Table 1.
Characteristics of Study Population by Childhood and Adult SES: HRS, 1992-2012.
| Characteristic | Total | % | Childhood SES |
Adult SES |
||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low SES |
Middle SES |
High SES |
p value | Low SES |
High SES |
p value | ||||||||
| n | % | n | % | n | % | n | % | n | % | |||||
| Total | 29,436 | 100.0 | 11,822 | 100.0 | 8,577 | 100.0 | 9,037 | 100.0 | 17,188 | 100.0 | 13,435 | 100.0 | ||
| Childhood SES | ||||||||||||||
| High SES | 9,037 | 30.7 | 9,037 | 100.0 | 2,777 | 17.1 | 6,260 | 47.6 | <.0001 | |||||
| Middle SES | 8,577 | 29.1 | 8,577 | 100.0 | 4,638 | 28.5 | 3,939 | 30.0 | ||||||
| Low SES | 11,822 | 40.2 | 11,822 | 100.0 | 8,873 | 54.5 | 2,949 | 22.4 | ||||||
| Age (years) | ||||||||||||||
| 80+ | 13,025 | 44.3 | 6,928 | 58.6 | 4,349 | 50.7 | 1,748 | 19.3 | <.0001 | 8,671 | 53.2 | 4,354 | 33.1 | <.0001 |
| 70-79 | 7,088 | 24.1 | 2,588 | 21.9 | 2,037 | 23.8 | 2,463 | 27.3 | 3,672 | 22.5 | 3,416 | 26.0 | ||
| 60-69 | 5,903 | 20.1 | 1,566 | 13.3 | 1,428 | 16.7 | 2,909 | 32.2 | 2,464 | 15.1 | 3,439 | 26.2 | ||
| 50-59 | 3,420 | 11.6 | 740 | 6.3 | 763 | 8.9 | 1,917 | 21.2 | 1,481 | 9.1 | 1,939 | 14.8 | ||
| Sex | ||||||||||||||
| Male | 12,989 | 44.1 | 5,134 | 43.4 | 3,624 | 42.3 | 4,231 | 46.8 | <.0001 | 6,622 | 40.7 | 6,367 | 48.4 | <.0001 |
| Female | 16,447 | 55.9 | 6,688 | 56.6 | 4,953 | 57.8 | 4,806 | 53.2 | 9,666 | 59.3 | 6,781 | 51.6 | ||
| Race | ||||||||||||||
| White | 23,322 | 79.2 | 8,622 | 72.9 | 7,139 | 83.2 | 7,561 | 83.7 | <.0001 | 12,342 | 75.8 | 10,980 | 83.5 | <.0001 |
| Black | 4,352 | 14.8 | 2,143 | 18.1 | 1,132 | 13.2 | 1,077 | 11.9 | 2,918 | 17.9 | 1,434 | 10.9 | ||
| Others | 1,762 | 6.0 | 1,057 | 8.9 | 306 | 3.6 | 399 | 4.4 | 1,028 | 6.3 | 734 | 5.6 | ||
| Education | ||||||||||||||
| Less than high school | 6,679 | 22.7 | 4,959 | 42.0 | 1,329 | 15.5 | 391 | 4.3 | <.0001 | 6,493 | 39.9 | 186 | 1.4 | <.0001 |
| High school | 9,804 | 33.3 | 4,035 | 34.1 | 3,449 | 40.2 | 2,320 | 25.7 | 7,506 | 46.1 | 2,298 | 17.5 | ||
| College or higher | 12,953 | 44.0 | 2,828 | 23.9 | 3,799 | 44.3 | 6,326 | 70.0 | 2,289 | 14.1 | 10,664 | 81.1 | ||
| Household income | ||||||||||||||
| Quartile 1 | 9,448 | 32.1 | 5,266 | 44.5 | 2,235 | 26.1 | 1,947 | 21.5 | <.0001 | 7,374 | 45.3 | 2,074 | 15.8 | <.0001 |
| Quartile 2 | 5,176 | 17.6 | 1,864 | 15.8 | 1,552 | 18.1 | 1,760 | 19.5 | 2,887 | 17.7 | 2,289 | 17.4 | ||
| Quartile 3 | 7,351 | 25.0 | 2,683 | 22.7 | 2,445 | 28.5 | 2,223 | 24.6 | 3,665 | 22.5 | 3,686 | 28.0 | ||
| Quartile 4 | 7,461 | 25.4 | 2,009 | 17.0 | 2,345 | 27.3 | 3,107 | 34.4 | 2,362 | 14.5 | 5,099 | 38.8 | ||
| Health behaviors | ||||||||||||||
| Ever smoked | 5,610 | 19.1 | 2,502 | 21.2 | 1,821 | 21.3 | 1,287 | 14.2 | <.0001 | 3,444 | 21.1 | 2,166 | 16.5 | <.0001 |
| Ever drunk | 5,856 | 19.9 | 2,349 | 19.9 | 1,983 | 23.1 | 1,524 | 16.9 | <.0001 | 3,157 | 19.4 | 2,699 | 20.5 | <.0001 |
| Obese (BMI ≥ 30) | 3,506 | 11.9 | 1,595 | 13.5 | 1,030 | 12.0 | 881 | 9.75 | <.0001 | 2,215 | 13.6 | 1,291 | 9.8 | <.0001 |
| Health outcomes | ||||||||||||||
| Hypertension | 18,753 | 63.7 | 8,105 | 68.6 | 5,554 | 64.8 | 5,094 | 56.4 | <.0001 | 11,060 | 67.9 | 7,693 | 58.5 | <.0001 |
| Diabetes | 7,451 | 25.3 | 3,524 | 29.8 | 2,037 | 23.8 | 1,890 | 20.9 | <.0001 | 4,644 | 28.5 | 2,807 | 21.4 | <.0001 |
| Cancer | 5,737 | 19.5 | 2,336 | 19.8 | 1,929 | 22.5 | 1,472 | 16.3 | <.0001 | 3,213 | 19.7 | 2,524 | 19.2 | .3794 |
| Lung disease | 4,700 | 16.0 | 2,167 | 18.3 | 1,487 | 17.3 | 1,046 | 11.6 | <.0001 | 3,136 | 19.3 | 1,564 | 11.9 | <.0001 |
| CHD | 9,957 | 33.8 | 4,651 | 39.3 | 3,175 | 37.0 | 2,131 | 23.6 | <.0001 | 6,175 | 37.9 | 3,782 | 28.8 | <.0001 |
| Stroke | 3,455 | 11.7 | 1,770 | 15.0 | 1,090 | 12.7 | 595 | 6.6 | <.0001 | 2,329 | 14.3 | 1,126 | 8.6 | <.0001 |
| Psychiatric | 6,963 | 23.7 | 3,044 | 25.8 | 1,998 | 23.3 | 1,921 | 21.3 | <.0001 | 4,261 | 26.2 | 2,702 | 20.6 | <.0001 |
| Arthritis | 18,469 | 62.7 | 7,957 | 67.3 | 5,616 | 65.5 | 4,896 | 54.2 | <.0001 | 10,815 | 66.4 | 7,654 | 58.2 | <.0001 |
Note. Health outcomes, including hypertension, diabetes, cancer, lung disease, CHD, stroke, psychiatric, and arthritis conditions, were defined by a person’s self-identified response to the HRS survey question as to whether a doctor had told them that they had one of these conditions. A person was considered to have one of the above conditions if that health condition occurred more than once over the 11 waves (1992-2012), and this was recorded as a binary outcome variable (ever or never). SES = socioeconomic status; BMI = body mass index; CHD = coronary heart disease; HRS = Health and Retirement Study.