Table 2.
Participant characteristics at baseline by social isolation.
| Participant characteristic | Social isolation
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Not isolated (n=5892; 82.6%) | Isolated (n = 1243; 17.4%) | p-value | |
| Age (years) | |||
| 52–59 | 1856 (31.5) | 356 (28.6) | <.001 |
| 60–69 | 2086 (35.4) | 373 (30.0) | – |
| 70–79 | 1438 (24.4) | 325 (26.1) | – |
| ≥80 | 512 (8.7) | 189 (15.2) | – |
| Sex | |||
| Male | 2619 (44.5) | 583 (46.9) | .114 |
| Female | 3273 (55.5) | 660 (53.1) | – |
| Ethnicity | |||
| White | 5811 (98.7) | 1229 (98.9) | .403 |
| Non-white | 79 (1.3) | 13 (1.0) | – |
| Educational attainment | |||
| None | 2005 (34.0) | 566 (45.5) | <.001 |
| Up to degree level | 3093 (52.5) | 568 (45.7) | – |
| Degree or equivalent | 792 (13.4) | 109 (8.8) | – |
| Occupational class | |||
| Routine | 2339 (40.2) | 606 (49.6) | <.001 |
| Intermediate | 1419 (24.4) | 288 (23.6) | – |
| Managerial | 2060 (40.2) | 328 (26.8) | – |
| Wealth quintile | |||
| 1 (poorest) | 734 (13.9) | 341 (30.4) | <.001 |
| 2 | 978 (18.5) | 253 (22.5) | – |
| 3 | 1144 (21.6) | 204 (18.2) | – |
| 4 | 1209 (22.8) | 162 (14.4) | – |
| 5 (richest) | 1230 (23.2) | 162 (14.4) | – |
| Baseline health status | |||
| Limiting long-standing illness | |||
| Present | 1923 (32.6) | 506 (40.7) | <.001 |
| Absent | 3967 (67.4) | 737 (59.3) | – |
| Functional impairment | |||
| Present | 1055 (17.9) | 297 (23.9) | <.001 |
| Absent | 4836 (82.1) | 946 (76.1) | – |
| Depressive symptoms | |||
| Present | 715 (12.2) | 268 (21.8) | <.001 |
| Absent | 5146 (87.8) | 961 (78.2) | – |
| Heart disease | |||
| Present | 680 (11.5) | 169 (13.6) | .042 |
| Absent | 5212 (88.5) | 1074 (86.4) | – |
| Diabetes | |||
| Present | 471 (8.0) | 107 (8.6) | .471 |
| Absent | 5421 (92.0) | 1136 (91.4) | – |
| Stroke | |||
| Present | 218 (3.7) | 74 (6.0) | <.001 |
| Absent | 5674 (96.3) | 1169 (94.0) | – |
| Cancer | |||
| Present | 368 (6.2) | 76 (6.1) | .862 |
| Absent | 5892 (93.8) | 1167 (93.9) | – |
| Asthma | |||
| Present | 747 (12.7) | 168 (13.5) | .422 |
| Absent | 5145 (87.3) | 1075 (86.5) | – |
| Chronic lung disease | |||
| Present | 382 (6.5) | 137 (11.0) | <.001 |
| Absent | 5510 (93.5) | 1106 (89.0) | – |
| Health behaviours | |||
| Smoking | |||
| Current smoker | 755 (12.8) | 283 (22.8) | <.001 |
| Non-smoker | 5126 (87.2) | 959 (77.2) | – |
| Physical activity | |||
| Once a week or more | 3894 (66.1) | 696 (56.0) | <.001 |
| Less than once a week | 1998 (33.9) | 547 (44.0) | – |
| Alcohol intake | |||
| Daily | 1334 (22.6) | 244 (19.6) | .020 |
| Less than daily | 4308 (73.1) | 946 (76.1) | – |
| Cognitive function | |||
| Time orientation | |||
| Yes | 4802 (81.5) | 975 (78.4) | .012 |
| No | 1090 (18.5) | 268 (21.6) | – |
| Recall (mean, SD) | 5.82 (1.68) | 5.52 (1.75) | <.001 |
| Fluency (mean, SD) | 20.49 (6.26) | 19.38 (6.27) | <.001 |
Note: Numbers may not sum to the total sample number, as some items were not answered by all participants. Valid percentages are presented for ease of interpretation. Values are numbers (percentages) unless stated otherwise