Table 2.
Sample Characteristics, the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, 2011–2015
| All sample (N = 3,865) | Alive (N = 3,573) | Dead (N = 292) | Difference between the alive and dead | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N | % | N | % | N | % | ||
| Baseline characteristics | |||||||
| Age, mean (SD) | 68.72 (6.48) | 68.35 (6.27) | 73.51 (7.34) | p < .001 | |||
| Women | 1,949 | 51.46 | 1,836 | 52.33 | 113 | 40.23 | p < .001 |
| Adulthood SES | |||||||
| Education | p = .004 | ||||||
| No formal schooling | 2,288 | 54.57 | 2,090 | 53.47 | 198 | 68.73 | |
| Primary school | 948 | 26.05 | 886 | 26.43 | 62 | 21.17 | |
| Junior school+ | 629 | 19.37 | 597 | 20.10 | 32 | 10.10 | |
| Urban–rural | p = .105 | ||||||
| Rural residency | 2,526 | 55.00 | 2,319 | 54.06 | 207 | 67.07 | |
| Urban residency, rural hukou | 720 | 19.46 | 672 | 19.57 | 48 | 18.07 | |
| Urban residency, urban hukou | 619 | 25.54 | 582 | 26.38 | 37 | 14.86 | |
| Household expenditure | p = .392 | ||||||
| Bottom tertile | 1,400 | 31.33 | 1,284 | 30.79 | 116 | 38.25 | |
| Middle tertile | 1,283 | 30.44 | 1,198 | 30.73 | 85 | 26.71 | |
| Top tertile | 1,164 | 37.66 | 1,075 | 37.90 | 89 | 24.60 | |
| Missing | 18 | 0.57 | 16 | 0.58 | 2 | 0.44 | |
| Smokers | 1,636 | 39.53 | 1,470 | 38.17 | 166 | 56.94 | p < .001 |
| Physical assessments | |||||||
| Low grip strength (lowest 25% within gender) | 1,049 | 28.22 | 904 | 26.30 | 145 | 52.84 | p < .001 |
| Poor lung function (lowest 25% within gender) | 1,075 | 28.72 | 931 | 26.88 | 144 | 52.23 | p < .001 |
| Poor balance (cannot perform semitandem stance) | 245 | 7.39 | 189 | 6.41 | 56 | 19.84 | p < .001 |
| Slow walking (lowest 25% within gender) | 1,053 | 28.32 | 915 | 26.91 | 138 | 46.43 | p < .001 |
| Missing | 117 | 3.14 | 114 | 3.24 | 3 | 1.82 | |
| Diseases | |||||||
| Hypertension | p < .001 | ||||||
| No hypertension | 1,877 | 46.90 | 1,760 | 47.62 | 117 | 37.60 | |
| Undiagnosed hypertension | 741 | 18.85 | 679 | 18.32 | 62 | 25.66 | |
| Controlled hypertension | 499 | 14.48 | 468 | 14.90 | 31 | 9.15 | |
| Uncontrolled hypertension | 748 | 19.77 | 666 | 19.16 | 82 | 27.59 | |
| Diabetes | p = .102 | ||||||
| No diabetes | 3,170 | 81.65 | 2,944 | 82.14 | 226 | 75.34 | |
| Undiagnosed | 262 | 7.45 | 237 | 7.38 | 25 | 8.35 | |
| Diagnosed | 433 | 10.90 | 392 | 10.48 | 41 | 16.31 | |
| Cancer | 33 | 0.80 | 28 | 0.69 | 5 | 2.20 | p = .097 |
| Chronic lung disease | 560 | 15.47 | 497 | 15.08 | 63 | 20.44 | p < .001 |
| Heart problems | 614 | 17.68 | 570 | 17.89 | 44 | 15.01 | p = .691 |
| Stroke | 125 | 4.06 | 109 | 4.01 | 16 | 4.80 | p = .024 |
| Kidney disease | 267 | 6.37 | 247 | 6.28 | 20 | 7.58 | p = .967 |
| Biomarkers at high risk | |||||||
| Rapid pulse | 216 | 5.05 | 191 | 4.86 | 25 | 7.60 | p = .021 |
| High total cholesterol | 462 | 11.11 | 425 | 11.13 | 37 | 10.89 | p = .694 |
| High BUN | 728 | 18.53 | 666 | 18.17 | 62 | 23.13 | p = .276 |
| High CRP | 808 | 22.82 | 694 | 21.30 | 114 | 42.37 | p < .001 |
| High creatinine | 54 | 1.51 | 42 | 1.26 | 12 | 4.69 | p < .001 |
| High triglycerides | 439 | 13.93 | 413 | 14.32 | 26 | 8.82 | p = .169 |
Notes: BUN = blood urea nitrogen; CRP = C-reactive protein; SES = socioeconomic status. Ns are not weighted. Percentages are weighted by the 2011 biomarker weights.