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Table 1 Descriptive characteristics of study participants divided by BMI and handgrip strength

From: Association among handgrip strength, body mass index and decline in cognitive function among the elderly women

BMI

Non-obese a

Obese a

p value

Handgrip Strength b

Weak

Strong

Weak

Strong

 

Number of people

180

214

68

82

 

 Proportion, %

33.1

39.3

12.5

15.1

 

Age, years

 Mean

71.4

68.7

70.6

68.8

<  0.001

 SD

4.8

3.9

4.3

3.6

 

Marital status, %

 Married

31.1

44.0

10.4

14.5

0.209

 Unmarried

34.7

35.6

14.2

15.5

 

Education, %

 Elementary

32.0

40.7

12.9

14.4

0.351

 Middle

37.3

30.5

10.2

22.0

 

 High

40.7

32.2

11.9

15.3

 

 College or higher

18.8

62.5

12.5

6.3

 

Income, %

 1st quartile

34.7

33.3

16.9

15.1

0.060

 2nd quartile

34.7

45.2

8.1

12.1

 

 3rd quartile

34.9

45.8

4.8

14.5

 

 4th quartile

27.1

41.7

10.4

20.8

 

Insurance, %

 Medicaid

50.0

18.4

21.1

10.5

0.012

 NHI

31.8

40.9

11.9

15.4

 

Area of residence, %

 Urban

32.7

37.1

13.7

16.6

0.087

 Rural

34.3

46.3

9.0

10.5

 

Smoking status, %

 Never smoker

35.0

39.5

12.8

14.7

0.561

 Ex-smoker

25.0

25.0

0.0

50.0

 

 Current smoker

37.5

37.5

6.3

18.8

 

Drinking, %

 No

34.8

36.6

12.8

15.8

0.002

 Yes

19.0

62.1

10.3

8.6

 

Physical activity, %

 None

31.1

39.0

14.6

15.2

0.258

 1 or more/week.

36.1

39.8

9.3

14.8

 

Weight change, %

 Loss

49.1

34.0

11.3

5.7

0.025

 No change

31.0

40.2

12.2

16.6

 

 Gain

43.8

31.3

25.0

0.0

 

ADL, %

 0

33.0

39.3

12.6

15.1

0.938

 1 or more

35.7

42.9

7.1

14.3

 

Depression, %

 No

28.0

43.7

10.5

17.8

0.001

 Yes

41.4

32.3

15.2

11.0

 

Comorbidity, %

 0

31.3

43.5

11.8

13.4

0.273

 1 or more

34.8

35.5

13.1

16.7

 

Baseline K-MMSE

 Mean

26.3

26.7

26.5

26.8

0.072

 SD

1.7

1.7

1.6

1.6

 
  1. anon-obese, BMI < 25 kg/m2; obese, BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2
  2. bHandgrip strength: weak, lower half, < 18.5 kgF; strong, upper half, ≥18.5 kgF
  3. Acronyms: BMI body mass index, K-MMSE Korea Mini-mental state examination, SD standard deviation, NHI National Health Insurance, ADL activities of daily living