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Table 1 Characteristics of Costa Rican elderly.

From: Factors associated with hypertension prevalence, unawareness and treatment among Costa Rican elderly

Variable (n*)

Males

(n = 1,293)

Females

(n = 1,534)

Mean age (± SD)

76.3 (± 10.2)

76.4 (± 10.3)

Sex (2,827)

47.5

52.5

Age groups (2,827)

  

   60–69

55.5

52.4

   70–79

31.1

31.9

   80+

13.4

15.7

Completed elementary education (2,815)

50.5

47.2

Has a job (2,827)

50.0

29.0

Has health insurance (2,827)

92.9

96.1

Low income (2,822)

33.6

36.5

Live in greater metropolitan area of San Jose (2,827)

50.7

55.0

Co-reside with a partner (2,822)

77.1

45.3

Body Mass Index (2,703)

  

   Underweight

2.9

3.6

   Normal

32.4

24.9

   Overweight

45.6

39.0

   Obesity

19.1

32.5

Alcohol consumption (2,827)

  

   Current use

5.3

0.3

   Occasional use

39.0

22.2

   Consumed in the past, but not anymore

48.2

15.8

   Never

7.5

61.7

Tobacco use (2,827)

  

   Current smokers

16.76

3.84

   Smoked in the past, but not anymore

50.9

16.94

   Never

32.34

79.23

Physically active (2,827)

40.2

23.3

Family history of hypertension (2,527)

51.7

58.0

Home visits by community health workers (2,820)

39.4

45.9

Consumes > 3,000 calories/day (2,819)

16.0

9.0

Consumes > 400 grams of carbohydrates/day (2,819)

20.1

11.3

Consumes > 40 grams of fat/day (2,819)

15.9

12.2

Has ever been diagnosed as diabetic (2,827)

17.0

24.2

Has ever had heart disease (2,827)

15.5

14.7

Has ever had a stroke (2,827)

3.5

4.1

Self-reported health status (2,820)

  

   Excellent

9.9

5.7

   Very good

14.1

13.0

   Good

32.0

31.2

   Fair

36.7

42.0

   Poor

7.3

8.1

  1. *Sample sizes are unweighted, whereas relative distributions correspond to weighted samples.