Table 2.

Comparison of Characteristics by Group at the Baseline, July 2012

Variables	Group 1	Group 2	Control	Group 1-Control	Group 2-Control	Group 1-Group 2
Age	64.5	66.5	65.5	−0.9	1.1	−2.0
Female, %	51.9	54.2	55.9	−4.0	−1.7	−2.2
Family structures, %
Living alone	14.4	16.0	14.6	−0.2	1.3	−1.5
Living with spouse only	34.3	32.8	36.9	−2.7	−4.2	1.5
Living with kids only	13.4	17.6	17.3	−3.9	0.4	−4.2
Living with both spouse and kids	35.8	32.8	28.8	7.0	4.0	3.1
Other family structure	2.1	0.8	2.4	−0.3	−1.6	1.2
Education, %
No education	32.4	37.2	39.6	−7.2	−2.4	−4.8
Attend elementary school	45.8	48.5	44.4	1.4	4.1	−2.7
Attend high school or above	21.9	14.3	16.1	5.8	−1.8	7.6
Average annual income, ¥	5540	6797	5405	135	1392	−1257
Personal annual medical expenditure, ¥	1854	1689	1891	−37	−202	165
Salt control	3.5	3.4	3.3	0.2	0.2	0.0
Fat control	3.7	3.5	3.6	0.1	0.0	0.2
Self-assessed competence to treatment adherence	75.4	71.8	70.7	4.7	1.1	3.6
SF36 Physical health	45.4	47.3	50.5	−5.1	−3.1	−1.9
SF36 Psychological health	48.3	50.8	52.8	−4.5	−2.0	−2.5
SF36 Total Score	47.8	50.1	52.5	−4.7	−2.4	−2.3

Notes: Bold denotes significant at p-value < 0.05. The values of salt control and fat control are 1 = never, 2 = occasional, 3 = sometimes, 4 = often, 5 = always; self-assessed competence to treatment adherence is between 0 and 100, with a larger number indicating higher competence; and the values of SF scores are between 0 and 100, with a larger number indicating better health