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Table 1 Distribution of the pooled sample: 2005, 2008, 2011 and 2014 waves of the CLHLS

From: Self-perceived uselessness and associated factors among older adults in China

 

Self-perceived uselessness (percentage)

Variables

Sample %a

Always/often

Sometimes

Seldom/never

Unable to answer

Total sample

48,476 (100%)

11,147 (23.0%)b

15,122 (31.2%)b

16,000 (33.0%)b

6207 (12.8%)b

Resources (R)

 Own education, 0 years of schooling

66.0

24.9

30.7

28.5

15.9

 Own education, 1–6 years of schooling

25.1

20.8

32.9

38.7

7.6

 Own education, 7+ years of schooling

8.9

15.0

29.9

50.2

4.9

 Spouse’s education, 0 years of schooling

54.3

24.5

30.9

30.0

14.7

 Spouse’s education, 1–6 years of schooling

21.4

22.8

31.6

36.1

9.5

 Spouse’s education, 7+ years of schooling

7.4

17.6

30.2

45.5

6.7

 Spouse’s education, missing or not applicable

16.9

20.8

32.0

33.5

13.7

 Father’s education, 0 years of schooling

69.3

24.5

31.0

31.2

13.3

 Father’s education, 1+ year of schooling

15.4

19.8

32.5

40.6

7.1

 Father’s education missing

15.3

19.7

30.8

33.4

16.2

 Rural

56.4

24.7

31.4

30.2

13.8

 Urban

43.6

20.9

30.9

36.7

11.6

 Non-white collar occupation

92.3

23.7

31.3

31.7

13.3

 White collar occupation

7.7

14.2

29.7

49.2

6.9

 Economic dependence

72.2

25.2

30.7

28.4

15.7

 Economic independence

27.8

17.3

32.5

45.0

5.2

 Fair or poor family economic condition

84.8

24.1

31.5

31.0

13.4

 Rich family economic condition

15.2

16.8

29.3

44.5

9.3

Environments (E) -- Family/social support

 Currently not married

66.0

24.5

30.2

28.2

17.1

 Currently married

34.0

20.1

33.1

42.3

4.5

 Most frequently contacted person - family member

77.0

22.2

32.5

34.6

10.8

 Most frequently contacted person – friend/relative

16.9

26.9

32.1

33.6

7.4

 No one to contact

6.1

24.3

15.1

14.8

45.8

 Most trusted person - family member

87.8

22.7

32.3

34.2

10.9

 Most trusted person – friend/relative

6.6

27.4

30.9

31.9

9.8

 No one to trust

6.6

25.4

18.4

18.5

37.8

 Most helpful person - family member

92.5

23.1

31.7

33.7

11.5

 Most helpful person – friend/relative

4.8

28.2

29.5

29.4

12.9

 No one to ask for help

2.7

24.7

18.2

18.7

38.4

 Community-based care services available - no

95.5

23.0

31.3

32.8

12.8

 Community-based care services available - yes

4.5

22.8

28.0

36.7

12.5

 Community-based social services available - no

88.0

23.4

31.0

32.2

13.4

 Community-based social services available - yes

12.0

19.9

32.6

39.2

8.3

Environments (E) --Cultural tradition

 Coresidence with children - no

39.3

24.3

32.5

35.6

7.6

 Coresidence with children - yes

60.7

22.2

30.4

31.3

16.2

 Discordant living arrangements/institutionalization

26.3

22.3

27.5

30.0

20.2

 Concordance in living alone or with spouse

27.4

24.4

33.7

37.9

4.0

 Concordance in coresidence with children

46.3

22.6

31.8

31.8

13.8

 Receiving money/food from children - no

20.0

21.5

28.5

33.5

16.6

 Receiving money/food from children - yes

80.0

23.4

31.9

32.9

11.9

 Giving money/food to children - yes

77.0

24.5

30.2

30.2

15.1

 Giving money/food to children - no

23.0

18.1

34.5

42.5

5.0

Health conditions (H)

 ADL independent

74.6

21.8

33.7

38.1

6.5

 ADL dependent

25.4

26.4

24.0

18.2

31.5

 IADL independent

32.0

15.5

33.1

49.7

1.7

 IADL dependent

68.0

26.5

30.3

25.2

18.0

 Cognitively unimpaired

60.1

21.1

35.7

41.7

1.4

 Cognitively impaired

39.9

25.8

24.4

19.9

30.0

 No chronic disease

40.1

19.6

31.1

36.6

12.7

 1+ chronic disease

59.9

25.2

31.3

30.6

12.9

 Low joyfulness

64.2

25.8

33.7

25.4

15.1

 High joyfulness

35.8

18.1

26.8

46.5

8.6

 Low loneliness

92.9

19.9

31.8

34.8

13.5

 High loneliness

7.1

62.9

23.3

10.1

3.8

Fixed attributes (A)

 Mean age (years)

86.4c

--

--

--

--

 Age 65–79

30.3

19.7

34.3

43.8

2.3

 Age 80–89

26.7

26.4

33.3

32.7

7.6

 Age 90–99

26.0

24.7

29.9

28.1

17.3

 Age 100+

17.0

20.9

24.4

21.9

32.8

 Female

56.4

25.0

30.2

28.8

16.0

 Male

43.6

20.4

32.5

38.4

8.7

 Non-Han ethnicity

16.3

19.3

34.0

34.2

12.5

 Han ethnicity

83.7

23.7

30.7

32.8

12.9

 Low optimism

24.0

33.1

32.7

19.1

15.1

 High optimism

76.0

19.8

30.7

37.4

12.1

 Low self-control

46.1

24.3

30.5

24.8

20.3

 High self-control

53.9

21.9

31.8

40.0

6.4

Behaviors (B)

 Currently smoking - no

82.3

23.5

30.8

31.8

14.0

 Currently smoking - yes

17.7

20.8

33.2

38.8

7.1

 Currently consuming alcohol - no

82.4

23.8

31.0

31.5

13.7

 Current consuming alcohol - yes

17.6

19.2

32.0

40.2

8.6

 Regularly exercising - no

70.8

25.2

31.0

27.8

16.0

 Regularly exercising - yes

29.2

17.6

31.7

45.7

5.0

 Leisure activity low level

33.0

26.7

24.5

19.1

29.7

 Leisure activity medium level

31.2

25.1

34.5

33.5

7.0

 Leisure activity high level

35.6

17.8

34.5

45.4

2.4

 Social participation low level

75.6

25.2

30.6

28.5

15.7

 Social participation medium level

11.0

16.7

34.6

43.4

5.4

 Social participation high level

13.6

15.8

31.6

49.8

2.8

Survey years

 Wave 2005

31.6

23.2

32.2

33.4

11.3

 Wave 2008

33.7

23.9

29.1

31.9

15.1

 Wave 2011

20.0

22.1

31.9

34.4

11.6

 Wave 2014

14.7

21.7

33.0

33.0

12.3

  1. Note: (1) Except for the sample size in the top line, all numbers were percentages unless otherwise stated. (2)a this column referred to percentage distribution of each category of the study variables among 48,476 observations from 26,624 individuals who were interviewed from 2005 to 2014. The distributions by 26,624 individuals at their baseline were similar to what were presented in the table. (3)b percentages of self-perceived uselessness were calculated by row. The row sum of percentage of self-perceived uselessness may not be equal to 100% due to roundness. (4)c mean age. (5) The results were unweighted. (6) --, not applicable