Main characteristics of the total sample and by regions
| Region | Total | Africa* | China† | India† | Russia† | England‡ | Northern Europe§ | Southern Europe¶ | Western Europe** |
| N=72 140 | n=7950 | n=12 840 | n=6558 | n=3887 | n=11 517 | n=4573 | n=7465 | n=17 350 | |
| Age, mean (SD) | 64.05 (9.96) | 63.60 (10.26) | 63.07 (9.31) | 61.80 (9.02) | 65.06 (10.18) | 65.06 (10.26) | 64.78 (10.34) | 65.02 (10.17) | 64.34 (9.96) |
| Woman, % (95% CI) | 54.0 (53.6 to 54.4) | 52.3 (51.2 to 53.4) | 52.9 (52.1 to 54.8) | 49.6 (48.4 to 50.8) | 64.6 (63.0 to 66.1) | 54.6 (53.7 to 55.5) | 53.2 (51.8 to 54.7) | 55.4 (54.2 to 56.5) | 54.1 (53.4 to 54.9) |
| Marital status, % (95% CI) | |||||||||
| Single | 4.1 (4.0 to 4.3) | 6.7 (6.2 to 7.3) | 0.9 (0.7 to 1.6) | 1.0 (0.8 to 1.2) | 2.8 (2.3 to 3.4) | 5.0 (4.6 to 5.4) | 5.5 (4.8 to 6.2) | 6.3 (5.8 to 6.9) | 4.9 (4.6 to 5.3) |
| Married | 71.5 (71.1 to 72.0) | 54.5 (53.4 to 55.6) | 83.5 (82.8 to 84.1) | 74.1 (73.1 to 75.2) | 56.1 (54.5 to 57.7) | 69.1 (68.2 to 69.9) | 72.4 (71.0 to 73.7) | 73.3 (72.3 to 74.3) | 73.3 (72.7 to 74.0) |
| Divorced | 5.9 (5.7 to 6.2) | 10.4 (9.7 to 11.1) | 1.7 (1.5 to 2.0) | 0.6 (0.5 to 0.9) | 8.3 (7.4 to 9.2) | 9.0 (8.5 to 9.5) | 9.6 (8.8 to 10.5) | 2.6 (2.3 to 3.0) | 6.8 (6.5 to 7.2) |
| Widowed | 18.4 (18.1 to 18.6) | 27.3 (26.3 to 28.3) | 13.9 (13.3 to 14.6) | 24.3 (23.2 to 25.3) | 32.7 (31.2 to 34.2) | 16.9 (16.3 to 17.6) | 12.5 (11.6 to 13.5) | 17.8 (16.9 to 18.6) | 14.9 (14.4 to 15.4) |
| Education level % (95% CI) | |||||||||
| Primary or less | 33.4 (33.0 to 33.7) | 30.5 (29.5 to 31.5) | 37.9 (37.1 to 38.8) | 25.5 (24.5 to 26.6) | 9.9 (9.0 to 10.9) | 42.4 (41.5 to 43.4) | 29.6 (28.3 to 30.9) | 59.4 (58.3 to 60.5) | 23.2 (22.6 to 23.8) |
| Secondary | 38.7 (38.4 to 39.1) | 19.0 (18.2 to 19.9) | 33.2 (32.4 to 34.0) | 18.2 (17.3 to 19.2) | 69.3 (67.9 to 70.8) | 37.5 (36.7 to 38.4) | 45.1 (43.6 to 46.5) | 31.3 (30.2 to 32.3) | 55.1 (54.3 to 55.8) |
| Tertiary | 12.0 (11.9 to 12.2) | 3.9 (3.5 to 4.3) | 4.7 (4.3 to 5.0) | 5.0 (4.4 to 5.5) | 19.7 (18.5 to 21.0) | 11.1 (10.6 to 11.7) | 24.2 (23.0 to 25.5) | 9.1 (8.4 to 9.7) | 20.8 (20.2 to 21.4) |
| Wealth, quintiles % (95% CI) | |||||||||
| First (worse) | 19.3 (19.1 to 19.6) | 19.3 (18.4 to 20.2) | 19.8 (19.1 to 20.5) | 16.2 (15.3 to 17.1) | 18.2 (17.0 to 19.5) | 19.0 (18.3 to 19.7) | 20.7 (19.6 to 21.9) | 20.3 (19.4 to 21.2) | 19.9 (19.3 to 20.5) |
| Second | 19.7 (19.4 to 20.0) | 19.7 (18.4 to 20.2) | 19.7 (19.0 to 20.4) | 18.6 (17.6 to 19.5) | 19.8 (18.5 to 21.1) | 19.3 (18.6 to 20.1) | 20.4 (19.3 to 21.6) | 20.4 (19.5 to 21.3) | 19.9 (19.4 to 20.6) |
| Third | 19.7 (19.4 to 19.9) | 19.8 (18.9 to 20.7) | 20.1 (19.4 to 20.8) | 18.4 (17.5 to 19.4) | 20.3 (19.0 to 21.6) | 19.7 (18.9 to 20.4) | 20.1 (19.0 to 21.3) | 19.8 (18.9 to 20.7) | 19.5 (18.9to 20.1) |
