Table 1. Baseline characteristics of the elderly adults, a cohort study in China, 1998-2019.
| Variables | Sensory impairment | ||||
| No sensory impairment (n=18,884) | VI only (n=5,141) | HI only (n=5,277) | DSI (n=7,774) | P value | |
| Age at baseline, years | <0.0001 | ||||
| Mean ± SD | 83.29 ± 10.92 | 90.23 ± 10.35 | 94.03 ± 7.66 | 97.35 ± 6.55 | |
| Median (IQR) | 83.45 (74.61-91.25) | 91.33 (83.83-100.00) | 94.58 (89.19-100.60) | 100.14 (93.09-101.65) | |
| Categories, n(%) | <0.0001 | ||||
| <80 years | 6583 (34.86) | 800 (15.56) | 198 (3.75) | 127 (1.63) | |
| 80-89 years | 6646 (35.19) | 1416 (27.54) | 1270 (24.07) | 910 (11.71) | |
| 90-99 years | 3936 (20.84) | 1638 (31.86) | 2095 (39.70) | 2644 (34.01) | |
| ≥100 years | 1719 (9.10) | 1287 (25.03) | 1714 (32.48) | 4093 (52.65) | |
| Sex, n(%) | <0.0001 | ||||
| Male | 9416 (49.86) | 1797 (34.95) | 2174 (41.20) | 1962 (25.24) | |
| Female | 9468 (50.14) | 3344 (65.05) | 3103 (58.80) | 5812 (74.76) | |
| Residence, n(%) | <0.0001 | ||||
| City | 4834 (25.60) | 1027 (19.98) | 1256 (23.80) | 1451 (18.66) | |
| Town | 5429 (28.75) | 1510 (29.37) | 1752 (33.20) | 2336 (30.05) | |
| Rural area | 8621 (45.65) | 2604 (50.65) | 2269 (43.00) | 3987 (51.29) | |
| Ethic, n(%)* | <0.0001 | ||||
| Han | 17465 (94.13) | 4714 (92.98) | 4999 (96.01) | 7365 (95.91) | |
| Others | 1089 (5.87) | 356 (7.02) | 208 (3.99) | 314 (4.09) | |
| Marriage status, n(%)* | <0.0001 | ||||
| Married | 11198 (59.33) | 3975 (77.38) | 4419 (83.77) | 7090 (91.22) | |
| Others | 7677 (40.67) | 1162 (22.62) | 856 (16.23) | 682 (8.78) | |
| Occupation, n(%)* | <0.0001 | ||||
| Farmer or manual | 10122 (53.85) | 3151 (61.52) | 2745 (52.25) | 4773 (61.75) | |
| Clerical | 5111 (27.19) | 1225 (23.92) | 1614 (30.72) | 1885 (24.39) | |
| Professional | 1748 (9.30) | 180 (3.51) | 220 (4.19) | 161 (2.08) | |
| Others | 1814 (9.65) | 566 (11.05) | 675 (12.85) | 911 (11.79) | |
| Education, n(%)* | <0.0001 | ||||
| Illiterate | 10252 (54.51) | 3706 (72.65) | 3811 (72.56) | 6474 (84.22) | |
| Primary school | 6236 (33.16) | 1133 (22.21) | 1145 (21.80) | 1015 (13.20) | |
| Middle school or above | 2319 (12.33) | 262 (5.14) | 296 (5.64) | 198 (2.58) | |
| Access to medical service, n(%)* | <0.0001 | ||||
| Yes | 16375 (86.77) | 4343 (84.51) | 4495 (85.21) | 6472 (83.27) | |
| No | 2497 (13.23) | 796 (15.49) | 780 (14.79) | 1300 (16.73) | |
| Smoking status, n(%)* | <0.0001 | ||||
| Never | 11711 (62.10) | 3722 (72.48) | 3583 (68.05) | 6128 (78.98) | |
| Ever smoker | 2787 (14.78) | 641 (12.48) | 799 (15.18) | 854 (11.01) | |
| Current smoker | 4361 (23.12) | 772 (15.03) | 883 (16.77) | 777 (10.01) | |
