Baseline characteristics according to the number of chronic conditions accumulated during 20 years of follow-up, ALSWH, 1996 (n=7 694)
| Characteristic | Number of chronic conditions | Statistics (t/χ2) | P value* | |
| 0 or 1 (n=3 210) | ≥2 (n=4 484) | |||
| Overall satisfaction score, mean(SD) | 11.2 (2.4) | 10.7 (2.5) | 8.560 | <0.001 |
| Age at baseline, mean(SD) | 47.5 (1.5) | 47.6 (1.5) | 3.920 | <0.001 |
| Area of residence, n(%) | 10.540 | 0.015 | ||
| Major cities | 1 202 (37.4) | 1 600 (35.7) | ||
| Inner regions | 1 179 (36.7) | 1 799 (40.1) | ||
| Outer regions | 654 (20.4) | 881 (19.6) | ||
| Remote/very remote | 174 (5.4) | 204 (4.5) | ||
| Marital status, n(%) | 10.955 | 0.004 | ||
| Married | 2 781 (86.6) | 3 782 (84.3) | ||
| Separated/divorced/widowed | 327 (10.2) | 567 (12.6) | ||
| Single | 90 (2.8) | 121 (2.7) | ||
| Education, n(%) | 29.684 | <0.001 | ||
| University/higher degree | 489 (15.2) | 609 (13.6) | ||
| Trade/apprenticeship/diploma | 628 (19.6) | 922 (20.6) | ||
| High school certificate | 613 (19.1) | 679 (15.1) | ||
| No qualifications | 1 458 (45.4) | 2 237 (49.9) | ||
| Country of birth, n(%) | 4.348 | 0.037 | ||
| Australia | 2 386 (74.3) | 3 414 (76.1) | ||
| Outside Australia | 796 (24.8) | 1 017 (22.7) | ||
| Ability to manage income, n(%) | 66.094 | <0.001 | ||
| Easy/not bad | 2 088 (65.0) | 2 511 (56.0) | ||
| Sometimes difficult | 807 (25.1) | 1 272 (28.4) | ||
| Impossible/always difficult | 302 (9.4) | 647 (14.4) | ||
| BMI categories, n(%) | 175.549 | <0.001 | ||
| Underweight (<18.5 kg/m2) | 55 (1.7) | 64 (1.4) | ||
| Normal weight (18.5–24.9 kg/m2) | 1 889 (58.8) | 2 080 (46.4) | ||
| Overweight (25–29.9 kg/m2) | 833 (26.0) | 1 304 (29.1) | ||
| Obese (30–35 kg/m2) | 326 (10.2) | 891 (19.9) | ||
| Physical activity, n(%) | 23.235 | <0.001 | ||
| High (≥1200 MET min/week) | 591 (18.4) | 687 (15.3) | ||
| Moderate (600–1199 MET min/week) | 873 (27.2) | 1 133 (25.3) | ||
| Low (40–599 MET min/week) | 962 (30.0) | 1 384 (30.9) | ||
| Nil/sedentary (0–39 MET min/week) | 761 (23.7) | 1 249 (27.9) | ||
| Alcohol intake, n(%) | 16.745 | <0.001 | ||
| Low risk | 1 679 (52.3) | 2 215 (49.4) | ||
| None/rarely | 1 363 (42.5) | 1 994 (44.5) | ||
| Risky | 125 (3.9) | 249 (5.6) | ||
| Smoking status, n(%) | 14.645 | <0.001 | ||
| Never | 1 789 (55.7) | 2 336 (52.1) | ||
| Former smoker | 863 (26.9) | 1 253 (27.9) | ||
| Current | 461 (14.4) | 772 (17.2) | ||
| Menopausal status, n(%) | 126.538 | <0.001 | ||
| Surgical menopause | 497 (15.5) | 1 057 (23.6) | ||
| Hormone use | 439 (13.7) | 680 (15.2) | ||
| Pre-menopausal | 1 365 (42.5) | 1 477 (32.9) | ||
| Peri-menopausal | 726 (22.6) | 1 043 (23.3) | ||
| Post-menopausal | 175 (5.5) | 218 (4.9) | ||
Data are presented as n (%) or the mean (SD). The column number may not be equal to n because of missing data.
*Independent-samples t-test was used for continuous variables (age), and χ2 tests were used for categorical variables.
ALSWH, Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health; BMI, body mass index; MET, metabolic equivalent of task.