| Fourth | 19.9 (19.7 to 20.3) | 20.5 (19.6 to 21.4) | 20.5 (19.8 to 21.2) | 21.5 (20.5 to 22.5) | 20.0 (18.8 to 21.3) | 19.6 (18.9 to 20.3) | 19.7 (18.5 to 20.8) | 19.4 (18.6 to 20.4) | 19.3 (18.8 to 19.9) |
| Fifth (best) | 20.1 (19.8 to 20.4) | 20.4 (19.5 to 21.3) | 19.7 (19.0 to 20.4) | 24.8 (23.8 to 25.9) | 21.6 (20.3 to 22.9) | 19.6 (18.9 to 20.3) | 18.9 (17.8 to 20.1) | 18.9 (18.0 to 19.8) | 19.4 (18.8 to 20.0) |
| No diseases, mean (SD) | 1.02 (1.14) | 0.64 (0.94) | 0.80 (0.99) | 0.72 (0.97) | 1.66 (1.38) | 1.19 (1.13) | 1.02 (1.10) | 1.28 (1.25) | 1.10 (1.16) |
| Diseases, % (95% CI) | |||||||||
| Diabetes | 8.5 (8.3 to 8.7) | 6.6 (6.1 to 7.2) | 6.5 (6.1 to 7.0) | 7.3 (6.7 to 7.9) | 9.0 (8.1 to 10.0) | 7.4 (6.9 to 7.9) | 8.2 (7.4 to 9.0) | 11.9 (11.2 to 12.7) | 10.4 (9.9 to 10.9) |
| Hypertension | 31.2 (30.9 to 31.6) | 21.5 (20.6 to 22.4) | 27.4 (26.6 to 28.2) | 17.5 (16.6 to 18.5) | 56.5 (54.9 to 58.1) | 37.8 (36.9 to 38.7) | 29.3 (28.0 to 30.7) | 35.6 (34.5 to 36.7) | 32.3 (31.6 to 33.0) |
| Joint disorders | 22.4 (22.0 to 22.7) | 17.8 (16.9 to 18.6) | 22.1 (21.4 to 22.8) | 17.9 (17.0 to 18.9) | 35.2 (33.7 to 36.7) | 32.5 (31.6 to 33.3) | 15.7 (14.6 to 16.8) | 26.3 (25.3 to 27.3) | 16.8 (16.3 to 17.4) |
| Asthma | 5.5 (5.3 to 5.6) | 4.1 (3.7 to 4.5) | 2.4 (2.2 to 2.7) | 6.9 (6.3 to 7.6) | 3.4 (2.9 to 4.0) | 11.7 (11.1 to 12.3) | 7.6 (6.8 to 8.4) | 4.1 (3.7 to 4.6) | 4.1 (3.8 to 4.4) |
| Chronic lung disease | 6.1 (5.9 to 6.3) | 1.5 (1.2 to 1.7) | 8.6 (8.1 to 9.1) | 4.1 (3.6 to 4.6) | 17.9 (16.8 to 19.2) | 6.5 (6.1 to 7.0) | 4.5 (3.9 to 5.2) | 5.4 (4.9 to 6.0) | 4.9 (4.6 to 5.3) |
| MI–angina | 10.0 (9.8 to 10.3) | 4.5 (4.1 to 5.0) | 8.8 (8.3 to 9.3) | 4.9 (4.4 to 5.5) | 33.1 (31.6 to 34.6) | 3.3 (3.0 to 3.6) | 13.8 (12.8 to 14.8) | 11.7 (11.0 to 12.4) | 13.1 (12.6 to 13.6) |
| Stroke | 3.8 (3.7 to 3.9) | 3.2 (2.8 to 3.6) | 3.5 (3.2 to 3.8) | 2.2 (1.9 to 2.6) | 6.0 (5.3 to 6.8) | 4.5 (4.1 to 4.9) | 5.0 (4.4 to 5.7) | 3.1 (2.8 to 3.6) | 3.9 (3.7 to 4.2) |
| Depression | 15.3 (15.0 to 15.5) | 5.8 (5.3 to 6.3) | 1.2 (1.1 to 1.4) | 12.1 (11.3 to 12.9) | 5.2 (4.5 to 5.9) | 16.5 (15.8 to 17.2) | 18.8 (17.7 to 20.0) | 31.7 (30.6 to 32.7) | 25.0 (24.3 to 25.6) |
The analyses were performed before multiple imputation procedure.
*SAGE study—Africa: Ghana, South Africa.
†SAGE study.
‡ELSA study—England.
§SHARE study—Northern Europe: Denmark, Sweden.
¶SHARE study—Southern Europe: Greece, Italy, Spain.
**SHARE study—Western Europe: Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Israel, Netherlands, Switzerland.
ELSA, English Longitudinal Study of Ageing; SAGE, Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health; SHARE, Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe Study.