Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of all participants aged 65 years and older and categorised by SRH trajectory group
| Characteristic | All | 1. Excellent | 2. Good | 3. Moderate | 4. Poor |
| n | 11 600 | 607 | 2111 | 7677 | 1205 |
| Demographics | |||||
| Age, median (IQR 25;75) | 69 (66; 73) | 68 (66; 72) | 69 (66; 72) | 69 (66; 72) | 70 (67; 74) |
| Range (years) | 65–95 | 65–90 | 65–92 | 65–93 | 65–90 |
| Missing | — | — | — | — | — |
| Sex, n (%) male | 5484 (47) | 344 (57) | 1161 (55) | 3523 (46) | 456 (38) |
| Missing | — | — | — | — | — |
| Highest level of education, n (%) | |||||
| Low | 6563 (57) | 301 (50) | 1006 (48) | 4482 (58) | 774 (64) |
| Intermediate | 2037 (18) | 107 (18) | 407 (19) | 1345 (18) | 178 (15) |
| High | 2239 (19) | 168 (28) | 592 (28) | 1319 (17) | 160 (13) |
| Missing | 761 (7) | 31 (5) | 106 (5) | 531 (7) | 93 (8) |
| Health status, n (%) | |||||
| SRH | |||||
| Excellent | 645 (6) | 373 (62) | 246 (12) | 26 (<1) | — |
| Very good | 2290 (20) | 155 (26) | 1326 (63) | 804 (10) | 5 (<1) |
| Good | 6358 (55) | 4 (<1) | 344 (16) | 5805 (76) | 205 (17) |
| Fair | 979 (8) | — | — | 275 (4) | 704 (58) |
| Poor | 20 (<1) | — | — | — | 20 (2) |
| Missing | 1308 (11) | 75 (12) | 195 (9) | 767 (10) | 271 (22) |
| Chronic diseases (self-reported) | |||||
| None | 6076 (52) | 467 (77) | 1386 (66) | 3871 (50) | 351 (29) |
| 1 | 3979 (34) | 116 (19) | 604 (29) | 2793 (36) | 466 (39) |
| ≥2 | 1545 (13) | 24 (4) | 121 (6) | 1013 (13) | 388 (32) |
| Missing | — | — | — | — | — |
| Health behaviours, n (%) | |||||
| Physical activity for at least 30 min | |||||
| ≥5 days/week | 6395 (55) | 368 (61) | 1330 (63) | 4226 (55) | 471 (39) |
| 2–4 days/week | 2481 (21) | 109 (18) | 396 (19) | 1743 (23) | 233 (19) |
| ≤1 day/week | 761 (7) | 27 (5) | 93 (4) | 512 (7) | 129 (11) |
| Missing | 1963 (17) | 103 (17) | 292 (14) | 1196 (16) | 372 (31) |
| Health behaviours, n (%) | |||||
| Smoking status | |||||
| Never smoker | 4453 (38) | 238 (40) | 802 (38) | 2981 (39) | 432 (36) |
| Former smoker | 5937 (51) | 314 (52) | 1121 (53) | 3890 (51) | 612 (51) |
| Current smoker | 789 (7) | 37 (6) | 128 (6) | 530 (7) | 94 (8) |
| Missing | 421 (4) | 18 (3) | 60 (3) | 276 (4) | 67 (6) |
| Alcohol consumption | |||||
| Abstainer | 2123 (18) | 78 (13) | 258 (12) | 1479 (19) | 307 (25) |
| Low risk | 3931 (34) | 198 (33) | 742 (35) | 2674 (35) | 317 (26) |
| At risk | 3958 (34) | 238 (40) | 863 (41) | 2566 (33) | 290 (24) |
| Missing | 1588 (14) | 93 (15) | 248 (12) | 958 (12) | 291 (24) |
| Physiological markers*, n (%) | |||||
| BMI in kg/m2† | |||||
| <23 | 1323 (11) | 107 (18) | 295 (14) | 822 (11) | 99 (8) |
| ≥23 and < 30$ | 8002 (69) | 436 (72) | 1560 (74) | 5317 (69) | 689 (57) |
| ≥30 | 2264 (20) | 64 (11) | 256 (12) | 1533 (20) | 411 (34) |
| Blood pressure in mm Hg‡ | |||||
| SBP≤140/160 and DBP<90$ | 6888 (59) | 367 (61) | 1271 (60) | 4511 (59) | 739 (61) |
| SBP≤140/160 and DBP≥90 | 92 (<1) | 3 (<1) | 20 (1) | 64 (1) | 5 (<1) |
| SBP>140/160 and DBP<90 | 3822 (33) | 194 (32) | 670 (32) | 2560 (33) | 398 (33) |
