Table 1.
General demographic characteristics of the study sample (2006–2018).
| Variables | 2006 Wave 1 Samples (N = 5549) |
2008 Wave 2 Samples (N = 5216) |
2010 Wave 3 Samples (N = 5194) |
2012 Wave 4 Samples (N = 5289) |
2014 Wave 5 Samples (N = 5372) |
2016 Wave 6 Samples (N = 5491) |
2018 Wave 7 Samples (N = 5527) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N (%) | N (%) | N (%) | N (%) | N (%) | N (%) | N (%) | |
| Age | |||||||
| 60–69 | 2894 (52.2) | 2447 (47.5) | 2354 (45.3) | 2242 (42.4) | 2214 (41.2) | 2229 (40.6) | 2214 (40.1) |
| 70–79 | 1996 (36.0) | 1999 (38.3) | 2013 (38.8) | 2120 (40.1) | 2113 (39.3) | 2075 (37.8) | 2002 (36.2) |
| ≧80 | 659 (11.9) | 740 (14.2) | 827 (15.9) | 927 (17.5) | 1045 (19.5) | 1187 (21.6) | 1311 (23.7) |
| Mean ± SD | 70.27 ± 7.23 | 70.93 ± 7.53 | 71.30 ± 7.68 | 71.75 ± 7.84 | 72.24 ± 8.04 | 72.57 ± 8.31 | 72.80 ± 8.55 |
| Educational Level | |||||||
| Low | 3651 (65.8) | 3417 (65.5) | 3231 (62.2) | 3104 (58.7) | 2986 (55.6) | 2820 (51.4) | 2596 (47.0) |
| High | 1898 (34.2) | 1799 (34.5) | 1963 (37.8) | 2185 (41.3) | 2386 (44.4) | 2671 (48.6) | 2931 (53.0) |
| Marital Status | |||||||
| Others | 1775 (32.0) | 1612 (30.9) | 1566 (30.2) | 1537 (29.1) | 1567 (29.2) | 1599 (29.1) | 1555 (28.1) |
| Married/living with a partner | 3774 (68.0) | 3604 (69.1) | 3628 (69.8) | 3752 (70.9) | 3805 (70.8) | 3892 (70.9) | 3972 (71.9) |
| Religion | |||||||
| No religion | 2464 (44.4) | 2509 (48.1) | 2582 (49.7) | 2509 (47.4) | 2979 (55.5) | 3129 (57.0) | 3392 (61.4) |
| Have religion | 3085 (55.6) | 2707 (51.9) | 2612 (50.3) | 2780 (52.6) | 2393 (44.5) | 2362 (43.0) | 2135 (38.6) |
| Work Currently | |||||||
| No | 4325 (77.9) | 3824 (73.3) | 3636 (70.0) | 3767 (71.2) | 3816 (71.0) | 3912 (71.2) | 3889 (70.4) |
| Yes | 1224 (22.1) | 1392 (26.7) | 1558 (30.0) | 1522 (28.8) | 1556 (29.0) | 1579 (28.8) | 1638 (29.6) |
| Disability Diagnosis | |||||||
| No | 5110 (92.1) | 5135 (98.4) | 5112 (98.4) | 5255 (99.4) | 5314 (98.9) | 5455 (99.3) | 5483 (99.2) |
| Yes | 439 (7.9) | 81 (1.6) | 82 (1.6) | 34 (0.6) | 58 (1.1) | 36 (0.7) | 44 (0.8) |
| Chronic Disease | |||||||
| No | 3778 (68.1) | 4092 (78.5) | 4207 (81.0) | 4543 (85.9) | 4462 (83.1) | 4849 (88.3) | 4878 (88.3) |
| Yes (at least one) | 1771 (31.9) | 1124 (21.5) | 987 (19.0) | 756 (14.1) | 910 (16.9) | 642 (11.7) | 649 (11.7) |
| Current Pain | |||||||
| No | 1371 (24.7) | 1421 (27.2) | 1627 (31.3) | 1631 (30.8) | 1613 (30.0) | 1728 (31.5) | 1676 (30.3) |
| Yes (at least one) | 4178 (75.3) | 3795 (75.8) | 3567 (68.7) | 3658 (69.2) | 3759 (70.0) | 3763 (68.5) | 3851 (69.7) |
| Hospitalization times in past 2 years | |||||||
| No | 4767 (85.9) | 4424 (84.8) | 4309 (83.0) | 4449 (84.1) | 4653 (86.6) | 4775 (87.0) | 4912 (88.9) |
| Yes (at least once) |
782 (14.1) |
792 (15.2) |
885 (17.0) |
840 (15.9) |
719 (13.4) |
716 (13.0) |
615 (11.1) |
| Social Engagement | |||||||
| No | 1076 (19.4) | 829 (15.9) | 883 (17.0) | 804 (15.2) | 1037 (19.3) | 922 (16.8) | 1207 (21.8) |
| Yes | 4473 (80.6) | 4387 (84.1) | 4311 (83.0) | 4485 (84.8) | 4335 (80.7) | 4569 (83.2) | 4320 (78.2) |
| Subjective health | |||||||
| Bad | 2439 (44.0) | 2086 (40.0) | 2058 (39.6) | 1990 (37.6) | 1918 (35.7) | 1862 (33.9) | 1737 (31.4) |
| Good | 3110 (56.0) | 3130 (60.0) | 3136 (60.4) | 3299 (62.4) | 3454 (64.3) | 3629 (66.1) | 3790 (68.6) |
| X2 test | 73.194*** | 133.507*** | 185.066*** | 151.108*** | 141.298*** | 215.188*** | 184.485*** |
Note: ***p < 0.001.