18 | 0.70 | 4,033 |
| Age (65–105) | 72.34 | 5.94 | ||||||
| Female | 52.9 | |||||||
| Ethnic Han | 94.2 | |||||||
| Urban | 35.2 | |||||||
| Some education | 49.0 | |||||||
| Financial independence | 48.8 | |||||||
| Relative economic status (0–5) | 2.01 | 0.65 | ||||||
| Married living only with spouse | 31.6 | |||||||
| Married living with others | 25.3 | |||||||
| Unmarried living alone | 12.6 | |||||||
| Unmarried living with others | 28.3 | |||||||
| Living in a nursing home | 2.3 | |||||||
| Number of children nearby (0–9) | 1.28 | 1.58 | ||||||
| Number of children visiting (0–11) | 3.10 | 1.94 | ||||||
Note. N = 14,072 in year 2002. Results are weighted.