Sociodemographic, physical and behavioral characteristics by DM status, adults 50+years, Ghana and South Africa: WHO-SAGE wave 1, 2007–2008
| Ghana (n=4289) | South Africa (n=3.660) | |||||
| DM status: no n (%) | DM status: yes n (%) | Totals n (%) | DM status: no n (%) | DM status: yes n (%) | Totals n (%) | |
| Overall | 4167 (97.1) | 122 (2.8) | 4289 (100) | 3352 (92.3) | 308 (7.6) | 3660 (100) |
| Sex | ** | |||||
| Male | 2181 (97.5) | 56 (2.5) | 2237 (52.3) | 1443 (94.3) | 110 (5.7) | 1553 (43.9) |
| Female | 1986 (96.7) | 66 (3.3) | 2052 (47.7) | 1909 (90.8) | 198 (9.2) | 2107 (56.1) |
| Age, years | ** | *** | ||||
| 50–59 | 1649 (98.1) | 35 (1.9) | 1684 (39.8) | 1510 (94.6) | 100 (5.4) | 1610 (49.7) |
| 60–69 | 1151 (95.4) | 49 (4.6) | 1200 (27.5) | 1065 (91) | 112 (9) | 1177 (30.8) |
| 70+ | 1367 (97.4) | 38 (2.6) | 1405 (32.6) | 777 (88.9) | 96 (11.1) | 873 (19.4) |
| Residence | *** | ** | ||||
| Urban | 1671 (95.3) | 83 (4.7) | 1754 (41) | 2198 (90.8) | 254 (9.2) | 2452 (65.3) |
| Rural | 2496 (98.5) | 39 (1.5) | 2535 (59) | 1152 (95.3) | 53 (4.7) | 1205 (34.7) |
| Marital status | ||||||
| Single | 1794 (97.4) | 50 (2.6) | 1844 (40.8) | 1534 (91.3) | 150 (8.7) | 1684 (43.9) |
| Married/cohabiting | 2350 (97) | 72 (3) | 2422 (59.2) | 1755 (93.1) | 155 (6.9) | 1910 (56.1) |
| Educational status | *** | |||||
| No formal schooling | 2309 (98.3) | 38 (1.7) | 2347 (53.9) | 783 (94.9) | 41 (5.1) | 824 (24.5) |
| <6 years schooling | 419 (97) | 12 (3) | 431 (10.4) | 707 (92.6) | 66 (7.4) | 773 (24.6) |
| Completed primary | 446 (97.4) | 15 (2.6) | 461 (10.9) | 665 (90.4) | 76 (9.6) | 741 (22.3) |
| Completed secondary | 164 (94) | 9 (6) | 173 (4) | 380 (88.8) | 50 (11.2) | 430 (14.3) |
| Completed high school | 672 (95.8) | 31 (4.2) | 703 (17.1) | 189 (93.5) | 14 (6.5) | 203 (8.5) |
| Completed college/university | 133 (89) | 17 (11) | 150 (3.6) | 142 (94) | 16 (6) | 158 (5.8) |
| Work status | ** | * | ||||
| Not currently working | 1253 (96) | 57 (4) | 1310 (30.9) | 2403 (91.1) | 262 (8.9) | 2665 (69.9) |
| Currently working | 2898 (97.7) | 65 (2.3) | 2963 (69.1) | 920 (95.2) | 43 (4.8) | 963 (30.1) |
| Wealth status | *** | * | ||||
| Quintile 1 poorest | 845 (99) | 9 (1) | 854 (18.3) | 655 (95.2) | 23 (4.8) | 678 (20.2) |
| Quintile 2 | 835 (98.5) | 12 (1.5) | 847 (19.1) | 687 (94.8) | 34 (5.2) | 721 (19.9) |
| Quintile 3 | 836 (98.1) | 19 (2) | 855 (20.6) | 652 (92.5) | 67 (7.5) | 719 (18.6) |
| Quintile 4 | 839 (96.3) | 28 (3.7) | 867 (20.6) | 671 (90.2) | 91 (9.8) | 762 (20) |
