Table 1.
Characteristics of participants
| Women | Men | |
|---|---|---|
| Age, years, mean(SD) | 62.36(9.2) | 62.75(8.9) |
| N(%) | N(%) | |
| Birth cohort | ||
| Between 1919 and 1928 | 1386(10.2) | 990(9.2) |
| Between 1929 and 1938 | 3049(22.3) | 2660(24.7) |
| Between 1939 and 1945 | 3052(22.4) | 2628(24.4) |
| After 1945 | 6161(45.1) | 4514(41.8) |
| Childhood socioeconomic circumstances at the age of 10 years | ||
| Most disadvantaged | 2498(18.3) | 2059(19.1) |
| Disadvantaged | 3473(25.5) | 2693(25.0) |
| Middle | 4452(32.6) | 3399(31.5) |
| Advantaged | 2469(18.1) | 2019(18.7) |
| Most advantaged | 756(5.5) | 622(5.8) |
| Living with biological parents at the age of ten | ||
| Both parents | 12 339(90.4) | 9785(90.7) |
| One biological parent | 1035(7.6) | 815(7.6) |
| Without biological parent | 274(2.0) | 192(1.8) |
| Level of educational achievement | ||
| Primary | 3878(28.4) | 2479(23.0) |
| Secondary | 7434(54.5) | 5780(53.6) |
| Tertiary | 2336(17.1) | 2533(23.5) |
| Skills of main occupational position during active life | ||
| High-skilled | 2237(16.4) | 3362(31.2) |
| Low-skilled | 9444(69.2) | 7341(68.0) |
| Never worked | 1967(14.4) | 89(0.8) |
| Ability to make ends meet | ||
| Easily | 4798(35.2) | 4257(39.5) |
| Fairly easily | 4189(30.7) | 3353(31.1) |
| With some difficulty | 3091(22.7) | 2195(20.3) |
| With great difficulty | 1570(11.5) | 987(9.2) |
| Partnership status | ||
| Alone | 4315(31.6) | 1787(16.6) |
| Living with a partner | 9333(68.4) | 9005(83.4) |
| Number of chronic diseases | ||
| 2 or more | 6129(44.9) | 4071(37.7) |
| Less than 2 | 7519(55.1) | 6721(62.3) |
| Body mass index (continuous) | 26.44(4.5) | 26.99(3.7) |
| Countries | ||
| Austria | 495 (3.6) | 338(3.1) |
| Belgium | 1381(10.1) | 1141(10.6) |
| Czech Republic | 920(6.74) | 671(6.2) |
| Denmark | 1065(7.8) | 893(8.3) |
| France | 1204(8.8) | 900(8.3) |
| Germany | 898(6.6) | 782(7.3) |
| Greece | 1537(11.3) | 1194(11.1) |
| Ireland | 338(2.5) | 264(2.5) |
| Italy | 1270(9.3) | 1057(9.8) |
| Netherlands | 1039(7.6) | 870(8.1) |
| Poland | 920(6.7) | 702(6.5) |
| Spain | 1002(7.3) | 747(6.9) |
| Sweden | 924(6.8) | 734(6.8) |
| Switzerland | 655(4.8) | 499(4.6) |
| Attrition | ||
| No dropout | 9766(71.6) | 7312(67.8) |
| Dropout | 2881(21.1) | 2333(21.6) |
| Death | 1001(7.3) | 1147(10.6) |
| Disability | ||
| 1 or more ADL limitations, at baseline | 1223(9.0) | 709(6.6) |
| 1 or more IADL limitations, at baseline | 2221(16.3) | 904(8.4) |
Abbreviations: ADL, activities of daily living; IADL, instrumental activity of daily living; SD, standard deviation.