Table 1. Characteristics of individuals according to patterns of exercise.
| Ea-only | Ea > Ewo | Ea = Ewo | Ea < Ewo | Ewo-only | Non-exercisers | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N | Mean ± SD | 6,018 | 3,685 | 3,895 | 760 | 1,131 | 6,195 |
| Age (years) | 73.8 ± 6.1 | 72.6 ± 5.4 | 72.9 ± 5.4 | 72.3 ± 5.1 | 72.4 ± 5.5 | 74.5 ± 6.7 | |
| Sex (%) | Males | 48.8 | 53.4 | 46.9 | 44.1 | 36.5 | 47.1 |
| Equivalized income (%) | Low | 44.3 | 38.2 | 41.7 | 41.1 | 35.2 | 44.1 |
| Middle | 30.7 | 36.9 | 32.2 | 36.6 | 38.2 | 27.3 | |
| High | 7.9 | 10.6 | 9.2 | 10.3 | 10.8 | 8.5 | |
| Missing | 17.2 | 14.3 | 16.9 | 12.1 | 15.8 | 20.1 | |
| Educational attainment (%) | ≤9 | 40.1 | 30.8 | 37.6 | 29.3 | 29.9 | 47.9 |
| ≥10 | 58.5 | 68.1 | 61.2 | 69.5 | 68.3 | 50.1 | |
| Missing | 1.4 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1.8 | 2.1 | |
| Household composition (%) | Living alone | 16.8 | 12.0 | 11.1 | 11.2 | 11.4 | 13.6 |
| With others | 79.1 | 84.8 | 85.0 | 85.7 | 85.5 | 81.3 | |
| Missing | 4.1 | 3.2 | 3.9 | 3.2 | 3.1 | 5.1 | |
| Occupational status (%) | Employed | 22.2 | 20.8 | 22.2 | 17.4 | 22.9 | 26.1 |
| Not employed | 70.1 | 72.5 | 70.1 | 76.1 | 70.5 | 63.6 | |
| Missing | 7.7 | 6.7 | 7.7 | 6.6 | 6.6 | 10.3 | |
| Self-reported medical condition (%) | No illness or disability | 14.4 | 16.9 | 16.4 | 12.8 | 18.2 | 14.2 |
| Illness or disability | 81.3 | 78.3 | 77.8 | 80.5 | 75.2 | 80.4 | |
| Missing | 4.3 | 4.8 | 5.8 | 6.7 | 6.6 | 5.4 | |
| IADL (%) | High | 81.2 | 86.8 | 84.9 | 90.4 | 86.4 | 70.4 |
| Low | 16.6 | 11.8 | 13.1 | 7.6 | 11.9 | 26.4 | |
| Missing | 2.2 | 1.4 | 2.1 | 2.0 | 1.7 | 3.2 | |
| Depression (%) | No depression | 60.4 | 72.2 | 72.1 | 72.5 | 68.8 | 53.5 |
| Depressive tendency | 18.5 | 11.3 | 12.2 | 12.1 | 13.4 | 20.9 | |
| Depression | 5.6 | 2.0 | 2.7 | 2.8 | 4.1 | 8.7 | |
| Missing | 15.4 | 14.4 | 13.0 | 12.6 | 13.8 | 16.9 | |
| Frequency of meeting friends (%) | <1/mo | 31.9 | 16.1 | 16.3 | 13.8 | 16.9 | 35.6 |
| 1/mo-1/wk | 35.4 | 38.7 | 29.4 | 29.7 | 33.6 | 31.6 | |
| ≥2/wk | 28.5 | 42.9 | 51.2 | 54.5 | 47.3 | 26.7 | |
| Missing | 4.2 | 2.3 | 3.1 | 2.0 | 2.2 | 6.2 | |
| Receiving emotional support (%) | Yes | 91.3 | 95.7 | 95.7 | 97.1 | 95.8 | 89.3 |
| No | 6.8 | 2.7 | 2.9 | 1.8 | 2.9 | 7.9 | |
| Missing | 1.9 | 1.6 | 1.4 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 2.8 | |
| Providing emotional support (%) | Yes | 89.3 | 94.7 | 94.2 | 95.9 | 94.3 | 85.1 |
| No | 7.6 | 3.0 | 3.5 | 2.1 | 3.7 | 10.6 | |
| Missing | 3.0 | 2.4 | 2.2 | 2.0 | 1.9 | 4.2 | |
| Receiving instrumental support (%) | Yes | 91.7 | 95.6 | 96.1 | 97.0 | 95.5 | 91.8 |
| No | 6.3 | 2.6 | 2.5 | 1.8 | 3.3 | 5.7 | |
| Missing | 2.0 | 1.8 | 1.4 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 2.4 | |
| Providing instrumental support (%) | Yes | 75.3 | 82.5 | 81.5 | 82.2 | 83.3 | 72.1 |
| No | 19.8 | 13.6 | 14.0 | 14.2 | 13.9 | 21.9 | |
| Missing | 4.9 | 3.9 | 4.5 | 3.6 | 2.8 | 6.0 | |
| Frequency of exercising alone (%) | None | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 |
| A few times/yr | 7.8 | 0.0 | 13.4 | 24.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | |
| 1–3/mo | 8.1 | 4.9 | 9.7 | 26.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | |
| 1/wk | 11.4 | 9.4 | 12.3 | 29.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | |
| 2–3/wk | 27.3 | 31.4 | 29.8 | 19.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | |
| ≥4wk | 45.5 | 54.3 | 34.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | |
| Frequency of exercising with others (%) | None | 100.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 100.0 |
| A few times/yr | 0.0 | 30.9 | 13.4 | 0.0 | 20.4 | 0.0 | |
| 1–3/mo | 0.0 | 28.0 | 9.7 | 7.0 | 16.0 | 0.0 | |
| 1/wk | 0.0 | 26.2 | 12.3 | 14.5 | 18.5 | 0.0 | |
| 2–3/wk | 0.0 | 14.8 | 29.8 | 35.9 | 22.9 | 0.0 | |
| ≥4wk | 0.0 | 0.0 | 34.7 | 42.6 | 22.2 | 0.0 | |
| Total frequency of exercise (%) | Non-exercisers | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 100.0 |
| Category 1 | 7.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 20.4 | 0.0 | |
| Category 2 | 8.1 | 4.9 | 13.4 | 7.0 | 16.0 | 0.0 | |
| Category 3 | 11.4 | 9.4 | 9.7 | 14.5 | 18.5 | 0.0 | |
| Category 4 | 27.3 | 31.4 | 12.3 | 35.9 | 22.9 | 0.0 | |
| Category 5 | 45.5 | 54.3 | 64.5 | 42.6 | 22.2 | 0.0 | |
| Self-rated health (%) | Poor | 18.1 | 10.0 | 11.0 | 8.9 | 12.6 | 24.7 |
Ea-only: people who only exercised alone. Ea > Ewo: people who reported exercising more frequently alone than with others. Ea = Ewo: people who reported exercising alone or with others with equal frequency. Ea < Ewo: people who exercised with others more frequently than exercising alone. Ewo-only: people who only exercised with others. Total frequency of exercise (categories 1 to 3): people who exercised less than twice a week. Total frequency of exercise (categories 4 and 5): people who exercised at least twice a week. Results are presented as mean ± SD for continuous variables and percentage (%) for categorical variables.