Table 1. Characteristics of Participants: Baby Boomers versus the Silent Generation

Characteristics	Baby Boomers (n = 7734)		Silent Generation (n = 4682)		P Value
Characteristics	%	SE	%	SE	P Value
Demographics
Sex					.003
Male	48.27	0.64	44.84	0.91
Female	51.73	0.64	55.16	0.91
Educational attainment					<.001
High school or less	41.24	0.72	56.63	1.01
Some college or technical school	27.53	0.63	21.09	0.74
College or more advanced	31.23	0.77	22.28	0.82
Race/ethnicity					<.001
Non-Hispanic white	73.85	0.71	80.35	0.69
Non-Hispanic black	11.40	0.48	8.94	0.44
Hispanic	10.55	0.48	7.23	0.48
Asian	4.20	0.28	3.48	0.28
Census region					.44
Northeast	17.45	0.65	18.50	0.85
Midwest	24.13	1.00	24.47	0.98
South	36.52	0.98	36.54	1.15
West	21.90	0.76	20.48	0.89
Clinical Factors
Body mass index					<.001
Normal (<25 kg/m²)	32.00	0.62	34.51	0.76
Overweight (25–29.99 kg/m²)	37.39	0.69	40.00	0.77
Obese (≥30 kg/m²)	30.62	0.68	25.48	0.72
Chronic disease	26.07	0.62	51.30	0.86	<.001
Heart disease^*	5.42	0.33	18.52	0.74	<.001
Diabetes	9.53	0.39	19.05	0.69	<.001
Cancer^{^†}	5.54	0.31	16.01	0.65	<.001
Lung disease^{^‡}	10.05	0.39	13.21	0.61	<.001
Stroke	2.46	0.23	6.79	0.43	<.001
Painful condition	52.20	0.69	56.07	0.93	<.001
Neck pain	15.96	0.50	14.70	0.59	.10
Lower-back pain	28.26	0.60	29.28	0.76	.28
Facial pain	4.86	0.29	2.76	0.27	<.001
Head pain	13.16	0.48	5.70	0.39	<.001
Joint pain	34.72	0.68	43.14	0.90	<.001

↵* Heart disease includes coronary heart disease, heart attack, other heart condition.
↵† Cancer includes any cancer except nonmelanoma cancer.
↵‡ Lung disease includes asthma, emphysema, or chronic bronchitis in the past 12 months.
SE, standard error.