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Table 1 Demographic characteristics of older people in poor and good health in India

From: Smoking, physical activity and healthy aging in India

Characteristic

Total

Poor health

Good health

χ 2

t

p

 

n = 1679

n = 222 (13.2%)

n = 1457 (86.8%)

   

Punjab (urban)

6.9%

5.4%

7.1%

0.90

 

0.40

Punjab (rural)

17.0%

14.4%

17.4%

1.24

 

0.29

Rajasthan (urban)

5.2%

4.5%

5.4%

0.28

 

0.75

Rajasthan (rural)

19.5%

18.5%

19.8%

0.21

 

0.72

Kerala (urban)

8.0%

13.1%

7.1%

9.27

 

≤0.01

Kerala (rural)

19.5%

33.8%

17.2%

33.75

 

≤0.001

Karnataka (urban)

8.0%

1.8%

8.9%

13.30

 

≤0.001

Karnataka (rural)

15.9%

8.6%

17.0%

10.32

 

≤0.001

Scheduled castes

91.8%

95.5%

91.2%

4.70

 

≤0.05

Scheduled tribes

5.4%

2.7%

5.8%

3.70

 

0.06

Non-scheduled castes/tribes

2.8%

1.8%

3.0%

0.94

 

0.51

Gender (female)

56.4%

59.9%

55.7%

1.38

 

0.25

Age [years; mean (SD)]

55.8 (11.9)

65.7 (12.8)

54.2 (11.0)

 

12.62

≤0.001

Marital status (single)

19.4%

40.5%

16.3%

72.38

 

≤0.001

Educational level (low)

69.8%

74.2%

69.2%

2.30

 

0.14

Smoking (yes)

18.1%

26.1%

16.9%

11.0

 

≤0.001

Physical inactivity (vigorous)

73.0%

88.7%

70.7%

31.86

 

≤0.001

Physical inactivity (moderate)

58.4%

67.1%

57.1%

8.03

 

≤0.01

  1. p indicates differences between groups; physical inactivity was defined as engagement in activities once a week or less often. SD, standard deviation.