Table 1.
Sociodemographic characteristics and selected health characteristics of the study samples in Ghana and South Africa, Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health (SAGE) Wave 2.
| Characteristics | Age Categories—Countries Combined | Ghana n = 4753 |
South Africa n = 3392 |
p Value | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18–49 Years Old (n = 2279) |
50+ Years Old (n = 5860) |
p Value | ||||
| Age in years, median (IQR) 50 plus years, n (%) |
n = 4743 58 (19.0) 3569 (75.2) |
n = 3396 54 (24.0) 2291 (67.5) |
<0.01 <0.01 |
|||
| Sex male, n (%) |
n = 2277 871 (38.3) |
n = 5857 2171 (37.0) |
0.32 |
n = 4753 1954 (41.1) |
n = 3392 1094 (32.3) |
<0.01 |
| Residence urban, n (%) |
n = 2110 1176 (55.7) |
n = 5560 2918 (52.5) |
0.01 |
n = 4728 1970 (41.6) |
n = 2924 2124 (72.8) |
<0.01 |
| Education | ||||||
| Ever attended school, n (%) |
n = 2108 1839 (87.2) |
n = 5546 3327 (60.0) |
<0.01 |
n = 4734 2764 (58.4) |
n = 2920 2402 (82.3) |
<0.01 |
| Educational level high school or above, n (%) |
n = 2099 1164 (55.5) |
n = 5493 1646 (30) |
<0.01 |
n = 4706 678 (14.4) |
n = 2886 696 (24.1) |
<0.01 |
| Employment status: currently working, (%) |
n = 1473 1124 (76.3) |
n = 4832 2611 (54.0) |
<0.01 |
n = 4537 3169 (69.8) |
n = 1768 566 (32.0) |
<0.01 |
| Marital status: married/cohabiting, n (%) |
n = 937 231 (24.7) |
n = 1984 684 (34.5) |
<0.01 |
n = 4738 2692 (56.8) |
n = 2921 915 (31.3) |
<0.01 |
| Waist to height ratio <0.5, n (%) |
n = 1853 693 (37.4) |
n = 4807 1369 (28.5) |
<0.01 |
n = 4347 1553 (35.7) |
n = 2313 509 (22.0) |
<0.01 |
| Body Mass Index (BMI), median (IQR) |
n = 1904 25 (7.7) |
n = 4883 24.2 (8.4) |
<0.01 |
n = 4456 22.9 (6.2) |
n = 2331 28.6 (9.9) |
<0.01 |
| Alcohol intake | ||||||
| Never n (%) |
n = 1597 397 (24.0) |
n = 1625 400 (24.6) |
0.87 |
n = 1168 786 (67.3) |
n = 2054 1639 (80.0) |
<0.01 |
| Recently yes, n (%) |
n = 515 351 (68.2) |
n = 1379 912 (66.1) |
0.41 |
n = 1379 916 (66.4) |
n = 515 347 (67.4) |
0.69 |
| Frequent, n (%) |
n = 508 203 (40.0) |
n = 1371 595 (43.4) |
<0.01 |
n = 1369 635 (46.4 ) |
n = 510 163 (32.0 ) |
<0.01 |
| Smoking status, current use of tobacco, n (%) |
n = 1616 137 (8.5) |
n = 1884 474 (25.2) |
<0.01 |
n = 1340 208 (15.5) |
n = 2160 403 (18.7) |
0.06 |
| Systolic blood pressure mmHg, median (IQR) |
n = 2030 119 (20.0) |
n = 5370 131 (28.0) |
<0.01 |
n = 4674 124.67 (28.0) |
n = 2726 130.7 (26.0) |
<0.01 |
| Diastolic blood pressure mmHg, median (IQR) |
n = 2030 75.7 (15.0) |
n = 5370 79.3 (17.0) |
<0.01 |
n = 4674 77 (16.0) |
n = 2726 80.67 (16.0) |
<0.01 |
| Hypertensive, n (%) |
n = 2079 401 (19.3) |
n = 5455 2320 (42.5) |
<0.01 |
n = 4675 1444 (30.9) |
n = 2859 1277 (44.7) |
<0.01 |
Data recorded as median (inter quartile range) and frequencies (%). Smokers identified by self-report. Frequent alcohol use defined as the consumption of one or more alcoholic drinks a day/week. Hypertensive categorized as BP ≥ 140/90 mmHg or previous diagnosis. Continuous variables were compared using the Independent Samples Mann Whitney U test; categorical variables were compared using the Chi-Square test.