Table 1.
Distribution of the Analytic Sample: Baseline, Final, and Pooled Across All Waves (Persons = 26,104, Observations = 186,723)
| Characteristics | Baseline Wave (2006) | Final Wave (2019) | Pooled in All Waves (2006 to 2019) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n | % | n | % | n | % | |
| Outcome variables | ||||||
| Self-reported health | ||||||
| Good or better health | 8902 | 83.04 | 12,526 | 81.77 | 155,226 | 83.13 |
| Poor or fair | 1818 | 16.96 | 2,792 | 18.23 | 31,497 | 16.87 |
| Mental health | ||||||
| Good or better health | 8383 | 78.20 | 11,413 | 74.51 | 144,790 | 77.54 |
| Poor or fair | 2337 | 21.80 | 3905 | 25.49 | 41,933 | 22.46 |
| Exposures and covariates | ||||||
| BMI | ||||||
| Underweight | 339 | 3.16 | 352 | 2.30 | 4875 | 2.61 |
| Healthy weight | 4569 | 42.62 | 5627 | 36.73 | 73,753 | 39.50 |
| Overweight | 3597 | 33.55 | 5199 | 33.94 | 63,698 | 34.11 |
| Obesity | 2215 | 20.66 | 4140 | 27.03 | 44,397 | 23.78 |
| Disability | ||||||
| No | 7896 | 73.66 | 10,843 | 70.79 | 134,633 | 72.10 |
| Yes | 2824 | 26.34 | 4475 | 29.21 | 52,090 | 27.90 |
| Age | ||||||
| < 30 years | 2655 | 24.77 | 3717 | 24.27 | 47,503 | 25.44 |
| 30–44 years | 3017 | 28.14 | 3760 | 24.55 | 46,093 | 24.69 |
| 45–59 years | 2745 | 25.61 | 3616 | 23.61 | 47,019 | 25.18 |
| ≥ 60 years | 2303 | 21.48 | 4225 | 27.58 | 46,108 | 24.69 |
| Gender | ||||||
| Male | 5076 | 47.35 | 7273 | 47.48 | 88,336 | 47.31 |
| Female | 5644 | 52.65 | 8045 | 52.52 | 98,387 | 52.69 |
| Civil Status | ||||||
| Cohabitating | 6382 | 59.53 | 9239 | 60.31 | 112,302 | 60.14 |
| Non-Cohabitating | 4338 | 40.47 | 6079 | 39.69 | 74,421 | 39.86 |
| Education | ||||||
| Year 12 and below | 5409 | 50.46 | 5841 | 38.13 | 81,235 | 43.51 |
| Professional qualifications | 3011 | 28.09 | 5091 | 33.24 | 58,131 | 31.13 |
| University qualifications | 2300 | 21.46 | 4386 | 28.63 | 47,357 | 25.36 |
| Household yearly disposable income quintile | ||||||
| Quintile 1 (lowest) | 2144 | 20.00 | 3064 | 20.00 | 37,347 | 20.00 |
| Quintile 2 | 2145 | 20.01 | 3067 | 20.02 | 37,343 | 20.00 |
| Quintile 3 | 2143 | 19.99 | 3060 | 19.98 | 37,346 | 20.00 |
| Quintile 4 | 2145 | 20.01 | 3064 | 20.00 | 37,343 | 20.00 |
| Quintile 5 (highest) | 2143 | 19.99 | 3063 | 20.00 | 37,344 | 20.00 |
| Labour force status | ||||||
| Employed | 7014 | 65.43 | 9826 | 64.15 | 120,224 | 64.39 |
| Unemployed | 337 | 3.14 | 574 | 3.75 | 6709 | 3.59 |
| Not in the labour force | 3369 | 31.43 | 4918 | 32.11 | 59,790 | 32.02 |
| Indigenous status | ||||||
| Non-indigenous | 10,476 | 97.72 | 14,753 | 96.31 | 181,283 | 97.09 |
| Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander | 244 | 2.28 | 565 | 3.69 | 5440 | 2.91 |
| Location | ||||||
| Major city | 6885 | 64.23 | 10,154 | 66.29 | 123,698 | 66.25 |
| Regional | 3664 | 34.18 | 4970 | 32.45 | 60,369 | 32.33 |
| Remote | 171 | 1.60 | 194 | 1.27 | 2656 | 1.42 |
| Smoking status | ||||||
| Never smoked | 5559 | 51.86 | 8681 | 56.67 | 101,588 | 54.41 |
| Ex-smoker | 2926 | 27.29 | 4194 | 27.38 | 51,472 | 27.57 |
| Current smoker | 2235 | 20.85 | 2443 | 15.95 | 33,663 | 18.03 |
| Alcohol consumption | ||||||
| Never drank | 1112 | 10.37 | 1703 | 11.12 | 20,151 | 10.79 |
| Ex-drinker | 690 | 6.44 | 1390 | 9.07 | 14,686 | 7.87 |
| Only rarely to 3 days/week | 5704 | 53.21 | 8439 | 55.09 | 101,720 | 54.48 |
| 3+ days/week | 3214 | 29.98 | 3786 | 24.72 | 50,166 | 26.87 |
| Physical activity (≥ 30 minutes) | ||||||
| Not at all to <1/week | 2717 | 25.35 | 4299 | 28.07 | 50,076 | 26.82 |
| 1–3 times/week | 4305 | 40.16 | 5841 | 38.13 | 73,597 | 39.42 |
| ≥4 times/week | 3698 | 34.50 | 5178 | 33.80 | 63,050 | 33.77 |