Table 1.
Weighted Sample Characteristics among Oldest-old, 1998–2018
| Characteristic | All decedents (N = 20,149) | Urban (N = 8,235) | Rural (N = 11,914) | chi2 | P value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Informal Caregivers | 19,436 (95.0) | 7,724 (90.6) | 11,712 (97.2) | 35.6 | < .001 |
| Place of death | 51.6 | < .001 | |||
| Home | 18,285 (87.5) | 6,820 (75.8) | 11,465 (93.2) | ||
| Hospital | 1,389 (8.9) | 1,086 (17.2) | 303 (4.8) | ||
| Nursing home facilities | 475 (3.6) | 329 (7.0) | 146 (2.0) | ||
| Age at death | 97 (91,102) | 96 (91,102) | 97 (92,102) | 38.3 | < .001 |
| 80–89 | 3,757 (77.8) | 1,666 (75.7) | 2,091 (78.9) | 10.2 | 0.001 |
| 90–99 | 8,216 (21.4) | 3,420 (23.2) | 4,796 (20.4) | ||
| ≥ 100 | 8,176 (0.8) | 3,149 (1.1) | 5,027 (0.7) | ||
| Gender | 0.3 | 0.59 | |||
| Female | 12,490 (58.6) | 4,956 (58.0) | 7,534 (59.0) | ||
| Ethnicity | 6.2 | 0.01 | |||
| Han | 18,752 (92.4) | 7,777 (93.9) | 10,975 (91.6) | ||
| Being married during the last year of life | 2,418 (20.4) | 1,106 (24.1) | 1,312 (18.6) | 14.0 | < .001 |
| Years of schooling | 39.7 | < .001 | |||
| 0 | 14,738 (67.5) | 5,496 (59.6) | 9,242 (71.3) | ||
| 1–6 | 4,488 (27.2) | 2,158 (31.0) | 2,330 (25.4) | ||
| ≥ 7 | 923 (5.3) | 581 (9.4) | 342 (3.3) | ||
| Number of children | 4.7 | 0.003 | |||
| 0–2 | 4,145 (20.4) | 1,887 (24.1) | 2,258 (18.6) | ||
| 3–4 | 5,849 (29.0) | 2,303 (27.0) | 3,546 (29.9) | ||
| 5–6 | 5,792 (29.0) | 2,293 (27.8) | 3,499 (29.6) | ||
| ≥ 7 | 4,363 (21.6) | 1,752 (21.1) | 2,611 (21.9) | ||
| Per capita household income annually | 46.0 | < .001 | |||
| < 391 | 4,985 (35.4) | 1,551 (25.6) | 3,434 (40.1) | ||
| 391–942 | 5,159 (30.5) | 1,950 (28.8) | 3,209 (31.2) | ||
| 942–3,060 | 4,995 (20.1) | 2,170 (24.8) | 2,825 (17.9) | ||
| > 3,060 | 5,010 (14.0) | 2,564 (20.8) | 2,446 (10.8) | ||
| Main financial source | |||||
| Retirement wage | 1,977 (11.2) | 1,626 (25.7) | 351 (4.1) | 241.7 | < .001 |
| Family | 16,845 (82.4) | 5,965 (65.0) | 10,880 (91.0) | 281.9 | < .001 |
| White-collar jobs before retirement | 816 (4.7) | 596 (9.5) | 220 (2.4) | 83.0 | < .001 |
| Living arrangement | |||||
| living alone | 2,007 (11.3) | 735 (10.3) | 1,272 (11.8) | 2.0 | 0.16 |
| living in the nursing home | 486 (4.5) | 344 (8.4) | 142 (2.5) | 31.1 | < .001 |
| living with spouse only | 1,940 (12.6) | 861 (15.5) | 1,079 (11.2) | 14.3 | < .001 |
| living with other family members | 15,373 (70.3) | 6,117 (64.2) | 9,256 (73.3) | 29.0 | < .001 |
| timely medical services | 4.7 | 0.01 | |||
| Yes | 15,014 (81.6) | 6,310 (83.8) | 8,704 (80.5) | ||
| No | 1,322 (8.2) | 572 (8.1) | 750 (8.2) | ||
| Was not ill | 3,760 (10.2) | 1,334 (8.1) | 2,426 (11.3) | ||
| Health Condition | |||||
| Self-rated health status | 0.9 | 0.43 | |||
| Very good or good | 7,415 (41.2) | 3,105 (40.3) | 4,310 (41.6) | ||
| So so | 6,127 (32.4) | 2,561 (34.2) | 3,566 (31.6) | ||
| Bad or very bad | 3,152 (19.7) | 1,215 (18.9) | 1,937 (20.2) | ||
| Not able to answer | 3,455 (6.7) | 1,354 (6.6) | 2,101 (6.8) | ||
| Any disability in ADLs | 3,581 (25.6) | 1,316 (21.7) | 2,265 (27.5) | 12.3 | < .001 |
| Bedridden before dying | 14,947 (27.1) | 6,143 (25.8) | 8,804 (27.8) | 1.5 | 0.23 |
| No of comorbidities | 12.9 | < .001 | |||
| 0 | 7,248 (33.1) | 2,502 (27.7) | 4,746 (35.6) | ||
| 1 | 6,466 (32.9) | 2,538 (31.8) | 3,928 (33.5) | ||
| 2 | 2,921 (15.1) | 1,307 (16.7) | 1,614 (14.4) | ||
| ≥ 3 | 3,514 (18.9) | 1,888 (23.8) | 1,626 (16.5) | ||
| Health Behaviora | |||||
| Physical exercise | 3,920 (24.6) | 2,011 (31.4) | 1,909 (21.3) | 38.6 | < .001 |
| Smoking | 2,832 (18.6) | 1,065 (15.9) | 1,767 (20.0) | 9.0 | 0.003 |
| Drinking | 3,233 (15.9) | 1,242 (14.4) | 1,991 (16.7) | 3.4 | 0.07 |
| Region | 25.1 | < .001 | |||
| Eastern | 7,714 (35.6) | 3,347 (36.1) | 4,367 (35.4) | ||
| Central | 4,688 (24.5) | 1,430 (18.0) | 3,258 (27.7) | ||
| Western | 6,161 (31.4) | 2,471 (32.2) | 3,690 (31.0) | ||
| Northeast | 1,586 (8.5) | 987 (13.7) | 599 (5.9) | ||
Note: Values were represented as No. (percentages) unless otherwise indicated. No, was calculated from study samples (unweighted). Percentages were calculated using the age-sex-rural/urban-specific sample weights; a, self-reported in the previous survey. ADLs, activities of daily living. All the currency was presented in the US dollars