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Table 1 Characteristics of the 3212 participants and their age-adjusted median scores (Interquartile ranges) of physical performance by gender from quantile regression models

From: Education-related differences in physical performance after age 60: a cross-sectional study assessing variation by age, gender and occupation

 

<80 years (n = 2211)

≥80 years (n = 1001)

 

n

Grip strength* (Newton)

Balance score (0–60 sec)

Chair stands (/minute)

Walking speed (m/s)

n

Grip strength† (Newton)

Balance score (0–60 sec)

Chair stands (/minute)

Walking speed (m/s)

Gender

Men

904

365 (313–418)

36 (16–49)

26 (19–33)

1.1 (1.0-1.4)

260

271 (226–320)

1 (0–6)

7 (0–15)

0.7 (0.4-1.0)

Women

1307

202 (163–236)

36 (13–49)

23 (17–29)

1.1 (1.0-1.4)

741

149 (124–171)

1 (0–4)

7 (0–12)

0.4 (0.3-0.8)

Education

Elementary school

239

221 (180–335)

30 (10–49)

21 (15–29)

1.1 (0.7-1.4)

314

162 (128–201)

1 (0–4)

6 (0–11)

0.4 (0.3-0.7)

High school

1059

231 (183–327)

34 (13–49)

23 (17–29)

1.1 (0.9-1.4)

526

160 (132–190)

1 (0–4)

6 (0–13)

0.6 (0.3-0.8)

University

913

263 (204–358)

37 (20–49)

27 (20–33)

1.3 (1.1-1.4)

161

201 (150–262)

1 (0–5)

9 (0–18)

0.7 (0.4-0.8)

Occupational class

Manual workers

395

232 (186–325)

34 (14–49)

22 (14–27)

1.1 (0.8-1.4)

373

159 (129–191)

1 (0–4)

7 (0–10)

0.4 (0.2-0.7)

Non-manual workers

1816

247 (191–344)

36 (16–49)

24 (18–30)

1.1 (1.0-1.4)

628

167 (136–224)

1 (0–4)

7 (0–13)

0.6 (0.3-0.8)

Chronic diseases

0-1 diseases

1272

251 (200–348)

39 (18–49)

26 (20–33)

1.3 (1.0-1.4)

284

169 (138–223)

1 (0–7)

10 (0–17)

0.7 (0.4-1.0)

2+ diseases

935

234 (179–330)

31 (11–49)

22 (15–28)

1.1 (0.8-1.4)

712

162 (131–200)

1 (0–4)

6 (0–11)

0.4 (0.2-0.7)

Physical exercise

Inactive

490

237 (181–331)

27 (10–49)

20 (8–26)

0.9 (0.7-1.2)

554

161 (129–196)

0 (0–2)

0 (0–5)

0.4 (0.2-0.6)

Health-enhancing

1129

237 (189–331)

38 (16–49)

24 (18–30)

1.1 (1.0-1.4)

381

168 (137–216)

4 (0–7)

16 (0–14)

0.7 (0.5-0.9)

Fitness-enhancing

592

260 (200–366)

38 (21–49)

27 (21–34)

1.3 (1.0-1.4)

66

178 (142–247)

5 (0–10)

20 (0–14)

0.9 (0.7-1.1)

Body mass index (kg/m2)

<20

76

222 (199–278)

37 (11–49)

21 (3–29)

1.1 (0.8-1.4)

118

156 (135–193)

1 (0–3)

7 (0–12)

0.4 (0.3-0.7)

20-24.99

843

233 (188–317)

37 (17–49)

25 (20–33)

1.3 (1.0-1.4)

374

169 (133–212)

1 (0–6)

7 (0–20)

0.7 (0.4-0.9)

25-29.99

940

259 (194–368)

37 (15–49)

24 (18–29)

1.1 (1.0-1.4)

246

170 (134–224)

1 (0–7)

9 (0–18)

0.7 (0.4-0.9)

≥30

321

245 (182–340)

28 (11–49)

22 (16–27)

1.1 (0.8-1.4)

68

159 (136–199)

1 (0–4)

8 (0–17)

0.7 (0.5-0.8)

Smoking

Never

912

230 (183–319)

36 (16–49)

24 (19–30)

1.1 (1.0-1.4)

590

157 (129–186)

1 (0–4)

7 (0–13)

0.5 (0.3-0.8)

Former

909

263 (200–360)

36 (16–49)

24 (18–30)

1.1 (1.0-1.4)

315

180 (147–262)

1 (0–4)

7 (0–15)

0.6 (0.4-0.8)

Current

377

240 (196–338)

36 (16–49)

22 (17–28)

1.1 (0.8-1.4)

76

175 (137–237)

1 (0–5)

7 (0–13)

0.6 (0.4-0.8)

Alcohol consumption

No or occasional

565

221 (172–293)

30 (11–49)

21 (14–27)

1.1 (0.8-1.4)

600

161 (130–188)

1 (0–3)

4 (0–12)

0.4 (0.2-0.7)

Light to moderate

1217

272 (201–368)

37 (18–49)

25 (20–33)

1.1 (1.0-1.4)

299

184 (139–272)

1 (0–7)

12 (0–17)

0.7 (0.4-1.0)

Heavy

419

225 (185–284)

37 (15–49)

24 (18–29)

1.1 (1.0-1.4)

82

160 (133–191)

1 (0–6)

12 (0–18)

0.7 (0.5-0.8)

  1. Grip strength in people <80 years: *=2209 participants; grip strength in people ≥80 years †=946 participants. Imputed values were used for grip strength (n = 92 for people <80 years and n = 461 for people 80+ years), balance (n = 59 for people <80 years and n = 130 for people 80+ years), chair stands (n = 41 for people <80 years and n = 62 for people 80+ years) and walking speed (n = 43 for people <80 years and n = 93 for people 80+ years). Numbers of missing values were 9 for chronic diseases (4 among people <80 years and 5 among people 80+ years), 227 for BMI (32 among people <80 years and 195 among people 80+ years), 33 for smoking (13 among people <80 years and 20 among people 80+ years) and 30 for alcohol consumption (10 among people <80 years and 20 among people 80+ years).