Clinical characteristics of the study cohort (overall and stratified by age group; n=18 101)
| Overall (n=18 101) | Age groups (years) | P value | |||
| 18–34 (n=4654) (25.7%) | 35–59 (n=9029) (49.9%) | 60 and above (n=4418) (24.4%) | |||
| Chronic conditions, n (%) | <0.001 | ||||
| Heart disease | 553 (3.2%) | 46 (1.0%) | 207 (2.4%) | 300 (7.0%) | |
| Stroke | 208 (1.2%) | 7 (0.2%) | 87 (1.0%) | 114 (2.6%) | |
| Diabetes mellitus* | 1868 (10.3%) | 44 (0.9%) | 975 (10.8%) | 849 (19.2%) | |
| Hypertension* | 3325 (18.4%) | 75 (1.6%) | 1633 (18.1%) | 1617 (36.6%) | |
| Chronic kidney disease | 173 (1.0%) | 17 (0.4%) | 68 (0.8%) | 88 (2.0%) | |
| Arthritis, joint pain and/or back pain | 4296 (24.7%) | 509 (11.5%) | 2033 (23.4%) | 1754 (40.7%) | |
| Asthma | 666 (3.8%) | 123 (2.8%) | 310 (3.5%) | 233 (5.4%) | |
| Obesity | 3665 (20.7%) | 712 (15.4%) | 2202 (24.7%) | 751 (18.0%) | |
| Vision problem | 2247 (12.4%) | 221 (4.7%) | 1182 (13.1%) | 844 (19.1%) | |
| Hearing problem | 489 (2.7%) | 75 (1.6%) | 154 (1.7%) | 260 (5.9%) | |
| Physical mobility problem | 1032 (5.7%) | 238 (5.1%) | 481 (5.3%) | 313 (7.1%) | |
| Multimorbidity | |||||
| Mean no of conditions±SD n (%) | 1.0±1.2 | 0.5±0.8 | 1.1±1.2 | 1.6±1.4 | <0.001 |
| No multimorbidity | 11 688 (71.5%) | 3777 (90.4%) | 5803 (70.6%) | 2108 (53.2%) | <0.001 |
| Zero condition | 7237 (44.3%) | 2815 (67.4%) | 3412 (41.5%) | 1010 (25.5%) | |
| One condition | 4449 (27.2%) | 962 (23.0%) | 2389 (29.1%) | 1098 (27.7%) | |
| With multimorbidity | 4669 (28.5%) | 401 (9.6%) | 2413 (29.4%) | 1855 (46.8%) | |
| Two conditions | 2595 (15.9%) | 287 (6.9%) | 1424 (17.3%) | 884 (22.3%) | |
| Three conditions | 1278 (7.8%) | 92 (2.2%) | 627 (7.6%) | 559 (14.1%) | |
| ≥Four conditions | 791 (4.8%) | 21 (0.5%) | 360 (4.4%) | 410 (10.4%) | |
| BMI categories | <0.001 | ||||
| Obesity (BMI ≥30.0 kg/m2) | 3665 (20.7%) | 712 (15.4%) | 2202 (24.7%) | 751 (18.0%) | |
| Overweight (BMI 25.0–29.9 kg/m2) | 5994 (33.8%) | 1063 (23.0%) | 3396 (38.1%) | 1535 (36.7%) | |
| Normal (BMI 18.5–24.9 kg/m2) | 7309 (41.3%) | 2452 (53.1%) | 3132 (35.1%) | 1725 (41.3%) | |
| Underweight (BMI<18.5 kg/m2) | 746 (4.2%) | 390 (8.4%) | 186 (2.1%) | 170 (4.1%) | |
| Depressive symptoms, n (%) | <0.001 | ||||
| Yes | 3138 (17.6%) | 891 (19.6%) | 1570 (17.7%) | 677 (15.6%) | |
| Medication prescription, n (%) | |||||
| Antidiabetic medication | 1023/1537 (66.6%) | 10 (23.8%) | 531 (66.0%) | 482 (69.9%) | <0.001 |
| Insulin | 425/1537 (27.7%) | 4 (9.5%) | 232 (28.8%) | 189 (27.4%) | 0.024 |
| Oral hypoglycaemic agents | 920/1540 (59.7%) | 8 (19.0%) | 479 (59.4%) | 433 (62.6%) | <0.001 |
| Antihypertensive therapy | 1871/2847 (65.7%) | 19 (27.9%) | 857 (62.6%) | 995 (70.6%) | <0.001 |
| Hospitalisation (≥1 night in the past 6 months)†, n (%) | NA | ||||
| Yes | – | – | – | 320/4414 (7.0%) | |
| Emergency department visit (in the past 6 months)†, n (%) | NA | ||||
| Yes | – | – | – | 324/4414 (4.8%) | |
Numbers may not add up to totals due to missing data.
Statistical significance testing by χ2 test and one-way ANOVA with post hoc Bonferroni test.
*Self-reported diagnosis or medication use.
†Only participants aged 60 years and above.
ANOVA, analysis of variance; BMI, body mass index; NA, not applicable.