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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2016 Mar 1.
Published in final edited form as: Am J Prev Med. 2015 Jan 15;48(3):253–263. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2014.10.004

Table 1.

Characteristics of U.S. Adults Aged ≥50 Years, by Sex and Survey Period, NHANES 1999–2010

Characteristic Men Women
Prevalence (95% CI) by survey periods Prevalence (95% CI) by survey periods
1999–2004 2005–2010 1999–2004 2005–2010
n 1,806 2,145 1,873 2,171
Population size (millions) 35.7 41.2 42.8 48.3
Age group (years), %
 50–64 60.3 (57.0, 63.5) 60.7 (58.0, 63.3) 56.8 (54.3, 59.4) 56.3 (52.9, 59.7)
 65–74 24.3 (22.1, 26.8) 23.3 (20.9, 25.9) 22.8 (20.1, 25.7) 23.6 (21.1, 26.2)
 ≥75 15.3 (13.6, 17.2) 16.0 (14.5, 17.6) 20.4 (18.2, 22.7) 20.1 (17.5, 23.0)
Race/ethnicity, %a
 Non-Hispanic white 81.2 (76.6, 85.1) 78.1 (74.1, 81.6) 79.4 (75.1, 83.1) 77.6 (73.6, 81.2)
 Non-Hispanic black 7.6 (6.0, 9.4) 9.5 (7.6, 11.8) 9.0 (6.9, 11.8) 10.0 (7.9, 12.6)
 Mexican American 3.8 (2.6, 5.4) 4.7 (3.3, 6.8) 3.5 (2.2, 5.5) 4.6 (3.3, 6.5)
 Other 7.4 (4.9, 11.1) 7.7 (5.9, 10.2) 8.1 (5.5, 11.7) 7.7 (6.0, 10.0)
PIR group, %
 <1.0 8.0 (6.4, 10.0) 7.9 (6.6, 9.5) 11.6 (9.4, 14.3) 10.1 (8.6, 11.8)
 1–2.9 33.6 (30.0, 37.4) 34.7 (31.5, 38.1) 41.0 (37.8, 44.4) 40.1 (36.8, 43.5)
 ≥3.0 58.4 (54.6, 62.2) 57.3 (53.6, 61.0) 47.3 (43.8, 50.9) 49.9 (46.0, 53.7)
Education, %
 <High school 23.8 (21.3, 26.6) 20.4 (17.8, 23.2) 25.4 (22.6, 28.3) 20.2 (17.8, 22.9)
 High school graduate 22.4 (19.5, 25.7) 23.1 (20.1, 26.6) 27.8 (25.3, 30.5) 28.9 (26.3, 31.6)
 Some college or higher 53.8 (49.2, 58.2) 56.5 (51.8, 61.1) 46.8 (43.5, 50.1) 50.9 (47.6, 54.3)
Living alone, %b
 No 88.0 (85.9, 89.8)* 83.7 (81.9, 85.5)* 74.4 (71.7, 77.0) 75.8 (73.1, 78.2)
 Yes 12.0 (10.2, 14.1)* 16.3 (14.5, 18.1)* 25.6 (23.0, 28.3) 24.2 (21.8, 26.9)
BMI group (kg/m2), %
 Normal (<25.0) 25.9 (23.6, 28.4) 24.0 (21.5, 26.6) 33.9 (30.4, 37.6)** 30.5 (27.8, 33.3)**
 Overweight (25.0–29.9) 42.5 (39.0, 46.0) 39.4 (37.0, 41.8) 32.1 (29.0, 35.4)** 30.5 (27.9, 33.3)**
 Obese (≥30.0) 31.6 (29.0, 34.3) 36.7 (33.4, 40.0) 34.0 (31.0, 37.1)** 39.0 (36.6, 41.4)**

Note: Data presented are weighted percentages unless otherwise noted. Boldface indicates statistical significance (*p=0.003; **p=0.044).

a

Individuals for other racial/ethnic groups are included in the denominator but their separate estimates are not presented.

b

p-values for equal proportions were calculated from an F-test.

NHANES, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey; PIR, poverty-income ratio.