Skip to main content
. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2017 Feb 13.
Published in final edited form as: JAMA Intern Med. 2016 Dec 1;176(12):1872–1875. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2016.6751

Table 1.

Characteristics of Participants

N = 2015
Sociodemographic characteristics Percent1
Age
 65–74 48.7
 75–84 36.6
 85+ 14.6
Gender
 Female 55.7
 Male 44.3
Race/ethnicity
 White 80.7
 Black/African American 8.5
 Hispanic/Latino 6.8
  English-speaking 50.9
  Spanish-speaking 49.1
 Other 3.9
Education
 HS diploma or less 51.4
 Greater than HS 48.6
Annual Income2
 <$25,000 41.2
 $25,000+ 58.8
Health-related characteristics
Self-rated health
 Excellent or Very good 45.4
 Good 31.3
 Fair or Poor 23.3
Dementia3
 None 80.0
 Possible or probable dementia 20.0
Number of chronic medical conditions4
 None 53.4
 1–2 35.1
 More than 2 11.4
Needs help with # ADLs5
 0 82.0
 1 or 2 10.5
 3+ 7.5
Sample characteristics
Respondent
 Sample 94.2
 Proxy 5.8
Engagement in ACP
EOL discussion 60.2
Durable Power of Attorney 49.7
Advance Directive 52.4
No elements 27.3
All three elements 37.5
1

Weighted to adjust for complex survey design

2

Self-reported total annual income includes sources such as social security, supplemental social security, Veterans Administration, pension plan, earned income, retirement account withdrawals, or interest or dividend from mutual funds, socks, bonds, bank accounts, or CDs. For individuals who answered “don’t know” (24%) or “refused” (18%) we substituted an imputed value using the first of five income imputations provided by NHATS (see Technical Paper #3 available at nhatsdata.org).

3

Dementia was defined using the NHATS algorithm, which relies on a combination of information about self- or proxy-reported physician-diagnosed dementia, completion of the AD8 dementia screening questionnaire by proxies, or cognitive testing of the sample person; round 2 incorporates round 1 results. Participants were categorized as having no cognitive impairment as compared to having possible dementia or probable dementia. This broad NHATS dementia algorithm has a sensitivity of 85.7% and specificity of 61.6% (see Technical Paper #5).

4

Chronic conditions for which respondents reported receiving a physician’s diagnosis included: heart attack, heart disease, high blood pressure, arthritis, osteoporosis, diabetes, lung disease, stroke, cancer, or broken or fractured hip.

5

ADLs: reported self-care or mobility limitations for eating, dressing, bathing, toileting, getting out of bed, getting around inside, getting outside; corresponding to activities of daily living (ADLs).