Table 2 Characteristics of the CLSA sample by the SRH Status

Sex

Female

13,939 (91.05%)

1370 (8.95%)

Male

13,353 (90.44%)

1412 (9.56%)

Age

In years (mean, SD)

62.9 (10.2)

63.4 (10.4)

Self-rated Mental health

Good health

26,448 (93.13%)

1951 (6.87%)

Poor health

830 (50.27%)

821 (49.73%)

Chronic conditions

At least 1 chronic condition

24,878 (90.10%)

2733 (9.90%)

No chronic conditions

2216 (98.40)

36 (1.60%)

Social support availability

Higher = better (mean, SD)

99.1 (125.4)

104.5 (169.7)

Social support participation

Did not participate in community related activity

31 (68.89%)

14 (31.11%)

Participated in community related activity at least 1/year

306 (71.66%)

121 (28.34%)

Participated in community related activity at least 1/month

3205 (84.97%)

567 (15.03%)

Participated in community related activity at least 1/week

18,808 (91.69%)

1704 (8.31%)

Participated in community related activity at least 1/day

4906 (93.08%)

365 (6.92%)

Country of birth

Other

3086 (91.33%)

293 (8.67%)

Canada

24,203 (90.68%)

2489 (9.32%)

Province of residence

Alberta

2680 (90.72%)

274 (9.28%)

British Columbia

5647 (90.35%)

603 (9.65%)

Manitoba

2825 (90.81%)

286 (9.19%)

Newfoundland/Labrador

1999 (90.33%)

214 (9.67%)

Nova Scotia

2783 (90.53%)

291 (9.47%)

Ontario

5878 (91.66%)

535 (8.34%)

Quebec

5480 (90.44%)

579 (9.56%)

Location

Urban

24,732 (90.68%)

2542 (9.32%)

Rural

2224 (91.82%)

198 (8.18%)

Marital status

Single

2305 (86.85%)

349 (13.15%)

Married/in a common law relationship

19,004 (92.09%)

1632 (7.91%)

Widowed

2520 (89.84%)

285 (10.16%)

Divorced

2763 (86.86%)

418 (13.14%)

Separated

692 (87.59%)

98 (12.41%)

Education level

Less than secondary school graduation

1317 (80.30%)

323 (19.70%)

Secondary school graduation, no post-secondary

2536 (89.36%)

302 (10.64%)

Some post-secondary education

1959 (87.61%)

277 (12.39%)

Post- secondary degree/diploma

21,440 (91.98%)

1870 (8.02%)

Wealth (how well does your income satisfy your basic needs?)

Very well

14,676 (94.57%)

843 (5.43%)

Adequately

9388 (89.69%)

1079 (10.31%)

With some difficulty

1478 (81.08%)

345 (18.92%)

Not very well

328 (69.78%)

142 (30.21%)

Totally inadequately

119 (59.50%)

81 (40.50%)

Income

Less than $20,000

3522 (80.56%)

850 (19.44%)

$20,000 or more, but less than $50,000

9529 (90.52%)

998 (9.48%)

$50,000 or more, but less than $100,000

9102 (93.93%)

588 (6.07%)

$100,000 or more, but less than $150,000

2400 (95.35%)

117 (4.65%)

$150,000 or more

1395 (95.29%)

69 (4.71%)

Smoking

Daily smoker

2243 (82.80%)

466 (17.20%)

Occasional smoker or former daily smoker

13,230 (92.96%)

1002 (7.04%)

< 100 cigarettes in lifetime/non-smoker

11,818 (89.99%)

1314 (10.01%)

Alcohol consumption

Regular drinker (at least once/month)

20,699 (93.12%)

1529 (6.88%)

Occasional drinker

3134 (84.75%)

564 (15.25%)

Did not drink in the last 12 months

2828 (82.62%)

595 (17.38%)

Alcohol consumption frequency

Almost every day

4518 (93.41%)

319 (6.59%)

4–5 times/week

2838 (94.79%)

156 (5.21%)

2–3 times/week

5793 (94.49%)

338 (5.51%)

1 time/week

3051 (92.57%)

1035 (7.43%)

Occasionally

7633 (88.06%)

1035 (11.94%)

Never

2828 (82.62%)

595 (17.38%)

Nutrition

Higher = better

37.97 (18.21)

30.97 (24.73)

Physical activity- frequency last week

Never

18,305 (90.06%)

2021(9.94%)

Seldom (1–2 days)

2791 (93.97%)

179 (6.03%)

Sometimes (3–4 days)

2887 (95.28%)

143 (4.72%)

Often (5–7 days)

2236 (92.24%)

188 (7.76%)

Physical activity- hours/day

< 30 min

3584 (92.90%)

274 (7.10%)

30 min to 1 h

2610 (94.36%)

156 (5.64%)

1 h to 2 h

1537 (95.70%)

69 (4.30%)

2 h to 4 h

148 (96.10%)

6 (3.90%)

4 h +

20 (86.96%)

3 (13.04%)

Physical activity at work

Mainly sitting with slight arm movements

5730 (93.67%)

387 (6.33%)

Sitting and standing with some walking

5410 (94.22%)

332 (5.78%)

Walking with some light handling of materials

3470 (93.38%)

246 (6.62%)

Walking and heavy manual work

547 (92.40%)

45 (7.60%)

ADL+ IADL

Higher = independent for more ADL and IADL (mean, SD)

0.0051 (0.1304)

0.0176 (0.1421)

Depression

Higher = more depression symptoms (mean, SD)

3.6 (2.6)

5.1 (2.6)

BMI

Underweight

177 (81.57%)

40 (18.43%)

Normal

8352 (94.32%)

503 (5.68%)

Overweight

11,260 (93.23%)

818 (6.77%)

Obese Class I

5110 (87.86%)

706 (12.14%)

Obese Class II

1610 (81.40%)

368 (18.60%)

Obese Class III

692 (69.92%)

302 (30.38%)

Vision

Excellent

6435 (94.04%)

408 (5.96%)

Very Good

10,963 (93.37%)

778 (6.63%)

Good

8102 (88.36%)

1067 (11.64%)

Fair

1521(77.72%)

436 (22.28%)

Poor

254 (73.41%)

92 (26.59%)

Hearing

Excellent

6189 (92.91%)

472 (7.09%)

Very Good

9412 (93.30%)

676 (6.70%)

Good

8842 (89.62%)

1024 (10.38%)

Fair

2472 (83.34%)

494 (16.66%)

Poor

356 (76.56%)

109 (23.44%)

Grip strength

Higher = stronger grip (mean, SD)

35.4 (11.8)

33.1 (11.8)

Formal health care services

Received formal health care services

1022 (70.00%)

438 (30.00%)

Did not receive formal health care services

26,256 (91.81%)

2342 (8.19%)

Informal health care services

Received informal health care services

2533 (75.66%)

815 (24.34%)

Did not receive informal health care services

24,751 (92.65%)

1963 (7.35%)

Care services

Did not receive any health care services

24,214 (93.09%)

1797 (6.91%)

Received formal health care services only

526 (76.23%)

164 (23.77%)

Received informal health care services only

2037 (78.95%)

543 (21.05%)

Received both formal and informal health care

495 (64.54%)

272 (35.46%)

Care giving

Did provide assistance for others

11,907 (91.34%)

1129 (8.66%)

Did not provide assistance for others

15,364 (90.29%)

1652 (9.71%)

Hours care giving

Average hours/week caregiving for others (mean, SD)

13.6 (25.1)

16.4 (30.3)