Health Characteristics of Solo Grandparent Caregivers and Single Parents: A Comparative Profile Using the Behavior Risk Factor Surveillance Survey

Table 2

Solo grandparents and single parents: family physical and mental health indicators.

Physical and mental; health indicators	Solo grandparents; %	Single parents; %	value
Arthritis
Yes	50.5%	18.8%	<0.001
No	49.5%	81.2%
COPD
Yes	21.4%	4.2%	<0.001
No	78.6%	95.8%
Ever diagnosed with diabetes (excluding borderline or gestational)
Yes	25.6%	6.1%	<0.001
No	74.4%	93.9%
Asthma
Yes	22.9%	14.4%	<0.001
No	77.1%	85.6%
Cancer (other than skin)
Yes	13.2%	4.3%	<0.001
No	86.8%	95.7%
Heart attack
Yes	18.0%	1.4%	<0.001
No	82.0%	98.6%
Stroke
Yes	8.7%	1.6%	<0.001
No	91.3%	98.4%
Angina or coronary heart disease
Yes	11.2%	1.9%	<0.001
No	88.8%	98.1%
Kidney disease
Yes	6.9%	1.8%	<0.001
No	93.1%	98.2%
Self-rated health
Good or better health	60.1%	82.9%	<0.001
Fair or poor health	39.8%	16.6%
Do not know/not sure or refused/missing	0.2%	0.4%
Number of days when physical health was not good in past month
No bad days	50.1%	62.2%	<0.001
1–7 bad days	18.3%	23.5%
>1 bad week/past month	31.7%	14.4%
Activity limitations in last month due to physical or mental illness
No days limited	67.2%	74.6%	<0.001
1–7 days limited	9.1%	13.6%
>1 week limited/past month	23.7%	11.8%
Number of days when mental health was not good in past month
No bad days	61.3%	56.7%	<0.001
1–7 bad days	14.9%	21.4%
>1 week/past month	23.8%	21.8%
Lifetime depressive disorder
Yes	27.0%	23.7%	0.06
No	73.0%	76.3%
Health behaviors
Any recreational physical exercise in last month
Yes	59.4%	75.8%	<0.001
No	40.6%	24.2%
BMI category
Neither overweight nor obese	32.7%	35.1%	0.10
Overweight	30.4%	32.3%
Obese	36.9%	32.6%
Smoking status
Current smoker, smokes everyday	20.9%	15.8%	<0.001
Current smoker, smokes some days	8.0%	6.5%
Former smoker	34.5%	17.8%
Never smoked	36.5%	59.9%
Child history of asthma
Yes	15.8%	19.7%	0.02
No	84.2%	80.3%
Child flu shot in past 12 months
Yes	63.2%	50.3%	<0.001
No	36.8%	49.7%