Table 1.
Sociodemographic data and health status between normal and psychological distress participants [presented as mean ± standard deviation and number of participants (%)].
| Parameter | Total (n = 535) | Normal (n = 471) | Psychological Distress (n = 64) |
p-Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Demographic | ||||
| Age (year) | 71.18 ± 5.72 | 71.00 ± 5.66 | 72.50 ± 6.00 | 0.049 * |
| Gender | ||||
| Men | 238 (44.5) | 205 (43.5) | 33 (51.6) | 0.231 |
| Women | 297 (55.5) | 266 (56.5) | 31 (48.4) | |
| Ethnic: | ||||
| Malay | 319 (59.6) | 268 (56.9) | 51 (79.7) | 0.001 ** |
| Chinese | 187 (35.0) | 178 (37.8) | 9 (14.1) | |
| Indian | 29 (5.4) | 25 (5.3) | 4 (6.3) | |
| Marital status: | ||||
| Married | 185 (34.6) | 167 (35.5) | 18 (28.1) | 0.266 |
| Single/divorced | 350 (65.4) | 304 (64.5) | 46 (71.9) | |
| Number of households | 3.31 ± 1.85 | 3.31 ± 1.86 | 3.31 ± 1.83 | 0.987 |
| Living arrangement: | ||||
| Living alone | 46 (9.1) | 37 (8.4) | 46 (9.1) | 0.040 * |
| Living together with family | 459 (90.9) | 404 (91.6) | 459 (90.9) | |
| Education level: | ||||
| No formal education | 63 (12.0) | 53 (11.5) | 10 (15.6) | 0.410 |
| Formal education | 461 (88.0) | 407 (88.5) | 54 (84.4) | |
| Years of education | 6.98 ± 4.33 | 7.23 ± 4.34 | 5.14 ± 3.75 | <0.001 *** |
| Household income (RM) | 1863.16 ± 4863.42 | 1945.74 ± 5127.47 | 1296.72 ± 2305.15 | 0.319 |
| Occupation: | ||||
| Not working/Housewife | 343 (64.1) | 306 (65.0) | 37 (57.7) | 0.269 |
| Pensioner/Working | 192 (35.9) | 165 (35.0) | 27 (42.2) | |
| Smoking status: | ||||
| Not smoking | 380 (75.2) | 336 (76.2) | 44 (68.8) | 0.215 |
| Smokers/Ex-smokers | 125 (24.8) | 105 (23.8) | 20 (31.2) | |
| Health status: | ||||
| CVD | 59 (11.0) | 50 (10.6) | 9 (14.1) | 0.397 |
| HPT | 303 (56.6) | 267 (56.7) | 36 (56.3) | 0.947 |
| Lung disease | 4 (0.7) | 4 (0.8) | 0 (0.0) | 0.459 |
| Liver disease | 2 (0.4) | 2 (0.4) | 0 (0.0) | 0.601 |
| DM | 155 (29.0) | 137 (29.1) | 18 (28.1) | 0.874 |
| Gastritis | 67 (12.5) | 51 (10.8) | 16 (25.0) | 0.004 ** |
| Kidney disease | 15 (2.8) | 15 (3.2) | 0 (0.0) | 0.236 |
| Cancer | 15 (2.8) | 13 (2.8) | 2 (3.1) | 0.698 |
*** p < 0.001; ** p < 0.01; * p < 0.05—significant using Pearson Chi-square for categorical data and Independent t-test for numerical data. Abbreviations: CVD = Cardiovascular disease; DM = Diabetes mellitus; HPT = Hypertension; RM = Ringgit Malaysia.