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Table 1 Characteristics of respondents who reported stiff or painful joints 'never' or 'rarely' at Time 1

From: Relationship between physical activity and stiff or painful joints in mid-aged women and older women: a 3-year prospective study

 

Mid-age women (n = 5,650)

Older women (n = 5,207)

Variable

Respondents included (n = 4,780)

Respondents excludeda (n = 870)

P valueb

Respondents included (n = 3,970)

Respondents excludeda (n = 1,237)

P valueb

Age (years, mean ± standard deviation)

52.53 ± 1.49

52.57 ± 1.52

0.366

75.39 ± 1.51

75.60 ± 1.51

<0.001

Education (%)

  

<0.001

  

<0.001

   Less than high school

13.5

18.7

 

26.8

34.7

 

   Some high school

47.8

50.9

 

52.7

47.7

 

   Completed high school

20.5

17.4

 

11.6

9.2

 

   Trade certificate/university degree

17.4

12.0

 

4.7

2.3

 

   Missing

0.9

1.0

 

4.3

6.1

 

Area of residence (%)

  

<0.001

  

<0.001

   Urban

38.1

43.3

 

40.2

39.8

 

   Large town

13.5

11.4

 

11.6

14.1

 

   Small town/remote area

47.1

42.4

 

46.6

42.6

 

   Missing

1.3

2.9

 

1.6

3.6

 

Country of birth (%)

  

0.001

  

0.003

   Australia

74.6

70.9

 

74.7

71.9

 

   Other English-speaking

14.0

12.9

 

12.4

11.2

 

   Non-English speaking

7.9

12.1

 

6.8

9.3

 

   Missing

3.5

4.1

 

6.0

7.7

 

Depression (%)

  

0.023

  

<0.001

   No

91.6

89.2

 

94.3

87.6

 

   Yes

8.4

10.8

 

3.4

7.6

 

Number of chronic diseases (%)

  

0.037

  

<0.001

   0

55.8

52.6

 

32.0

42.5

 

   1

31.0

30.5

 

37.0

20.3

 

   2

9.7

11.8

 

20.0

18.0

 

   3

2.7

3.7

 

7.6

10.5

 

   4 or more

0.8

1.4

 

3.3

8.7

 

Smoking status (%)

  

<0.001

  

0.006

   Never

55.4

54.8

 

61.0

58.5

 

   Former

32.2

26.1

 

27.6

26.8

 

   Current

12.2

18.3

 

4.9

7.4

 

   Missing

0.2

0.8

 

6.4

7.4

 

Body mass index (%)

  

<0.001

  

<0.001

   <20 kg/m2

5.1

5.9

 

3.4

4.4

 

   ≥ 20 and <25 kg/m2

41.9

38.6

 

48.4

46.1

 

   ≥ 25 and <30 kg/m2

28.0

26.3

 

26.5

23.8

 

   ≥ 30 kg/m2

17.4

16.8

 

9.7

9.1

 

   Missing

7.5

12.4

 

12.0

16.6

 

Physical activity (%)

  

<0.001

  

<0.001

   None (<40 MET.min/week)

14.9

22.2

 

24.4

40.1

 

   Very low (40 to <300 MET.min/week)

18.4

19.5

 

14.0

14.2

 

   Low (300 to <600 MET.min/week)

18.0

15.6

 

22.7

14.0

 

   Moderate (600 to <1,200 MET.min/week)

22.5

19.6

 

15.8

12.2

 

   High (1,200+ MET.min/week)

26.2

23.1

 

23.1

19.6

 
  1. MET, metabolic equivalent value. aWomen were excluded if they did not provide data on physical activity at Time 1 or did not provide data on symptoms of stiff or painful joint at Time 2. The 243 mid-age women and 987 older women who were missing physical activity data are not included in the percentage of excluded respondents in each physical activity category. bP value is for the difference between women included and those excluded from the analysis.
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Arthritis Research & Therapy

ISSN: 1478-6362

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