Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of the population.
| Variables | N | % |
|---|---|---|
| Gender (N = 1044) | ||
| Male | 365 | 35.0 |
| Female | 679 | 65.0 |
| Age (N = 1028; mean, SD) | 43 | 15 |
| 18–20 | 47 | 4.5 |
| 21–64 | 882 | 84.4 |
| >64 | 99 | 9.5 |
| Education (N = 1034) | ||
| Primary school | 423 | 40.5 |
| Secondary school | 369 | 35.3 |
| Tertiary/University | 242 | 23.2 |
| Employment status (N = 1037) | ||
| Employed | 691 | 67.3 |
| Unemployed | 32 | 3.1 |
| Students | 48 | 4.7 |
| Unpaid domestic work | 155 | 15.1 |
| Retired | 101 | 9.8 |
| Marital status (N = 1035) | ||
| Single | 318 | 30.7 |
| Married | 515 | 49.8 |
| Divorced | 127 | 12.3 |
| Widowed | 75 | 7.2 |
| Hypertension * (N = 1044) | 375 | 35.9 |
| Diabetes * (N = 1044) | 155 | 14.8 |
| High Cholesterol * (N = 1044) | 269 | 25.8 |
| AMI or Stroke (N = 1044) | 73 | 7.0 |
| Asthma (N = 1044) | 56 | 5.4 |
| Hypothyroidism (N = 1044) | 91 | 8.7 |
| Celiac Disease (N = 1044) | 4 | 0.4 |
| Cancer (N = 1044) | 15 | 1.4 |
| Other chronic diseases ** (N = 1044) | 146 | 14.0 |
| Multimorbidities (N = 1044) | 346 | 33.1 |
| 0 | 396 | 37.9 |
| 1 | 302 | 28.9 |
| 2 | 208 | 19.9 |
| 3 | 95 | 9.1 |
| 4 | 27 | 2.6 |
| 5 | 12 | 1.1 |
| 6 | 4 | 0.4 |
AMI = Acute Myocardial Infarction; * Previously diagnosed by a medical doctor; ** Arthritis, Osteoarthritis, Osteoporosis, Depression, Chronic Allergies, Chronic Pulmonary Obstructive Disease, Gastritis, Migraine, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Epilepsy, Psychosis, Multiple Sclerosis, Psoriasis, Gout Disease, Herniated Disc, Inflammatory Vasculitis.