The First Step of Health Policy-Making for Lifestyle Modifications at Middle Age: Problem Identification in 40- to 60-Year-Old Population, Northern Iran

Table 1

Basic descriptive characteristics of the participants.

Variables	Age groups		Total (), n (%)	value
	40–49 years (), n (%)	50–60 years (), n (%)
Education level
Less than diploma	88 (60.7)	89 (57.1)	177 (58.8)	0.408
Diploma	37 (25.5)	50 (32.1)	87 (28.9)
Higher than diploma	20 (13.8)	17 (10.9)	37 (12.3)
Occupation
Shopkeepers	7 (4.8)	5 (3.2)	12 (4.0)	0.047
Housewives	72 (49.7)	63 (40.4)	135 (44.9)
Employees	18 (12.4)	31 (19.9)	49 (16.3)
Others	48 (33.1)	57 (36.5)	105 (34.9)
Marital status
Married	140 (96.6)	146 (93.6)	286 (95.0)	0.066
Single, divorced, or widowed	5 (3.4)	10 (6.4)	15 (5.0)
Living region
Urban	142 (97.9)	150 (96.2)	292 (97.0)	0.288
Rural	3 (2.1)	6 (3.8)	9 (3.0)
Past medical history of physical disorders
No	118 (81.4)	117 (75.0)	235 (78.1)	0.181
Yes	27 (18.6)	39 (25.0)	66 (21.9)
Past medical history of mental disorders
No	142 (97.9)	146 (93.6)	288 (95.7)	0.064
Yes	3 (2.1)	10 (6.4)	13 (4.3)