Table 1.

Comparison of personal and family characteristics between widowed and married elders

Variable	Married elders (n = 1925)	Widowed elders (n = 1060)	P value
Sex	Male 57.2 %, Female 42.8 %	Male 29.7 %, Female 70.3 %	<0.001
Age	Average age 67.51, Standard deviation 6.01	Average age 73.51, Standard deviation 8.03	<0.001
Education	Illiterate 50.8 %; Elementary school 34.8 %; Junior high school or higher 14.4 %	Illiterate 71.0 %; Elementary school 22.2 %; Junior high school or Higher 6.8 %	<0.001
Having chronic diseases	Yes 82.4 %; No 17.6 %	Yes 85.8 %; No 14.2 %	<0.001
Living with children	Yes 37.7 %; No 62.3 %	Yes 52.8 %; No 47.2 %	<0.001
Children as a main source of financial support	Yes 21.4 %; No 78.6 %	Yes 41.9 %; No 58.1 %	<0.001
Frequency of children asking about their health	Frequently 70.6 %; Once in a while 24.2 %; Almost never 5.1 %	Frequently 71.0 %; Once in a while 23.9 %, Almost never 5.4 %	0.577
Children as a main caregiver when ill	Yes 70.7 %; No 29.3 %	Yes 93.2 %; No 6.8 %	<0.001