| SBP>140/160 and DBP≥90 | 774 (7) | 42 (7) | 145 (7) | 528 (7) | 59 (5) |
| CHOL/HDL ratio | |||||
| <3.5 | 5561 (48) | 310 (51) | 1040 (49) | 3663 (48) | 548 (45) |
| 3.5–4.9$ | 4540 (39) | 220 (37) | 820 (39) | 3022 (39) | 478 (40) |
| >5 | 1345 (12) | 68 (11) | 227 (11) | 895 (12) | 155 (13) |
| FEV1/FVC ratio | |||||
| ≥70$ | 8860 (76) | 473 (79) | 1625 (77) | 5862 (76) | 900 (75) |
| <70 | 2740 (24) | 134 (22) | 486 (23) | 1815 (24) | 305 (25) |
| Physiological markers, n (%) | |||||
| HbA1c in mmol/mol (% of total Hb) | |||||
| <48 (<6.5%)$ | 9208 (79) | 523 (87) | 1767 (84) | 6072 (79) | 846 (70) |
| 48–52 (6.5%–7%) | 424 (4) | 7 (1) | 43 (2) | 288 (4) | 86 (7) |
| 53–64 (7%–8%) | 324 (3) | 0 (0) | 39 (2) | 217 (3) | 68 (6) |
| >64 (>8%) | 88 (1) | 2 (<1) | 7 (<1) | 57 (1) | 22 (2) |
| Hb in g/L (mmol/L)§ | |||||
| <121/137 (<7.5/8.5)$ | 886 (8) | 46 (8) | 166 (8) | 549 (7) | 125 (10) |
| ≥121/137 (≥7.5/8.5) | 10 545 (91) | 552 (92) | 1921 (91) | 7018 (91) | 1054 (87) |
| TSH in mIU/L and fT4 in pmol/L | |||||
| TSH: 0.5–4.0 and fT4: 11–19.5$ | 2204 (19) | 99 (16) | 413 (20) | 1466 (19) | 226 (19) |
| TSH>4.0 and fT4≥11 or<11 | 427 (4) | 24 (4) | 61 (3) | 292 (4) | 50 (4) |
| TSH<0.5 and fT4≥11 | 81 (1) | 6 (1) | 8 (<1) | 59 (1) | 8 (1) |
| eGFR in ml/min/1.73m2¶ | |||||
| ≥90$ | 3809 (33) | 179 (30) | 622 (29) | 2568 (33) | 440 (37) |
| 60–89 | 6577 (57) | 375 (62) | 1285 (61) | 4315 (56) | 602 (50) |
| 45–59 | 898 (8) | 40 (7) | 166 (8) | 594 (8) | 98 (8) |
| <45 | 151 (1) | 4 (1) | 14 (1) | 98 (1) | 35 (3) |
| HSI | |||||
| ≤36$ | 2255 (19) | 128 (21) | 471 (22) | 1486 (19) | 170 (14) |
| >36 | 1502 (4) | 46 (8) | 188 (9) | 1031 (13) | 237 (20) |
| MMSE score** | |||||
| 25–30$ | 10 738 (93) | 552 (92) | 1980 (94) | 7178 (94) | 1028 (85) |
| <25 | 786 (7) | 53 (9) | 122 (6) | 449 (6) | 162 (14) |
| Sum score physiological markers | |||||
| None affected | 600 (5) | 33 (5) | 132 (6) | 386 (5) | 49 (4) |
| ≤2 | 6606 (57) | 369 (61) | 1298 (61) | 4385 (57) | 554 (46) |
| ≥3 | 4394 (38) | 202 (33) | 670 (32) | 2874 (37) | 589 (49) |
*Missing percentages for all physiological markers were <1% except for FEV1/FVC ratio (31%); TSH and fT4 (75%); and HSI (68%). Blood-based markers are reported in the International System of Units followed by conventional units if used in database. Values marked with $ are cut-offs used to define normal values.
†Cut-off was adjusted for age.
‡Higher cut-off for SBP was used if participants were aged ≥80.
§Cut-offs are adjusted for sex; men had higher cut-off.
¶Calculated by the Cockcroft Gault formula using serum creatinin in umol/l, age, weight and adjusted for sex.
**Cut-offs are adjusted for level of education.
BMI, body mass index; CHOL, cholesterol; DBP, diastolic blood pressure; eGFR, estimated glomerular filtration rate; FeV1, forced expired volume in one second; fT4, free thyroxine; FVC, forced vital capacity; Hb, haemoglobin; HbA1c, glycated haemoglobin; HDL, high-density lipoprotein; HSI, hepatic steatosis index; MMSE, mini-mental state examination; n, number of participants; SBP, systolic blood pressure; SRH, self-rated health; TSH, thyroid stimulating hormone.