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Table 2 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

 

Men (n = 1164)

Women (n = 2048)

 

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)

Age groups

60-66

566

397 (343–450)

60 (29–60)

30 (21–38)

1.2 (1.2-1.5)

728

225 (184–261)

60 (23–60)

27 (21–33)

1.2 (1.2-1.5)

72-78

338

331 (279–383)

14 (5–47)

21 (17–27)

1.2 (0.8-1.2)

579

179 (142–210)

11 (4–34)

20 (12–25)

1.0 (0.8-1.2)

81-87

179

276 (227–329)

3 (0–10)

17 (0–23)

0.8 (0.5-1.2)

411

153 (125–177)

3 (0–7)

9 (0–20)

0.6 (0.4-1.0)

90+

81

266 (224–308)

0 (0–3)

0 (0–9)

0.5 (0.3-0.8)

330

145 (122–166)

0 (0–0)

0 (0–3)

0.3 (0.0-0.5)

Education

Elementary school

164

316 (266–364)

19 (8–30)

16 (9–22)

0.9 (0.7-1.2)

389

172 (135–196)

18 (6–25)

13 (8–17)

0.8 (0.5-1.0)

High school

487

318 (267–368)

19 (8–30)

16 (9–24)

0.9 (0.7-1.2)

1098

173 (143–201)

18 (6–25)

13 (8–20)

0.8 (0.6-1.1)

University

513

318 (270–366)

21 (11–30)

18 (11–26)

1.0 (0.7-1.2)

561

185 (155–214)

19 (9–25)

16 (10–23)

1.0 (0.8-1.1)

Occupational class

Manual workers

204

317 (265–363)

19 (7–30)

15 (8–20)

0.9 (0.6-1.2)

564

176 (144–202)

18 (6–25)

11 (8–19)

0.8 (0.5-1.0)

Non-manual workers

960

318 (269–367)

19 (8–30)

18 (10–25)

0.9 (0.8-1.2)

1484

176 (142–204)

18 (7–25)

15 (8–21)

0.8 (0.7-1.0)

Chronic diseases

0-1 diseases

630

330 (273–374)

22 (10–34)

18 (12–26)

1.0 (0.8-1.2)

926

181 (153–208)

19 (7–25)

16 (9–23)

0.9 (0.7-1.1)

2+ diseases

531

313 (266–360)

17 (8–24)

15 (9–23)

0.8 (0.6-1.2)

1116

172 (137–201)

17 (7–25)

12 (8–19)

0.8 (0.5-1.0)

Physical exercise

Inactive

334

308 (261–350)

16 (7–30)

13 (6–19)

0.7 (0.5-1.0)

710

171 (139–199)

16 (6–23)

8 (7–14)

0.6 (0.4-0.8)

Health-enhancing

536

320 (271–378)

22 (9–30)

18 (13–24)

1.0 (0.9-1.2)

974

179 (143–206)

20 (6–26)

18 (10–22)

0.9 (0.8-1.1)

Fitness-enhancing

294

331 (278–377)

22 (12–30)

22 (15–26)

1.1 (0.9-1.2)

364

182 (155–211)

20 (11–26)

21 (15–26)

1.0 (0.8-1.1)

Body mass index (kg/m2)

<20

48

309 (268–346)

20 (9–30)

16 (9–19)

0.8 (0.6-1.0)

146

177 (143–199)

19 (15–24)

14 (9–21)

0.8 (0.6-1.0)

20-24.99

401

313 (267–359)

20 (9–30)

18 (9–26)

1.0 (0.8-1.2)

816

177 (145–205)

19 (8–26)

16 (9–25)

0.9 (0.7-1.1)

25-29.99

534

326 (276–374)

20 (9–30)

18 (11–26)

1.0 (0.8-1.2)

652

174 (145–203)

19 (7–26)

14 (9–23)

0.8 (0.7-1.1)

≥30

154

321 (260–379)

15 (3–30)

15 (8–22)

0.9 (0.6-1.2)

234

170 (135–202)

15 (4–26)

14 (7–21)

0.8 (0.5-1.0)

Smoking

Never

406

319 (269–368)

19 (9–30)

17 (10–26)

1.0 (0.7-1.2)

1096

174 (141–202)

18 (7–25)

15 (9–21)

0.8 (0.6-1.1)

Former

577

317 (266–367)

19 (9–30)

17 (10–23)

0.9 (0.7-1.2)

647

177 (145–204)

18 (7–25)

12 (8–21)

0.8 (0.6-1.1)

Current

174

317 (274–358)

19 (7–30)

17 (10–22)

0.9 (0.7-1.2)

279

178 (150–206)

18 (4–25)

13 (8–21)

0.8 (0.6-1.1)

Alcohol consumption

No or occasional

277

304 (260–361)

19 (9–30)

16 (9–21)

0.9 (0.6-1.2)

888

174 (138–201)

16 (7–25)

12 (8–19)

0.7 (0.5-1.0)

Light to moderate

756

323 (276–369)

20 (9–30)

18 (10–26)

1.0 (0.8-1.2)

760

175 (145–204)

20 (7–25)

17 (9–23)

0.9 (0.7-1.1)

Heavy

122

312 (279–360)

19 (4–30)

16 (9–22)

0.9 (0.8-1.2)

379

181 (154–209)

20 (7–25)

17 (9–23)

0.9 (0.7-1.1)

  1. Grip strength in men *=1158 participants; grip strength in women †=1997 participants. Imputed values were used for grip strength (n = 138 for men and n = 415 for women), balance (n = 54 for men and n = 135 for women), chair stands (n = 32 for men and n = 71 for women) and walking speed (n = 37 for men and n = 99 for women). Numbers of missing values were 9 for chronic diseases (3 among men and 6 among women), 227 for BMI (27 among men and 200 among women), 33 for smoking (7 among men and 26 among women) and 30 for alcohol consumption (9 among men and 21 among women).