Table 1.
Characteristics and vaccination status among older people who live alone or only with an older partner in Hong Kong.
| Variables | All Participants | Vaccinated or Intention to Be Vaccinated * |
Hesitated to Be Vaccinated | Unvaccinated | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N = 2109 | % | N = 1057 | % | N = 327 | % | N = 725 | % | |
| Age (years) | ||||||||
| Mean (SD) | 79.3 | 7.6 | 78.2 | 7.2 | 79.7 | 7.5 | 80.8 | 8.0 |
| Sex | ||||||||
| Male | 649 | 30.8 | 318 | 30.1 | 91 | 27.8 | 240 | 33.1 |
| Female | 1460 | 69.2 | 739 | 69.9 | 236 | 72.2 | 485 | 66.9 |
| Living status | ||||||||
| Living with an older partner | 775 | 36.7 | 428 | 40.5 | 111 | 33.9 | 236 | 32.6 |
| Living alone | 1334 | 63.3 | 629 | 59.5 | 216 | 66.1 | 489 | 67.4 |
| Occupational status | ||||||||
| Retirement | 2007 | 95.2 | 990 | 93.7 | 316 | 96.6 | 701 | 96.7 |
| Caring family/Full-time/part-time/unemployed | 92 | 4.4 | 62 | 5.9 | 9 | 2.8 | 21 | 2.9 |
| Missing | 10 | 0.5 | 5 | 0.5 | 2 | 0.6 | 3 | 0.4 |
| Social security support | ||||||||
| No | 488 | 23.1 | 263 | 24.9 | 74 | 22.6 | 151 | 20.8 |
| Yes (CSSA or OALA) | 1621 | 76.9 | 794 | 75.1 | 253 | 77.4 | 574 | 79.2 |
| Number of doctor-diagnosed chronic conditions | ||||||||
| 0–1 | 749 | 35.5 | 414 | 39.2 | 105 | 32.1 | 230 | 31.7 |
| 2–3 | 904 | 42.9 | 464 | 43.9 | 148 | 45.3 | 292 | 40.3 |
| >3 | 447 | 21.2 | 177 | 16.7 | 74 | 22.6 | 196 | 27.0 |
| Missing | 9 | 0.4 | 2 | 0.2 | 0 | 0.0 | 7 | 1.0 |
| Ever hospital admission over the past 6 months | ||||||||
| No | 1787 | 84.7 | 925 | 87.5 | 266 | 81.3 | 596 | 82.2 |
| Yes | 306 | 14.5 | 127 | 12.0 | 59 | 18.0 | 120 | 16.6 |
| Missing | 16 | 0.8 | 5 | 0.5 | 2 | 0.6 | 9 | 1.2 |
| Medical appointment in the next 6 months | ||||||||
| No | 375 | 17.8 | 198 | 18.7 | 46 | 14.1 | 131 | 18.1 |
| Yes | 1721 | 81.6 | 854 | 80.8 | 280 | 85.6 | 587 | 81.0 |
| Missing | 13 | 0.6 | 5 | 0.5 | 1 | 0.3 | 7 | 1.0 |
| Regular measurement of blood pressure | ||||||||
| No hypertension | 226 | 10.7 | 121 | 11.4 | 25 | 7.6 | 80 | 11.0 |
| Yes | 1335 | 63.3 | 674 | 63.8 | 215 | 65.7 | 446 | 61.5 |
| Not measure regularly | 533 | 25.3 | 253 | 23.9 | 86 | 26.3 | 194 | 26.8 |
| Missing | 15 | 0.7 | 9 | 0.9 | 1 | 0.3 | 5 | 0.7 |
| Regular measurement of blood glucose | ||||||||
| No diabetes | 1452 | 68.8 | 748 | 70.8 | 236 | 72.2 | 468 | 64.6 |
| Yes | 398 | 18.9 | 186 | 17.6 | 60 | 18.3 | 152 | 21.0 |
