Table 2.
Characteristics of study participants according to age groups and physical performance categories.
| Young (n = 11) | Old (n = 23) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Characteristic | HF (n = 16) | LF (n = 7) | p Value | |
| Age (years), median (IQR) | 22 (21–28) | 73 (71–81) * | 80.0 (80–83) * | <0.0001 a |
| Sex (women), n (%) | 5 (45.5) | 4 (25.0) | 5 (71.4) | 0.1076 b |
| BMI (kg/m2), mean ± SD | 24.9 ± 4.2 | 27.7 ± 3.6 | 27.8 ± 4.2 | 0.1604 c |
| Total iron levels (ppm), median (IQR) | 36.3 (32.9–58.8) | 76.8 (54.0–111.3) * | 82.9 (60.5–119.3) * | 0.0256 c |
| Number of diseases ¥, median (IQR) | 1.0 (0–2.0) | 1.5 (1.0–3.0) | 2 (1.0–4.0) | 0.1274 c |
| Number of medications #, median (IQR) | 1.5 (0–3.0) | 3.0 (1.0–8.0) | 3.0 (0.5–5.5) | 0.3112 c |
| SPPB summary score, median (IQR) | 11 (11–12) | 6 (6–7) | 0.0002 d | |
Abbreviations: BMI, body mass index; HF, high-functioning; IQR, interquartile range; LF, low-functioning; SD, standard deviation; SPPB, short physical performance battery. * p < 0.05 vs. young group. ¥ includes hypertension, coronary artery disease, prior stroke, peripheral vascular disease, diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and osteoarthritis. # includes prescription and over-the-counter drugs. a Kruskal–Wallis H statistics. b χ2 test. c One-way ANOVA. d Mann–Whitney U test.