| Drinking status, n(%)* | <0.0001 | ||||
| Never | 12459 (66.10) | 3722 (72.50) | 3537 (67.17) | 5868 (75.69) | |
| Ever drinker | 1936 (10.27) | 496 (9.66) | 548 (10.41) | 747 (9.63) | |
| Current drinker | 4453 (23.63) | 916 (17.84) | 1181 (22.43) | 1138 (14.68) | |
| Exercise status, n(%)* | <0.0001 | ||||
| Never | 11258 (59.76) | 3602 (70.27) | 3615 (68.77) | 6009 (77.58) | |
| Ever exerciser | 974 (5.17) | 392 (7.65) | 418 (7.95) | 795 (10.26) | |
| Current exerciser | 6606 (35.07) | 1132 (22.08) | 1224 (23.28) | 942 (12.16) | |
| ADL score, n(%)* | <0.0001 | ||||
| 6 | 16418 (87.18) | 3543 (69.06) | 3352 (63.91) | 3162 (40.81) | |
| 5 | 1423 (7.56) | 684 (13.33) | 905 (17.25) | 1180 (15.23) | |
| 3-4 | 550 (2.92) | 447 (8.71) | 499 (9.51) | 1150 (14.84) | |
| 0-2 | 441 (2.34) | 456 (8.89) | 489 (9.32) | 2256 (29.12) | |
| Physical performance score, n(%)* | <0.0001 | ||||
| 5 | 13213 (70.24) | 2046 (40.11) | 2065 (39.31) | 1084 (14.10) | |
| 2.5-4.5 | 5194 (27.61) | 2554 (50.07) | 2761 (52.56) | 4314 (56.13) | |
| 0-2.5 | 405 (2.15) | 501 (9.82) | 427 (8.13) | 2288 (29.77) | |
| MMSE score, n(%)* | <0.0001 | ||||
| 24-30 | 13768 (78.11) | 2288 (47.27) | 1589 (32.18) | 732 (10.10) | |
| 18-23 | 2819 (15.99) | 1394 (28.80) | 1167 (23.63) | 1034 (14.27) | |
| 0-17 | 1040 (5.90) | 1158 (23.93) | 2182 (44.19) | 5482 (75.63) | |
| Food diversity score, n(%)* | <0.0001 | ||||
| 6-8 | 9344 (50.12) | 2058 (40.43) | 2155 (41.59) | 2550 (33.39) | |
| 4-5 | 6352 (34.07) | 1878 (36.90) | 1961 (37.85) | 2981 (39.03) | |
| 0-3 | 2946 (15.80) | 1154 (22.67) | 1065 (20.56) | 2106 (27.58) | |
| Social activity score, n(%)* | <0.0001 | ||||
| 5-8 | 4861 (25.76) | 532 (10.35) | 1055 (20.01) | 668 (8.60) | |
| 3-4 | 9701 (51.41) | 2356 (45.84) | 2136 (40.51) | 2463 (31.71) | |
| 0-2 | 4307 (22.83) | 2252 (43.81) | 2082 (39.48) | 4637 (59.69) | |
| Chronic disease score, n(%)* | <0.0001 | ||||
| 0 | 10681 (58.60) | 2968 (60.02) | 3272 (64.23) | 4858 (64.61) | |
| 1-2 | 5875 (32.23) | 1523 (30.80) | 1481 (29.07) | 2164 (28.78) | |
| ≥3 | 1671 (9.17) | 454 (9.18) | 341 (6.69) | 497 (6.61) | |
Abbreviations: ADL: activities of daily living; DSI: dual sensory impairment; HI: hearing impairment; IQR, interquartile range; MMSE: Mini-Mental State Examination; SD standard deviation; VI: vision impairment.
*: contains missing values. Ethic: 566, marriage status:17, occupation: 175, access to medical service: 18, education:229, smoking status: 58, drinking status: 75, exercise status: 109, ADL score: 121, physical performance score: 224, MMSE score: 2,423, food diversity score: 526, social activity score: 26, chronic disease score: 1,291.