Table 1.

The general characteristics of the study sample

		Retested in 2002, n=606 (%)	Tested only in 1996, n=527 (%)	P
Gender	Female	55	56
	Male	45	44	0.716
Age group	55–59 years	39	22
	60–64 years	28	21
	65–69 years	22	25
	70–79 years	11	32	<0.001
Marital status	Single	8	10
	Married	85	79
	Widowed	3	6
	Divorced	4	5	0.050
Education	No vocational training or education	29	38
	Vocational training (preparatory courses)	39	43
	Secondary education (middle or high school/vocational institute), for
	2 years or less	17	9
	More than 2 years	10	7
	Higher education (university/college)	5	4	<0.001
Physical activity	Vigorous activity at least twice a week	31	18
	Vigorous activity once a week and in addition other light activities	29	20
	Light intensity activity weekly	39	59
	No regular weekly activity	1	3	<0.001
Smoking	Never smoke	65	61
	Current smoker	9	16
	Past smoker	26	23	0.001
Perceived health status	Good	12	7
	Fairly good	36	29
	Average	49	55
	Fairly poor	3	9
	Poor	0	0	<0.001
BMI	Mean (SD)	27.2 (3.6)	28.4 (4.2)	<0.001

BMI body mass index (kg/m²)