Family Support and Loneliness among Older Persons in Multiethnic Malaysia

Table 1

Sociodemographic characteristics, health and disability, and coresidence status of respondents (%).

	All	Male	Female
	()	()	()
Age group
60s	64.4	62.5	65.7
70s	29.2	31.3	27.8
80s+	6.4	6.2	6.5
Gender
Male	39.6
Female	60.4
Ethnic group
Malay	45.4	41.8	47.8
Chinese	24.6	26.9	23.0
Indian	4.3	3.7	4.7
Indigenous	25.7	27.6	24.4
Marital status
Currently married	52.8	78.3	36.0
Widowed/divorced	47.2	21.7	64.0
Residence
Rural	57.0	57.7	56.4
Urban	43.0	42.3	43.6
Educational level
No schooling	52.4	31.7	66.0
Primary level	36.5	49.4	27.9
Secondary+	11.1	18.9	6.0
Work status
No	74.7	60.7	83.8
Yes	25.3	39.3	16.2
Sources of income
None	25.0	18.2	29.4
1-2	52.6	48.5	55.3
3+	22.4	33.4	15.3
Illnesses
None	27.0	32.1	23.6
1 illness	33.4	32.8	33.9
2+ illnesses	39.6	35.1	42.6
Physical limitations
None	67.4	73.0	63.7
1-2 limitations	19.5	17.7	20.6
3+ limitations	13.1	9.3	15.6
Coresidence with children
No	37.2	39.9	35.5
Yes	62.8	60.1	64.5