Physical Performance in Older Cohorts: A Comparison of 81-Year-Old Swedish Men and Women Born Twelve Years Apart—Results from the Swedish Study “Good Aging in Skåne”
Table 1
Description of the 81-year-old men in the birth cohorts 1920–22 and 1932–34 from the Good Aging in Skåne general population study.
81-year-old men
Cohort born 1920–22, n = 88
Cohort born 1932–34, n = 142
value
Year of examination
2001–2004
2013–2015
Age (y), mean (SD)
81.1 (0.28)
81.0 (0.49)
0.264
Height (cm), mean (SD)
172.9 (6.8)
173.3 (5.5)
0.665
Weight (kg), mean (SD)
80.6 (10.9)
81.5 (11.4)
0.587
BMI
Normal/underweight, n (%)
27 (30.7)
44 (31.0
Overweight, n (%)
41 (46.6)
68 (47.9)
0.958
Obese, n (%)
20 (22.7)
30 (21.1)
Marital status
Married/cohabiting, n (%)
63 (71.6)
106 (74.6)
Single/widowed/divorced, n (%)
25 (28.4)
36 (25.4)
0.610
Education
Elementary school, n (%)
49 (55.7)
66 (46.5)
Secondary school/university, n (%)
39 (44.3)
76 (53.5)
0.175
Type of residential area
Rural, n (%)
7 (8.0)
24 (16.9)
Urban, n (%)
81 (92.0)
118 (83.1)
0.053
Smoking habits
Current smoker, n (%)
6 (6.8)
7 (4.9)
Former smoker, n (%)
52 (59.1)
76 (53.5)
0.490
Never smoked, n (%)
30 (34.1)
59 (41.5)
Alcohol consumption
Never/at most once per month, n (%)
57 (64.8)
68 (47.9)
2–4 times per month, n (%)
16 (18.2)
32 (22.3)
0.034
2-3 times per week, n (%)
15 (17.0)
42 (29.6)
Physical activity past year
Mostly sedentary, n (%)
19 (21.6)
31 (21.8)
Light activity, n (%)
49 (55.7)
73 (51.4)
0.764
Strenuous activity, n (%)
20 (22.7)
38 (26.8)
Pain
Back/pelvis, n (%)
17 (21.5)
37 (26.1)
0.452
Lower extremities, n (%)
18 (22.8)
31 (21.8)
0.870
Upper extremities, n (%)
17 (21.5)
37 (26.5)
0.452
Comorbidity
Pulmonary disease: tuberculosis/asthma/COPD, n (%)
10 (11.4)
24 (16.9)
0.250
Heart disease: infarction/angina/heart failure, n (%)
48 (54.5)
74 (52.1)
0.719
Stroke: infarction/hemorrhage, n (%)
6 (6.8)
15 (10.6)
0.338
Fractures: vertebrae/pelvis/lower extremities, n (%) Upper extremities, n (%)
