Background
Methods
Analytical sample
Gait speed
Socio-demographic determinants
Lifestyle determinants
Social determinants
Health determinants
Statistical analyses
Results
Analytical sample
Characteristics | Men (50 %) | Women (50 %) |
---|---|---|
Socio-demographic
| ||
Age (years) | 66.5 (0.24) | 65.6 (0.22) |
Education | - | - |
Low | 22.9 | 36.5 |
Middle | 32.0 | 38.2 |
High | 45.1 | 25.3 |
Height (m) | 1.75 (0.00) | 1.63 (0.00) |
Physical performance
| ||
Gait speed (m/s) | 0.93 (0.01) | 0.88 (0.01) |
Lifestyle
| ||
Alcohol consumption | - | - |
None | 9.57 | 20.0 |
Light/moderate (up to 2 per day) | 57.1 | 65.9 |
Heavy/extreme (more than 2 per day) | 33.3 | 14.1 |
Smoking status | - | - |
Never | 10.5 | 48.3 |
Former | 58.9 | 34.9 |
Current | 30.7 | 16.8 |
Physical activity (MET hours per week) a | 57.0 (1.31) | 74.8 (1.23) |
Sleep problems (ranging from 0–9) b | 5.20 (0.06) | 6.10 (0.06) |
Sleep duration (per 24 h) | - | - |
Short (less than 7 h) | 14.3 | 20.4 |
Normal (between 7 and 9 h) | 68.3 | 65.6 |
Long (more than 109 h) | 17.4 | 14.0 |
BMI (kg/m2) | 26.4 (0.09) | 27.4 (0.13) |
Social
| ||
Personal network size (range 0–80) c | 15.2 (0.26) | 15.8 (0.25) |
Living situation (not living alone) | 84.0 | 63.3 |
Social participation formal d | - | - |
Up to few times a year | 35.4 | 23.8 |
Few times a year up to few times a month | 20.8 | 20.4 |
Few times a month up to every week | 21.3 | 27.3 |
Every week up to every day | 22.5 | 28.5 |
Social participation informal (range 0–42) e | 9.55 (0.15) | 9.71 (0.14) |
Loneliness (range 0–11) | 1.59 (0.06) | 1.81 (0.07) |
Health
| ||
Chronic diseases (self-reported) | - | - |
None | 31.1 | 25.6 |
One | 35.7 | 33.2 |
Two | 20.5 | 23.8 |
Three or more | 12.7 | 17.4 |
Pain (in the past week) | - | - |
No | 76.8 | 66.5 |
Little | 9.62 | 12.8 |
Some | 5.54 | 6.73 |
Much | 8.07 | 13.9 |
Depressive symptoms (CES-D, range 0–60) | 5.67 (0.17) | 8.32 (0.22) |
The sex difference in gait speed
Sensitivity theory
Multivariable model with gait speed (m/s) as dependent variable a | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Men
|
Women
|
Interaction
b
| |||
Determinants | Beta | [95 % CI] | Beta | [95 % CI] | P-value |
Socio-demographic
| |||||
Education | - | - | |||
Middle vs. low |
0.033
| [ 0.004 – 0.063] |
0.031
| [ 0.008 – 0.054] | 0.94 |
High vs. low |
0.068
| [ 0.040 – 0.097] |
0.053
| [ 0.027 – 0.080] | 0.49 |
Lifestyle
| |||||
Alcohol consumption | - | - | |||
Max 2 per day vs. never |
0.050
| [ 0.017 – 0.083] | 0.013 | [-0.008 – 0.034] | 0.11 |
2 + per day vs. never |
0.039
| [ 0.003 – 0.075] |
0.032
| [ 0.001 – 0.063] | 0.73 |
Smoking status | - | - | |||
Former vs. never | -0.003 | [-0.035 – 0.029] | 0.008 | [-0.012 – 0.028] | 0.73 |
Current vs. never | -0.019 | [-0.056 – 0.018] |
-0.048
| [-0.079 – − 0.017] | 0.36 |
Physical activity (MET hours/week) | 0.0002 | [-0.000 – 0.000] |
0.0004
| [ 0.000 – 0.001] |
0.02
|
Sleep problems (range 0–9) | 0.0004 | [-0.005 – 0.006] | 0.005 | [-0.000 – 0.009] |
