Table 1 Baseline characteristics of the analytical sample (n = 2407) for men and women

Socio-demographic

  Age (years)

66.5 (0.24)

65.6 (0.22)

  Education

-

-

    Low

22.9

36.5

    Middle

32.0

38.2

    High

45.1

25.3

  Height (m)

1.75 (0.00)

1.63 (0.00)

Physical performance

  Gait speed (m/s)

0.93 (0.01)

0.88 (0.01)

Lifestyle

  Alcohol consumption

-

-

    None

9.57

20.0

    Light/moderate (up to 2 per day)

57.1

65.9

    Heavy/extreme (more than 2 per day)

33.3

14.1

  Smoking status

-

-

    Never

10.5

48.3

    Former

58.9

34.9

    Current

30.7

16.8

  Physical activity (MET hours per week) ^a

57.0 (1.31)

74.8 (1.23)

  Sleep problems (ranging from 0–9) ^b

5.20 (0.06)

6.10 (0.06)

  Sleep  duration (per 24 h)

-

-

    Short (less than 7 h)

14.3

20.4

    Normal (between 7 and 9 h)

68.3

65.6

    Long (more than 109 h)

17.4

14.0

  BMI (kg/m²)

26.4 (0.09)

27.4 (0.13)

Social

  Personal network size (range 0–80) ^c

15.2 (0.26)

15.8 (0.25)

  Living situation (not living alone)

84.0

63.3

  Social participation formal ^d

-

-

    Up to few times a year

35.4

23.8

    Few times a year up to few times a month

20.8

20.4

    Few times a month up to every week

21.3

27.3

    Every week up to every day

22.5

28.5

  Social participation informal (range 0–42) ^e

9.55 (0.15)

9.71 (0.14)

  Loneliness (range 0–11)

1.59 (0.06)

1.81 (0.07)

Health

  Chronic diseases (self-reported)

-

-

    None

31.1

25.6

    One

35.7

33.2

    Two

20.5

23.8

    Three or more

12.7

17.4

  Pain (in the past week)

-

-

    No

76.8

66.5

    Little

9.62

12.8

    Some

5.54

6.73

    Much

8.07

13.9

  Depressive symptoms (CES-D, range 0–60)

5.67 (0.17)

8.32 (0.22)