Table 1.
Characteristics of study participants
| Characteristics | N | % | Depressive symptom (%) | P* | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gender | Male | 4015 | 50.4 | 6.7 | <0.001 |
| Female | 3953 | 49.6 | 10.8 | ||
| Age | 60− | 2927 | 36.7 | 7.8 | <0.001 |
| 65− | 2067 | 25.9 | 7.6 | ||
| 70− | 1280 | 16.1 | 9.5 | ||
| 75− | 947 | 11.9 | 11.2 | ||
| 80+ | 747 | 9.4 | 11.0 | ||
| Ethnicity | Han ethnicity | 7716 | 96.9 | 8.7 | 0.711 |
| Minorities | 245 | 3.1 | 9.4 | ||
| Education | Illiteracy | 3819 | 48.0 | 9.7 | 0.017 |
| Primary school | 3539 | 44.4 | 7.9 | ||
| Middle school or Higher | 605 | 7.6 | 7.4 | ||
| Perception of | Rich | 816 | 10.3 | 2.8 | <0.001 |
| economic status | Moderate | 6274 | 78.8 | 7.9 | |
| Poor | 869 | 10.9 | 20.3 | ||
| Employment status | Working | 3199 | 40.3 | 7.4 | <0.001 |
| Retired | 4278 | 53.8 | 9.9 | ||
| Never work | 469 | 5.9 | 6.8 | ||
| Marriage | Single | 118 | 1.5 | 13.6 | <0.001 |
| Married | 6167 | 78.1 | 7.9 | ||
| Widowed/divorced | 1610 | 20.4 | 11.4 | ||
| Having a child | Yes | 7787 | 97.8 | 8.6 | 0.010 |
| No | 177 | 2.2 | 14.1 | ||
| Smoking | Currently yes | 1814 | 22.8 | 6.1 | <0.001 |
| Quitted | 800 | 10.0 | 9.1 | ||
| Never | 5353 | 67.2 | 9.6 | ||
| Drinking | Currently yes | 2135 | 26.8 | 5.9 | <0.001 |
| Quitted | 703 | 8.8 | 11.4 | ||
| Never | 5129 | 64.4 | 9.6 | ||
| Physical activity | Yes | 1553 | 19.5 | 12.4 | <0.001 |
| No | 6409 | 80.5 | 7.9 | ||
| Underlying conditions | Yes | 4045 | 50.8 | 10.2 | <0.001 |
| No | 3923 | 49.2 | 7.2 | ||
| Limitation in activity | Yes | 203 | 2.6 | 29.1 | <0.001 |
| of daily living | No | 7731 | 97.4 | 8.2 | |
| Eating arrangement | With 4 persons or more | 1382 | 17.3 | 4.5 | <0.001 |
| With 3 persons | 748 | 9.4 | 7.8 | ||
| With 2 persons | 758 | 9.5 | 6.7 | ||
| With 1 person | 3718 | 46.7 | 9.4 | ||
| Eating alone | 1362 | 17.1 | 12.9 | ||
| Living alone | Living alone | 1152 | 14.5 | 12.2 | <0.001 |
| Not alone | 6807 | 85.5 | 8.1 | ||
*Chi-square tests for trend were used to examine the association of depressive symptom with age and eating arrangement, respectively. Chi-square tests were used to examine the association between depressive symptom and each of the rest variables