Table 3.
Association of early-life risk factors and frailty by multivariate multinomial model (n = 5694)
| Prefrail [RR (95%CI)] | Frail [RR (95%CI)] | P for global test of interactione | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Education | 0.523 | ||
| Illiterate | ref. | ref. | |
| Primary school | 0.77 (0.66, 0.90) | 0.64 (0.49, 0.84) | |
| Middle school | 0.69 (0.56, 0.84) | 0.41 (0.27, 0.63) | |
| High school or above | 0.61 (0.48, 0.78) | 0.23 (0.12, 0.44) | |
| Maternal education | 0.377 | ||
| Illiterate | ref. | ref. | |
| Literatea | 1.05 (0.81, 1.35) | 1.02 (0.53, 1.95) | |
| Paternal education | 0.114 | ||
| Illiterate | ref. | ref. | |
| Literatea | 0.94 (0.83, 1.06) | 0.74 (0.57, 0.96) | |
| Family’s financial situation | 0.599 | ||
| Same as others | ref. | ref. | |
| Better off than others | 1.12 (0.91, 1.38) | 0.81 (0.50, 1.31) | |
| Worse than others | 1.06 (0.94, 1.20) | 1.19 (0.94, 1.51) | |
| Starvation | 0.830 | ||
| No | ref. | ref. | |
| Yes | 1.15 (0.98, 1.35) | 1.07 (0.78, 1.47) | |
| Severe | 1.30 (1.04, 1.62) | 1.24 (0.83, 1.88) | |
| Neighbourhoodb | 0.846 | ||
| 0 | ref. | ref. | |
| 1 | 0.74 (0.41, 1.33) | 0.60 (0.27, 1.34) | |
| 2 | 0.54 (0.32, 0.88) | 0.44 (0.23, 0.88) | |
| 3 | 0.53 (0.33, 0.85) | 0.45 (0.24, 0.84) | |
| 4 | 0.45 (0.28, 0.72) | 0.28 (0.15, 0.52) | |
| Childhood health status | 0.488 | ||
| Same as others | ref. | ref. | |
| Healthier than others | 0.91 (0.80, 1.03) | 0.74 (0.57, 0.96) | |
| Worse than others | 1.32 (1.09, 1.60) | 1.82 (1.33, 2.50) | |
| Age | 1.03 (1.02, 1.04) | 1.09 (1.07, 1.11) | |
| Sex | |||
| Female | ref. | ref. | |
| Male | 0.87 (0.77, 0.99) | 1.00 (0.78, 1.28) | |
| Residence | |||
| Urban | ref. | ref. | |
| Rural | 1.08 (0.95, 1.22) | 0.94 (0.74, 1.20) | |
| Marital status | |||
| Married | ref. | ref. | |
| Others c | 1.09 (0.93, 1.28) | 1.15 (0.87, 1.52) | |
| Count of comorbidityd | 1.16 (1.11, 1.21) | 1.22 (1.13, 1.31) | |
| ADL | 1.96 (1.65, 2.32) | 4.94 (3.83, 6.37) |
RR, risk ratio; CI, confidence interval.
aIncluding capable of reading or writing, traditional Chinese school (i.e. Sishu)/home school, elementary school, middle school, high school, vocational school, college or postgraduate.
b0: lowest quality, 4: highest quality.
cIncluding widowed, separated, divorced and never married.
dComorbidity includes hypertension, diabetes, cancer [excluding minor skin cancers], cardiac disease [including myocardial infarction, coronary heart disease, angina, heart failure or other heart problems], stroke, chronic lung diseases, liver disease, kidney disease, stomach or other digestive disease and arthritis/rheumatism.
eLog-likelihood ratio test for multiplicative interaction between each risk factor and sex, adjusting for age, residence, marital status, ADL disability and count of comorbidity.