| Not measure regularly | 216 | 10.2 | 103 | 9.7 | 23 | 7.0 | 90 | 12.4 |
| Missing | 43 | 2.0 | 20 | 1.9 | 8 | 2.4 | 15 | 2.1 |
| Help available when needed | ||||||||
| Yes | 1623 | 77.0 | 831 | 78.6 | 254 | 77.7 | 538 | 74.2 |
| No | 472 | 22.4 | 216 | 20.4 | 71 | 21.7 | 185 | 25.5 |
| Missing | 14 | 0.7 | 10 | 0.9 | 2 | 0.6 | 2 | 0.3 |
| Types of social media use in the past 2 weeks | ||||||||
| 0 | 1339 | 63.5 | 595 | 56.3 | 220 | 67.3 | 524 | 72.3 |
| 1 | 506 | 24.0 | 286 | 27.1 | 74 | 22.6 | 146 | 20.1 |
| >1 | 253 | 12.0 | 170 | 16.1 | 32 | 9.8 | 51 | 7.0 |
| Missing | 11 | 0.5 | 6 | 0.6 | 1 | 0.3 | 4 | 0.6 |
| Self-rated Health status | ||||||||
| High (score 67–100) | 686 | 32.5 | 397 | 37.6 | 88 | 26.9 | 201 | 27.7 |
| Middle (score 34–66) | 624 | 29.6 | 307 | 29.0 | 113 | 34.6 | 204 | 28.1 |
| Low (score 0–33) | 760 | 36.0 | 333 | 31.5 | 121 | 37.0 | 306 | 42.2 |
| Missing | 39 | 1.8 | 20 | 1.9 | 5 | 1.5 | 14 | 1.9 |
| Meaning of life | ||||||||
| High (5–7) | 1075 | 51.0 | 586 | 55.4 | 166 | 50.8 | 323 | 44.6 |
| Middle (3–4) | 638 | 30.3 | 293 | 27.7 | 90 | 27.5 | 255 | 35.2 |
| Low (1–2) | 80 | 3.8 | 34 | 3.2 | 12 | 3.7 | 34 | 4.7 |
| Missing | 316 | 15.0 | 144 | 13.6 | 59 | 18.0 | 113 | 15.6 |
| Loneliness (measured by UCLA-3) | ||||||||
| 0–5 | 1748 | 82.9 | 902 | 85.3 | 268 | 82.0 | 578 | 79.7 |
| ≥6 | 355 | 16.8 | 151 | 14.3 | 59 | 18.0 | 145 | 20.0 |
| Missing | 6 | 0.3 | 4 | 0.4 | 0 | 0.0 | 2 | 0.3 |
| Memory loss | ||||||||
| No | 560 | 26.6 | 291 | 27.5 | 78 | 23.9 | 191 | 26.3 |
| Yes, but not worry | 1201 | 56.9 | 617 | 58.4 | 187 | 57.2 | 397 | 54.8 |
| Yes, and worry | 340 | 16.1 | 146 | 13.8 | 61 | 18.7 | 133 | 18.3 |
| Missing | 8 | 0.4 | 3 | 0.3% | 1 | 0.3 | 4 | 0.6 |
| Depression (measured by PHQ-2) | ||||||||
| 0–2 | 1929 | 91.5 | 984 | 93.1 | 307 | 93.9 | 638 | 88.0 |
| ≥3 | 156 | 7.4 | 62 | 5.9 | 18 | 5.5 | 76 | 10.5 |
| Missing | 24 | 1.1 | 11 | 1.0 | 2 | 0.6 | 11 | 1.5 |
| Anxiety (measured by GAD-2) | ||||||||
| 0–2 | 1957 | 92.8 | 996 | 94.2 | 307 | 93.9 | 654 | 90.2 |
| ≥3 | 125 | 5.9 | 49 | 4.6 | 16 | 4.9 | 60 | 8.3 |
| Missing | 27 | 1.3 | 12 | 1.1 | 4 | 1.2 | 11 | 1.5 |
SD = standard deviation, PHQ = Patient Health Questionnaire, GAD = Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale, CSSA = Compressive Social Security Scheme, OALA = Old Age Living Allowance. * Among participants in this subgroup, 137 participants responded to the survey item “I will take COVID-19 vaccines in the next 12 months”.