Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of the CHARLS participants free of depressive symptoms
| Variable | Distribution |
| n | 10 288 |
| Age (years), mean (SD) | 58.5 (9.8) |
| Male, n (%) | 5845 (50.7) |
| Living in rural areas, n (%) | 8440 (73.3) |
| Education, n (%) | |
| No formal education or illiterate | 2736 (23.7) |
| Some primary school | 1804 (15.7) |
| Finished primary school | 2590 (22.5) |
| Junior high school or above | 4394 (38.1) |
| Currently married, n (%) | 10 375 (90.0) |
| Smoking status, n (%) | |
| Current smoker | 3629 (31.5) |
| Former smoker | 1034 (9.0) |
| Never smoking | 6868 (60.0) |
| Drinking status, n (%) | |
| Regular drinkers | 1951 (17.9) |
| Occasional drinkers | 476 (4.4) |
| Former drinkers | 646 (5.9) |
| Never drinking | 7833 (71.8) |
| Weight (kg), mean (SD) | 60 (11.8) |
| Height (m), mean (SD) | 1.6 (0.1) |
| Body mass index (kg/m2), mean (SD) | 23.7 (4) |
| Sleeping duration (hours), mean (SD) | 6.7 (1.7) |
| CES-D short form score | 5.1 (3.3) |
| Self-perceived health status, n (%) | |
| Excellent | 483 (4.2) |
| Very good | 1744 (15.1) |
| Good | 4136 (35.9) |
| Fair | 3977 (34.5) |
| Poor | 1187 (10.3) |
| Chronic conditions, n (%) | |
| Hypertension | 4045 (40.3) |
| Dyslipidaemia | 1016 (9.0) |
| Diabetes | 1210 (15.0) |
| Cancer | 97 (0.8) |
| Liver disease | 387 (3.4) |
| Heart disease | 1162 (10.1) |
| Stroke | 188 (1.6) |
| Kidney disease | 563 (4.9) |
| Gastrointestinal disease | 2180 (18.9) |
| Dementia | 105 (0.9) |
| Arthritis | 3221 (28.0) |
| Asthma | 312 (2.7) |
CES-D, Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale short form; CHARLS, China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study.