Table 1.
Characteristics of the study population, The Fourth Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2007–2009 (n=3567)
| Variable | n | Per cent |
|---|---|---|
| Sociodemographics | ||
| Age (years) | ||
| 65–69 | 1326 | 37.2 |
| 70–74 | 1122 | 31.4 |
| ≥75 | 1119 | 31.4 |
| Gender | ||
| Male | 1450 | 40.7 |
| Female | 2117 | 59.3 |
| Education level | ||
| Elementary school (≤6 years) | 2700 | 75.7 |
| More than elementary school | 867 | 24.3 |
| Household income* | ||
| US$<1000 per month | 1648 | 46.2 |
| US$≥1000 per month | 1919 | 53.8 |
| Marital status† | ||
| Living with spouse | 2233 | 62.6 |
| Living without spouse | 1334 | 37.4 |
| Health behavioural risks | ||
| Smoking | ||
| Not current smoker or never-smoker | 3046 | 85.4 |
| Current smoker | 521 | 14.6 |
| Alcohol | ||
| Less than once per month or never tried | 2442 | 68.5 |
| More than once per month | 1125 | 31.5 |
| Physical activity level | ||
| Never | 2398 | 67.2 |
| More than once per week | 743 | 20.8 |
| Everyday | 426 | 12.0 |
| Health status and accessibility | ||
| Self-reported health status | ||
| Unhealthy | 1583 | 44.4 |
| Fair | 847 | 23.7 |
| Healthy | 1137 | 31.9 |
| History of health screening‡ | ||
| No | 1598 | 44.8 |
| Yes | 1969 | 55.2 |
| Limitation in daily activities | ||
| No | 1974 | 55.3 |
| Yes | 1593 | 44.7 |
| Psychological factors | ||
| EuroQoL in VAS | ||
| ≤30 | 304 | 8.5 |
| 31–60 | 1171 | 32.8 |
| ≥61 | 2092 | 58.7 |
| Stress | ||
| Frequently | 2706 | 75.9 |
| Rarely | 861 | 24.1 |
| Depressive mood§ | ||
| Frequently | 2805 | 78.6 |
| Rarely | 762 | 21.4 |
*US$1000=1 million Korean won (US$1=KRW1000).
†The term ‘spouse’ refers to an individual who is legally married, or cohabiting and ‘without spouse’ refers to an individual who is single, divorced or separated.
‡Health screening refers to national healthcare services conducted within 2 years.
§Depressive mood lasted longer than 2 weeks in a year.
VAS, visual analogue scale.