Table 1 Characteristics of each wave of participants (%, 2001–2013)

Sample size

2064

2725

2904

3203

1056

1347

1253

1525

1008

1378

1651

1678

Sociodemographic

 Age

  mean

(min–max)

73.40

(65–98.2)

74.03

(65–102.6)

74.75

(65–99)

75.27

(65–100.16)

73.29

(65–96.7)

73.98

(65–102.6)

75.03

(65–99.5)

75.34

(65–96.8)

73.48

(65–98.2)

74.07

(65–95.4)

74.54

(65–98.4)

75.22

(65–100.2)

 Age group (years)

65–74

65.0

59.1

55.3

48.4

65.3

58.2

52.5

53.6

64.7

60.0

57.4

53.8

75–84

30.2

34.9

35.9

41.4

30.8

37.1

38.4

35.7

29.6

32.7

34.0

36.6

85 + 

4.8

6.0

8.8

10.2

4.0

4.8

9.1

10.7

5.8

7.3

8.6

9.7

 Gender

  Men

51.2

49.4

43.2

47.6

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

  Women

48.8

50.6

56.9

52.4

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

 Marital status

  married/partnered

60.5

58.6

59.0

58.6

74.9

71.6

73.5

73.6

54.5

45.9

48.0

45.0

  other

39.5

41.4

41.0

41.4

25.1

28.4

26.5

26.4

45.5

54.1

52.0

55.0

 Living alone

  Yes

-

10.1

12.8

11.1

-

10.5

11.9

10.5

-

9.8

13.5

11.6

  No

-

89.9

87.2

89.0

-

89.5

88.1

89.5

-

90.2

86.5

88.4

 Level of education

  Low

84.8

87.4

85.8

83.8

75.4

79.8

76.4

74.6

94.5

94.8

93.0

92.1

  Medium

8.2

6.2

7.7

8.6

12.0

9.2

12.0

12.9

4.2

3.3

4.4

4.6

  High

7.1

6.4

6.5

7.6

12.6

11.1

11.6

12.5

1.3

1.9

2.6

3.3

 Health condition

  Metabolic disease

57.3

58.5

62.8

65.6

54.8

54.9

57.2

61.5

60.0

62.1

67.1

69.4

  Heart disease

23.8

18.0

16.4

19.1

23.1

17.0

14.8

18.3

24.6

19.1

17.7

21.1

  Lung disease

14.1

10.5

7.6

8.8

17.5

13.2

9.0

10.9

10.6

7.8

6.5

6.9

  Cataracts

31.7

26.4

41.8

34.5

25.8

22.8

36.4

28.2

37.9

29.9

45.9

40.1

  Hearing impairment

2.7

2.2

1.9

2.5

3.2

2.8

2.5

3.3

2.0

1.6

1.4

1.5

  Cognitive impairment

-

20.5

21.1

19.5

-

14.2

16.3

15.9

-

27.0

24.8

22.7

Behavior factors

 BMI

  Underweight

6.5

6.9

4.7

-

6.5

6.1

4.7

-

6.5

7.8

4.7

-

  Normal

52.5

46.6

48.3

-

56.0

48.6

52.0

-

47.7

44.6

45.3

-

  Overweight

28.0

27.4

28.2

-

27.8

28.5

28.0

-

28.3

26.3

28.3

-

  Obese

13.1

19.1

18.9

-

9.7

16.8

15.3

-

17.5

21.3

21.8

-

  Exercise

56.9

54.1

50.1

49.9

59.9

57.8

53.8

53.7

53.9

50.6

47.2

46.4

  Fall

100.0

21.3

19.5

16.5

100

16.4

15.8

14.9

100.0

26.0

22.3

18.0

  Social engagement

-

42.9

39.9

41.6

-

42.9

39.4

42.6

-

42.9

40.4

40.7

  Depressive symptomatology

-

20.6

15.9

13.7

-

16.8

13.0

9.1

-

24.5

18.2

17.8

 Diet

  Tea or coffee

50.6

63.1

39.0

-

61.4

74.2

50.1

-

39.3

52.3

30.6

-

  Protein

99.0

99.1

87.8

-

98.7

99.5

92.2

-

99.4

98.8

84.4

-

  Veggies

98.8

99.1

88.7

-

98.3

99.2

86.2

-

99.4

99.0

90.4

-

  Carbs

99.2

99.2

24.3

-

99.2

99.3

26.3

-

99.3

99.1

23.5

-

  Dairy

68.5

71.0

46.7

-

63.8

68.0

41.5

-

73.4

74.0

50.6

-