Table 2 Characteristics of the study population by medical expense category
| Â | n a | Medical expense category | P for trendb | P valuec | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
None | Low | Medium | High | ||||
Medical expenses, median, Japanese yen per year | |||||||
 Men aged 65–67 years | 2439 | 0 | 48,360 | 184,390 | 536,820 |  |  |
 Men aged 68–70 years | 2974 | 0 | 60,660 | 198,815 | 569,180 |  |  |
 Women aged 65–67 years | 3611 | 0 | 37,710 | 151,105 | 384,020 |  |  |
 Women aged 68–70 years | 3723 | 0 | 45,080 | 163,675 | 425,820 |  |  |
Basic attributes | |||||||
 Health insurance: other than NI | 12,747 | 0.8% | 1.1% | 2.2% | 7.5% | ​*** | *** |
 Family size: one (i.e., living alone) | 12,600 | 17.5% | 14.8% | 13.5% | 15.3% |  |  |
 Obese: BMI ≥ 25.0 | 12,598 | 14.8% | 13.5% | 18.9% | 24.7% | *** | *** |
Health behaviors | |||||||
 Health checks: non-participation | 12,747 | 84.4% | 58.9% | 55.0% | 68.1% |  | *** |
 Current smokers | 12,462 | 23.3% | 14.2% | 11.4% | 10.6% |  | *** |
 Daily drinkers | 12,639 | 25.9% | 24.6% | 23.7% | 18.7% |  | *** |
 Frequency of exercise: < 1 h/week | 12,527 | 46.8% | 35.8% | 36.2% | 44.7% |  |  |
 Walking time: < 1 h/day | 12,557 | 49.7% | 51.9% | 53.5% | 61.3% | *** | *** |
 Dietary variety: low | 12,585 | 40.7% | 35.4% | 35.4% | 39.8% |  |  |
Oral health | |||||||
 Use of extra cleaning devices: no | 12,283 | 55.9% | 42.6% | 40.6% | 44.4% |  | *** |
 Daily brushing frequency: < 2 times/day | 12,280 | 29.4% | 20.7% | 20.4% | 23.8% |  | *** |
 Bedtime brushing frequency: not daily | 12,279 | 29.9% | 19.2% | 19.5% | 24.5% |  | *** |
 Having difficulty in chewing hard foods | 12,279 | 27.0% | 19.6% | 18.5% | 24.3% |  |  |
 Choking on your tea and soup | 12,266 | 13.8% | 18.1% | 18.1% | 23.5% | *** | *** |
 Having dry mouth | 12,254 | 16.8% | 20.1% | 22.7% | 29.3% | *** | *** |
 Users of dentures | 12,230 | 39.2% | 36.5% | 37.1% | 41.0% |  |  |
Social capital | |||||||
 Social participation: none | 12,534 | 37.9% | 26.2% | 27.3% | 35.0% |  |  |
 Social support: nobody | 12,430 | 10.1% | 6.7% | 7.1% | 7.7% |  | ** |
 Social networks: none | 12,439 | 11.1% | 7.9% | 7.7% | 11.4% |  |  |
Neighborhood environment | |||||||
 Access to public facilities: poor | 12,484 | 33.8% | 34.5% | 35.3% | 37.7% | ** | * |
 Access to public transports: poor | 12,463 | 8.3% | 7.3% | 8.7% | 9.5% | ** |  |
Physical and mental functioning | |||||||
 Basic activities of daily living: impaired | 12,586 | 0.5% | 0.3% | 0.8% | 4.4% | *** | *** |
 Self-rated health: rather poor or very poor | 12,484 | 5.0% | 6.3% | 12.5% | 33.5% | *** | *** |
 Health-related QOL: low PCS | 12,505 | 19.1% | 23.6% | 32.2% | 49.1% | *** | *** |
 Health-related QOL: low MCS | 12,505 | 28.7% | 28.8% | 31.7% | 41.1% | *** | *** |
 Sleep disturbance: present | 12,283 | 19.6% | 22.8% | 29.5% | 40.0% | *** | *** |
 Depression: present | 12,437 | 21.4% | 17.8% | 21.4% | 29.7% | *** | *** |
 Cognitive functioning: poor | 12,580 | 11.8% | 10.5% | 12.2% | 19.0% | *** | *** |
Higher-level functional capacity | |||||||
 TMIG-IC: a score of 11 or less | 12,425 | 38.3% | 30.8% | 31.3% | 39.2% |  |  |