0.03
|
Sleep duration | - | - | |||
Short vs. normal | -0.015 | [-0.043 – 0.014] | 0.015 | [-0.006 – 0.036] |
0.02
|
Long vs. normal | 0.013 | [-0.011 – 0.037] | 0.002 | [-0.023 – 0.026] | 0.40 |
BMI (kg/m2) | -0.001 | [-0.005 – 0.002] |
-0.006
| [-0.008 – − 0.004] |
0.02
|
Social
| |||||
Personal network size (n) |
0.002
| [ 0.001 – 0.003] | 0.001 | [-0.000 – 0.002] | 0.11 |
Living situation (not alone vs. alone) | 0.022 | [-0.004 – 0.049] | 0.001 | [-0.019 – 0.020] | 0.38 |
Social participation formal | - | - | - | - | - |
Up to few times a month vs few/year | 0.012 | [-0.012 – 0.036] | 0.012 | [-0.011 – 0.034] | 0.82 |
Every week vs. few/year | -0.009 | [-0.032 – 0.015] | 0.012 | [-0.009 – 0.034] | 0.27 |
Every week up to every …day vs. few/year |
0.053
| [ 0.030 – 0.077] |
0.034
| [ 0.012 – 0.056] | 0.30 |
Social participation informal (range 0–42) |
0.003
| [ 0.001 – 0.005] |
0.005
| [ 0.003 – 0.007] | 0.13 |
Loneliness (Gierveld, range 0–11) | 0.002 | [-0.003 – 0.006] | -0.004 | [-0.007 – 0.000] | 0.55 |
Health
| |||||
Chronic diseases | - | - | |||
One vs. none | 0.006 | [-0.019 – 0.030] | -0.013 | [-0.037 – 0.011] | 0.19 |
Two vs. none | -0.010 | [-0.036 – 0.017] | -0.013 | [-0.039 – 0.014] | 0.61 |
Three or more vs. none |
-0.035
| [-0.065 – 0.005] |
-0.034
| [-0.062 – − 0.006] | 0.52 |
Pain | |||||
Little vs. no |
-0.040
| [-0.067 – − 0.012] | -0.005 | [-0.027 – 0.018] |
0.07
|
Some vs. no |
-0.039
| [-0.077 – − 0.002] |
-0.077
| [-0.106 – − 0.049] |
0.07
|
Much vs. no |
-0.115
| [-0.151 – − 0.078] |
-0.111
| [-0.135 – − 0.086] | 0.99 |
Depressive symptoms (CES-D, range 0–60) |
-0.004
| [-0.006 – − 0.002] |
-0.003
| [-0.004 – − 0.002] | 0.22 |
Exposure theory
Beta “sex” [95% CI] b | Percentage change c | |
---|---|---|
Full model a | − 0.029 [-0.051 ― − 0.008] | Reference |
Socio-demographic
| ||
Education (high/middle versus low) | − 0.032 [-0.054 ― − 0.011] |
- 10.5 %
|
Lifestyle
| ||
Alcohol consumption (vs. never) | − 0.030 [-0.051 ― − 0.008] | - 0.7 % |
Smoking status (vs. never) | − 0.028 [-0.048 ― − 0.007] |
+ 6.3 %
|
Physical activity (MET hours / week) | − 0.027 [-0.048 ― − 0.006] |
+ 8.4 %
|
Sleep problems (range 0–9) | − 0.028 [-0.050 ― − 0.007] | + 4.5 % |
Sleep duration (short/long vs. normal) | − 0.030 [-0.051 ― − 0.008] | - 0.9 % |
BMI (kg/m2) | − 0.030 [-0.052 ― − 0.009] | - 3.4 % |
Social
| ||
Personal network size (n) | − 0.026 [-0.048 ― − 0.005] |
+ 10.8 %
|
Living situation (alone vs. not alone) | − 0.033 [-0.054 ― − 0.012] |
- 12.9 %
|
Social participation formal (vs. few a year) | − 0.029 [-0.050 ― − 0.007] | + 2.1 % |
Social participation informal (range 0–42) | − 0.028 [-0.050 ― − 0.007] | + 3.0 % |
Loneliness (Gierveld scale, range 0–11) | − 0.029 [-0.051 ― − 0.008] | + 1.1 % |
Health
| ||
Chronic diseases (vs. none) | − 0.031 [-0.053 ― − 0.010] |
- 6.4 %
|
Pain (vs. no) | − 0.037 [-0.059 ― − 0.015] |
- 25.4 %
|
Depressive symptoms (CES-D, range 0–60) | − 0.033 [-0.055 ― − 0.012] |
- 10.0 %
|