Table 2. Sample characteristics of 70-year-olds (born 1944, examined in 2014–16) by sex.
| Women | Men | All | Sex differences | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % (no. of cases/ total sample) | 53.4 (621/1164) | 46.6 (543/1164) | 100.0 (1164) | |||
| Demographics | pa | |||||
| Born in Sweden | 87.3 (541/620) | 83.1 (451/543) | 85.3 (992/1163) | --- | --- | *** |
| Living alone | 43.6 (271/621) | 27.8 (151/543) | 36.3 (422/1164) | --- | --- | *** |
| Special housing | 0.6 (4/621) | 1.1 (6/543) | 0.9 (10/1164) | --- | --- | 0.40 |
| Education | ||||||
| Primary education | 11.9 (74/621) | 16.8 (91/543) | 14.2 (165/1164) | --- | --- | *** |
| Secondary education | 49.3 (306/621) | 40.7 (221/543) | 45.3 (527/1164) | --- | --- | *** |
| Higher education | 38.8 (241/621) | 42.5 (231/543) | 40.5 (472/1164) | --- | --- | 0.21 |
| Work status | ||||||
| Working now | 12.6 (78/621) | 23.2 (126/543) | 17.5 (204/1164) | --- | --- | *** |
| Financial situation | ||||||
| Primary breadwinner | 54.9 (241/439) | 83.9 (338/403) | 68.8 (579/842) | --- | --- | *** |
| Difficult to make ends meet | 17.7 (105/593) | 10.1 (52/513) | 14.2 (157/1106) | --- | --- | *** |
| Somewhat easy to make ends meet | 45.7 (271/593) | 43.9 (225/513) | 44.8 (496/1106) | --- | --- | 0.54 |
| Very easy to make ends meet | 36.6 (217/593) | 46.0 (236/513) | 41.0 (453/1106) | --- | --- | *** |
| Relationships | ||||||
| Having partner | 64.1 (398/621) | 83.8 (455/543) | 73.3 (853/1164) | --- | --- | *** |
| Happy relationship | 51.5 (205/398) | 53.4 (243/455) | 52.5 (448/853) | --- | --- | *** |
| Personal care of partner | 5.0 (31/619) | 2.4 (13/543) | 5.2 (44/853) | --- | --- | *** |
| Lost partner preceding 5 y | 5.2 (32/621) | 4.1 (22/543) | 4.6 (54/1164) | --- | --- | 0.37 |
| Having children | 87.0 (535/615) | 87.4 (470/538) | 87.2(1005/1153) | --- | --- | 0.85 |
| Having ≥ 1 confidant | 95.3 (573/601) | 88.1 (459/521) | 92.0(1032/1122) | --- | --- | *** |
| Health | t (mean diff.) | (95% CI) | pc | |||
| Healthcare in preceding y | 93.4 (566/606) | 92.7 (496/535) | 93.1(1062/1141) | --- | --- | 0.65 |
| Good/Excellent self-rated health | 82.1 (494/602) | 86.5 (449/519) | 84.1 (943/1121) | --- | --- | *** |
| Smoking now | 10.9 (67/617) | 7.2 (39/542) | 9.1 (106/1159) | --- | --- | *** |
| CIRS-G score, mean (SD) | 6.1 (4.1) | 5.9 (3.9) | 5.9 (4.0) | -0.7 (-0.2) | -0.65–0.30 | 0.47 |
| ADL score, mean (SD) | 103.1 (6.9) | 103.6 (5.8) | 103.3 (6.4) | 1.4 (0.5) | -0.20–1.29 | 0.15 |
| Depression | OR | (95% CI) | pb | |||
| Major depression | 3.2 (20/621) | 1.5 (8/543) | 2.4 (28/1164) | 2.2 | 0.97–5.09 | 0.06 |
| Minor depression | 7.6 (47/621) | 5.2 (28/543) | 6.4 (75/1164) | 1.5 | 0.93–2.44 | 0.10 |
| Any depression | 10.8 (67/621) | 6.6 (36/543) | 8.8 (103/1164) | 1.7 | 1.12–2.60 | *** |
| Burden of depressive symptoms | t (mean diff.) | (95% CI) | pc | |||
| MADRS score, mean (SD) | 4.4 (5.4) | 3.6 (4.6) | 4.0 (5.1) | 2.8 (0.8) | 0.23–1.39 | *** |
| % (no. of cases/ total cases) | 53.6 (596/1112) | 46.4 (516/1112) | 100.0 (1112) | |||
| Femininity | t (mean diff.) | (95% CI) | pc | |||
| Femininity score, mean (SD) | 49.5 (9.0) | 45.3 (8.6) | 47.5 (9.0) | 7.8 (4.1) | 3.13–5.20 | *** |
| FEM+ score, mean (SD) | 31.0 (5.1) | 28.4 (5.5) | 29.8 (5.5) | 8.3 (2.7) | 2.02–3.28 | *** |
| FEM- score, mean (SD) | 18.4 (6.4) | 16.9 (5.8) | 17.7 (6.2) | 4.1 (1.5) | 0.78–2.21 | *** |
| Masculinity | t (mean diff.) | (95% CI) | pc | |||
| Masculinity score, mean (SD) | 42.7 (7.4) | 45.5 (8.2) | 44.0 (7.9) | -5.9 (-2.7) | -3.67–-1.83 | *** |
| MAS+ score, mean (SD) | 30.6 (5.2) | 31.7 (5.6) | 31.1 (5.4) | -3.25 (-1.05) | -1.69–-0.42 | *** |
| MAS- score, mean (SD) | 12.1 (5.0) | 13.8 (5.2) | 12.9 (5.2) | -5.55 (-1.70) | -2.30–-1.10 | *** |
| Androgyny | t (mean diff.) | (95% CI) | pc | |||
| Androgyny t score, mean (SD) | 1.2 (1.0) | 1.0 (0.9) | 1.1 (1.0) | 3.1 (0.17) | 0.06–0.28 | *** |
| Androgyny diff score, mean (SD) | 10.0 (7.6) | 8.2 (6.2) | 9.1 (7.0) | 4.4 (1.81) | 0.99–2.61 | *** |
Abbreviations: MADRS = Montgomery Åsberg Depression Rating Scale; FEM(+) = Feminine personality traits (desirable); FEM(-) = Feminine personality traits (undesirable); MAS(+) = Masculine personality traits (desirable); MAS(-) = Masculine personality traits (undesirable); Androgyny t score = t statistic ratio of masculinity vs. femininity; Androgyny diff score = difference between masculinity score and femininity score; Androgynous = masculinity vs. femininity (p<0.05); SD = standard deviation; OR = odds ratio
*** <0.05.
a Pearson’s chi-square
b Logistic regression (women vs. men)
c Independent samples t-test (women vs. men).