| Quintile 5 richest | 807 (94.2) | 54 (5.8) | 861 (21.4) | 671 (89.2) | 91 (10.8) | 762 (21.3) |
| BMI | *** | ** | ||||
| Underweight | 631 (99.2) | 6 (0.8) | 637 (15.2) | 137 (99.4) | 2 (0.6) | 139 (3.3) |
| Normal weight | 2191 (98.2) | 41 (1.8) | 2232 (52.1) | 769 (96) | 33 (4) | 802 (21.4) |
| Overweight | 804 (95.7) | 37 (4.3) | 841 (21.2) | 903 (92.9) | 86 (7.1) | 989 (27.3) |
| Obese | 416 (92.7) | 33 (7.3) | 449 (11.5) | 1349 (90.1) | 167 (9.9) | 1516 (48.0) |
| Waist circumference | *** | *** | ||||
| Normal | 2464 (98.6) | 39 (1.4) | 2503 (59) | 908 (96.6) | 41 (3.4) | 949 (30.0) |
| High risk | 673 (97.3) | 22 (2.7) | 695 (17.4) | 611 (96.3) | 45 (3.7) | 656 (18.6) |
| Very high risk | 907 (93.6) | 57 (6.4) | 964 (23.6) | 1456 (89.7) | 178 (10.3) | 1634 (51.4) |
| Waist-hip ratio | * | |||||
| Normal | 969 (98.3) | 20 (1.7) | 989 (23) | 994 (94.6) | 62 (5.4) | 1056 (34.4) |
| High risk | 3074 (96.8) | 98 (3.2) | 3172 (77) | 1938 (92) | 197 (8) | 2135 (65.6) |
| Waist-height ratio | *** | |||||
| Low risk | 1718 (99.1) | 16 (0.9) | 1734 (40.4) | 454 (95.4) | 21 (4.6) | 475 (15.6) |
| High risk | 2311 (96) | 101 (4) | 2412 (59.6) | 2487 (92.7) | 239 (7.3) | 2726 (84.4) |
| Smoking | * | * | ||||
| Non-smoker | 3072 (96.9) | 100 (3.1) | 3172 (75.1) | 2114 (91) | 241 (9) | 2355 (66.8) |
| Former smoker | 555 (97) | 17 (3) | 572 (14.2) | 308 (94.4) | 19 (5.6) | 327 (9.4) |
| Occasional smoker | 113 (98) | 3 (2) | 116 (2.6) | 137 (96.1) | 8 (3.9) | 145 (3.3) |
| Daily smoker | 415 (99.6) | 2 (0.4) | 417 (8.1) | 768 (95.1) | 38 (4.9) | 806 (20.5) |
| Alcohol | ** | |||||
| No | 1731 (97.5) | 41 (2.5) | 1772 (42) | 2386 (91.2) | 266 (8.8) | 2652 (74.7) |
| Yes | 2436 (97) | 81 (3) | 2517 (58) | 960 (96) | 41 (4) | 1001 (25.3) |
| Fruit and vegetable intake | ||||||
| Inadequate | 2810 (97.4) | 70 (2.6) | 2880 (67.9) | 2406 (92.9) | 201 (7.1) | 2607 (66.8) |
| Adequate | 1229 (96.6) | 48 (3.4) | 1277 (32.1) | 893 (91) | 106 (9) | 999 (33.2) |
| Physical activity | *** | * | ||||
| High | 2651 (98.3) | 49 (1.7) | 2700 (61.8) | 837 (95.7) | 51 (4.3) | 888 (28.3) |
| Moderate | 513 (95.6) | 21 (4.4) | 534 (12.5) | 441 (92.2) | 35 (7.8) | 476 (12.3) |
| Low | 1003 (95.1) | 52 (4.9) | 1055 (25.7) | 2074 (90.8) | 222 (9.2) | 2296 (59.4) |
Pearson’s χ2 tests undertaken for country comparisons. Survey sampling weights used to give percentage estimates. Percentages may not sum due to rounding
*P-value<0.05; **P-value<0.01; ***P-value<0.001.
BMI, body mass index; DM, diabetes mellitus; WHO-SAGE, WHO Study on global AGEing and adult health.