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. 2021 Sep 1;23(3):357–374. doi: 10.1007/s10198-021-01356-3

Table 3.

Analysis data characteristics vs. general population characteristics

Variable Analysis data (n = 1005) General adult population Source
% Freq. % Freq.
Socio-demographic variables
100 4,431,392 Statistics Finland (2016a)
Female 51.1 514 51.2 2,267,547
Age (in years) 100 4,431,392 Statistics Finland (2016a)
 18–24 9.3 93 10.3 455,977
 25–34 15.7 158 15.9 704,402
 35–44 15.2 153 15.1 671,350
 45–54 18.3 184 16.1 712,553
 55–64 25.5 256 16.6 737,135
 65–79 15.4 155 19.4 861,876
 80 or older 0.6 6 6.5 288,099
Marital status 100 4,431,392 Statistics Finland (2016a)
 Married 38.8 390 45.1 1,998,678
 Divorced 16.8 169 12.8 568,184
 Widowed 3.3 33 6.4 282,794
 Single 37.6 378 35.7 1,581,736
 Prefer not to say 3.5 35
Education (ISCED 2011) 100 4,591,285 Statistics Finland (2015a)†
 Lower secondary or below (≤ 2) 10.8 109 18.8 667,598
 Upper secondary (3, 4) 48.5 487 46.5 1,651,087
 Short-cycle tertiary (5) 10.4 105 10.5 373,847
 Bachelor’s or equivalent (6) 17.0 171 12.5 445,771
 Master’s or equivalent (7) 11.6 117 10.5 372,623
 Doctoral or equivalent (8) 1.6 16 1.2 42,449
Employment status 100 4,431,392 Statistics Finland (2016b)
 Self-employed persons 5.9 59 5.3 233,911
 Employees 36.2 364 45.8 2,022,548
 Students 7.4 74 5.4 240,405
 Pensioners 26.8 269 31.0 1,367,951
 Unemployed 15.9 160 8.5 374,534
 Others# 7.9 79 4.0 174,899
Region 100 4,407,913 Statistics Finland (2016a)
 Helsinki and Uusimaa 25.1 252 29.7 1,311,203
 Southern Finland 30.0 301 21.5 948,790
 Western Finland 21.2 213 25.2 1,110,490
 North-Eastern Finland 23.8 239 23.5 1,037,430
Religion 100 4,609,119 Statistics Finland (2016c)
 No religion 37.9 381 26.7 1,232,330
 Any religion 62.1 624 73.3 3,376,789
 Housing tenure 100 5,363,637 Statistics Finland (2015b)†
Own house or apartment 53.4 537 70.8 3,804,549
 Rent 46.4 466 27.4 1,471,006
 Other 0.2 2 1.9 101,544
Variable Analysis data (n = 1005) General adult population Source
% Freq. % Freq.
Annual household disposable cash income
  ≤ 16,440€ (1st or 2nd decile) 29.6 297
 16,441€–26,230€ (3rd or 4th decile) 18.6 187
 26,231€–38,010€ (5th or 6th decile) 15.5 156
 38,011€–54,690€ (7th or 8th decile) 13.6 137
  ≥ 54,691€ (9th or 10th decile) 10.9 110
 Prefer not to say or do not know 11.7 118
Health and well-being
 Overall quality of life (QoL) Murto et al. [67]
  So good or very good 19.3 194 22.7 Very good
  Good 47.9 481 54.9 Good
  Alright 22.2 223 18.3 Neither good nor poor
  Bad 8.4 84 3.5 Poor
  Very bad or so bad 2.3 23 0.7 Very poor
 Self-assessed health (SAH) Murto et al. [67]
  Very good 7.9 79 29.9 Good
  Good 46.1 463 36.2 Quite good
  Fair 35.6 358 24.6 Fair
  Bad 9.7 97 7.9 Quite bad
  Very bad 0.8 8 1.5 Bad
Experience of caring and need for social care
 (i) Have you (personally) provided help or support to anyone in the last month because they have long-term physical or mental ill-health or disability, or problems relating to old age?
  Yes 36.8 370
  No 63.2 635
 (ii) Have either you or someone you are close to ever been in need of any regular help and long-term care over the last 10 years?
  Yes, I have or my partner/one of my parents has personal experience 36.2 364
  Yes, one of my children/siblings or another relative/friend or an acquaintance or a colleague or a neighbour 23.8 239
  No experience with long-term care needs or do not know& 40.0 402
Understanding the tasks
 (i) Did you feel that you could put yourself in the imaginary situations described in the best-worst exercises?
  Yes, all of the time 57.9 582
  Yes, but only some of the time 38.7 389
  No 3.4 34
 (ii) In the best-worst exercises, did you understand the situations?
  Yes, all of them 81.7 821
  Yes, but only some of them 17.0 171
  No 1.3 13

#Those who were permanently sick or disabled, in community or military services, doing housework or outside of labour force

Religion (Statistics Finland 2016c) and education (Statistics Finland 2015a) refer to the population aged 15 or older. Housing tenure (Statistics Finland 2015b) refers to the whole housing population. Regions (Statistics Finland 2016a) refer to the population aged 18 or older. Household disposable cash income excluded imputed rents

&Including 4% of respondents who replied to response item “don’t know”