Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of participants, given for the overall group, as well as split according to whether or not they used the internet frequently
| Covariates | Overall (n=454) | Using internet infrequently (n=198) | Using internet frequently (n=247) | |
| Site (semirural; other option was urban) (%) | 62.3 | 63.6 | 62.4 | |
| Season at start (autumn; other option was summer) (%) | 47.6 | 47.5 | 48.2 | |
| Gender (female) (%) | 52.9 | 58.6 | 48.6 | |
| Age bands (years, %) | ||||
| 65–74 | 59.9 | 44.4 | 73.7 | |
| 75–84 | 33.3 | 42.4 | 24.3 | |
| 85+ | 6.8 | 13.1 | 2.0 | |
| White British (seven missing) (%) | 86.1 | 84.4 | 87.4 | |
| Lonely (six-item de Jong Gierveld score) (50 missing) (%) | 34.9 | 38.7 | 31.2 | |
| Short Form-12 mental score (mean, SD) (42 missing) | 53.2, 8.6 | 52.6, 8.2 | 53.7, 8.9 | |
| Short form-12 physical score (mean, SD) (42 missing) | 43.9, 12.5 | 40.6, 12.7 | 46.5, 11.7 | |
| Recent sudden illness (12 missing) (%) | 17.0 | 18.2 | 15.7 | |
| Left full-time education before 17 years of age (three missing) (%) | 60.8 | 74.0 | 49.6 | |