Gender differences in Greek centenarians. A cross-sectional nation-wide study, examining multiple socio-demographic and personality factors and health locus of control

Table 1 Sociodemographic and disease-related characteristics by gender group¹

	Males (N = 149) (%)	Females (N = 251) (%)	p value
Mean age in years old (SD) Range	101.62 (1.88) 100-107	101.99 (2.13) 100-109	0.1
Habitat status			0.632
Home alone	38 (25.9)	53 (21.6)
Home not alone	96 (64.4)	172 (68.5)
Nursing home	13 (8.7)	20 (7.9)
Type of habitat			0.134
Urban	33 (22.8)	74 (30.3)
Rural	112 (77.2)	170 (69.7)
Family status			< 0.0005*
Non widow(-er)	30 (20.1)	15 (5.9)
Widow(-er)	119(79.9)	236(94.1)
Mean number of children (range)	3.8 (0-12)	4.2 (0-11)	0.233
Number of centenarian 1 ^st degree siblings			0.023*
No	132 (88.6)	238 (94.8)
One	12 (8.1)	12 (4.8)
More than one	5 (3.6)	1 (0.4)
Education			< 0.0005*
²Illiterate	32 (21.8)	139(55.6)
³Literate	115(78.2)	111 (44.4)
Income			0.21
< 500 euros	75 (51.7)	139 (58.9)
≥500	70 (48.3)	97 (41.1)
Smoking			< 0.0005*
Yes	21 (14.4)	2 (0.8)
No	116 (79.5)	242 (97.2)
Occasionally	9 (6.2)	5 (2)
BMI			0.001*
Normal	75 (57.3)	119 (51.5)
Overweight	47 (35.9)	58 (25.1)
Obese	5 (3.8)	30 (12.9)
Diseases
Cardiovascular	36 (25.9)	59 (26.7)	0.965
Diabetes Mellitus	11 (7.9)	14 (6.3)	0.718
Cancer	28 (19.7)	66 (28)	0.094
Neuropsychiatric	2 (1.4)	11 (5)	0.141

SD: Standard deviation, BMI: Body Mass Index
¹Categorical by categorical comparisons were made using chi-square tests. Gender differences in scale variables were assessed by non-parametric Mann-Whitney tests.
²Illiterate: Centenarians who have not received formal education at all or have not completed primary school.
³Literate: Centenarians who have graduated at least from primary school.
*p < 0.05 (two-tailed)

ISSN: 1471-2318