Table 1 Characteristics of participants at baseline

Sex (male/female)

8/34

10/37

0.794^a

Age in years (mean ± SD)

75.32 ± 5.67

75.81 ± 6.97

0.715^b

 Bone and joint disease

28

33

0.719^a

 Nucleus disease

5

2

0.173^a

 Heart trouble

5

3

0.295^a

Hypertention

14

22

0.196^a

 Diabetes

3

5

0.422^a

 Digestive system disease

4

6

0.444^a

 Depression

1

2

0.543^a

 Self-rated health (five methods)

3.14 ± 0.78

3.23 ± 0.84

0.599^b