Obesity, Disability and Self-Perceived Health Outcomes in Australian Adults: A Longitudinal Analysis Using 14 Annual Waves of the HILDA Cohort

Figures & data

Figure 1 Flow chart of sample selection and missing data.

Table 1 Distribution of the Analytic Sample: Baseline, Final, and Pooled Across All Waves (Persons = 26,104, Observations = 186,723)

Characteristics	Baseline Wave (2006)		Final Wave (2019)		Pooled in All Waves (2006 to 2019)
	n	%	n	%	n	%
Outcome variables
Self-reported health
Good or better health	8902	83.04	12,526	81.77	155,226	83.13
Poor or fair	1818	16.96	2,792	18.23	31,497	16.87
Mental health
Good or better health	8383	78.20	11,413	74.51	144,790	77.54
Poor or fair	2337	21.80	3905	25.49	41,933	22.46
Exposures and covariates
BMI
Underweight	339	3.16	352	2.30	4875	2.61
Healthy weight	4569	42.62	5627	36.73	73,753	39.50
Overweight	3597	33.55	5199	33.94	63,698	34.11
Obesity	2215	20.66	4140	27.03	44,397	23.78
Disability
No	7896	73.66	10,843	70.79	134,633	72.10
Yes	2824	26.34	4475	29.21	52,090	27.90
Age
< 30 years	2655	24.77	3717	24.27	47,503	25.44
30–44 years	3017	28.14	3760	24.55	46,093	24.69
45–59 years	2745	25.61	3616	23.61	47,019	25.18
≥ 60 years	2303	21.48	4225	27.58	46,108	24.69
Gender
Male	5076	47.35	7273	47.48	88,336	47.31
Female	5644	52.65	8045	52.52	98,387	52.69
Civil Status
Cohabitating	6382	59.53	9239	60.31	112,302	60.14
Non-Cohabitating	4338	40.47	6079	39.69	74,421	39.86
Education
Year 12 and below	5409	50.46	5841	38.13	81,235	43.51
Professional qualifications	3011	28.09	5091	33.24	58,131	31.13
University qualifications	2300	21.46	4386	28.63	47,357	25.36
Household yearly disposable income quintile
Quintile 1 (lowest)	2144	20.00	3064	20.00	37,347	20.00
Quintile 2	2145	20.01	3067	20.02	37,343	20.00
Quintile 3	2143	19.99	3060	19.98	37,346	20.00
Quintile 4	2145	20.01	3064	20.00	37,343	20.00
Quintile 5 (highest)	2143	19.99	3063	20.00	37,344	20.00
Labour force status
Employed	7014	65.43	9826	64.15	120,224	64.39
Unemployed	337	3.14	574	3.75	6709	3.59
Not in the labour force	3369	31.43	4918	32.11	59,790	32.02
Indigenous status
Non-indigenous	10,476	97.72	14,753	96.31	181,283	97.09
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander	244	2.28	565	3.69	5440	2.91
Location
Major city	6885	64.23	10,154	66.29	123,698	66.25
Regional	3664	34.18	4970	32.45	60,369	32.33
Remote	171	1.60	194	1.27	2656	1.42
Smoking status
Never smoked	5559	51.86	8681	56.67	101,588	54.41
Ex-smoker	2926	27.29	4194	27.38	51,472	27.57
Current smoker	2235	20.85	2443	15.95	33,663	18.03
Alcohol consumption
Never drank	1112	10.37	1703	11.12	20,151	10.79
Ex-drinker	690	6.44	1390	9.07	14,686	7.87
Only rarely to 3 days/week	5704	53.21	8439	55.09	101,720	54.48
3+ days/week	3214	29.98	3786	24.72	50,166	26.87
Physical activity (≥ 30 minutes)
Not at all to <1/week	2717	25.35	4299	28.07	50,076	26.82
1–3 times/week	4305	40.16	5841	38.13	73,597	39.42
≥4 times/week	3698	34.50	5178	33.80	63,050	33.77

Table 2 Self-Perceived Poor or Fair Health Outcomes by Age and Gender at Four Different Periods

Year	Age	< 30 Years		30–44 Years		45–59 Years		60 and Over Years
	Gender	Poor Health	Poor Mental Health	Poor Health	Poor Mental Health	Poor Health	Poor Mental Health	Poor Health	Poor Mental Health
2006	Male	6.48	20.08	12.46	20.54	18.25	20.14	31.43	17.83
	Female	9.54	26.69	11.96	24.05	18.82	23.54	31.60	19.75
2011	Male	6.09	19.50	9.82	21.14	17.35	21.17	30.73	16.68
	Female	8.73	22.69	11.60	23.89	19.81	24.61	27.60	19.34
2015	Male	7.93	23.21	12.04	22.17	18.41	20.32	30.05	17.30
	Female	9.05	30.20	11.70	24.73	19.59	24.29	29.76	19.42
2019	Male	8.27	26.34	11.65	25.32	19.68	22.85	29.65	17.78
	Female	11.11	36.81	13.01	28.29	18.28	25.51	30.90	21.71

Figure 2 Distribution of the self-assessed fair or poor health outcomes by weight status, 26,104 persons, 186,723 observations, 2006 to 2019.

Figure 3 Distribution of the self-assessed fair or poor health outcomes by disability status, 26,104 persons, 186,723 observations, 2006 to 2019.

Table 3 Unadjusted and Adjusted Random-Effect Regression Results for the Between-Person Difference in Self-Perceived Health Outcomes Due to Obesity and Disability, 26,104 Persons, 186,723 Observations, 2006 to 2019

Exposures and Other Covariates	Model 1^a	Model 2^b	Model 3^c	Model 4^d
	Poor or Fair versus Good or Better Health	Poor or Fair versus Good or Better Health	Poor or Fair versus Good or Better Mental Health	Poor or Fair versus Good or Better Mental Health
	OR (95% CI), P value	aOR (95% CI), P value	OR (95% CI), P value	aOR (95% CI), P value
BMI
Underweight	1.64 (1.41–1.89), <0.001	1.62 (1.40–1.87), <0.001	1.39 (1.24–1.55), <0.001	1.20 (1.08–1.34), 0.001
Healthy weight (ref)
Overweight	1.46 (1.37–1.56), <0.001	1.24 (1.16–1.32), <0.001	0.98 (0.93–1.03), 0.45	1.00 (0.95–1.05), 0.91
Obesity	3.36 (3.11–3.63), <0.001	2.40 (2.22–2.58), <0.001	1.32 (1.24–1.41), <0.001	1.22 (1.15–1.30), <0.001
Disability
No (ref)
Yes	8.79 (8.35–9.25), <0.001	6.07 (5.77–6.39), <0.001	2.47 (2.36–2.58), <0.001	2.40 (2.30–2.51), <0.001

Notes: ^a,cModels 1 and 3: Unadjusted. ^b,dModels 2 and 4: Adjusted for age, gender, civil status, education, household yearly disposable income, labour force status, indigenous status, location, smoking status, alcohol consumption, and physical activity. Values in bold are statistically significant.

Abbreviations: AOR, Adjusted Odds Ratio; ref, reference.