Table 1: Demographic and clinical characteristics of the entire population and the selected group.
| Characteristics | Entire population n = 256 | Selected group n = 209 | P value |
| Age (range) | 85 (80-99) | 85 (80-99) | NS |
| Female % | 71.1 | 70.9 | NS |
| Number of comorbidities (range) | 4 (0-10) | 4 (0-10) | NS** |
| Compensated comorbidities (%) | |||
| Hypertension | 78.9 | 69.4 | NS |
| Diabetes | 22.5 | 18.4 | NS |
| Dyslipidaemia | 52.4 | 46.6 | NS |
| Coronary heart disease | 11.9 | 7.8 | NS |
| Previous stroke | 7.9 | 3.4 | NS |
| Chronic heart failure | 5.3 | 5.3 | NS |
| Peripheral arterial disease | 4.8 | 2.4 | NS |
| Thyroid disease | 26.5 | 22.8 | NS |
| Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease | 4.0 | 2.4 | NS |
| Osteoarthritis | 48.9 | 44.2 | NS |
| Osteoporosis | 38.9 | 52.9 | NS |
| Cancer | 17.5 | 13.1 | NS |
| Smoking (%) | |||
| Current smoking | 2.6 | 1.5 | NS |
| Previous smoking | 28.4 | 21.4 | NS |
| Number of medications (median) (n = 221) | 6 (0-14) | 6 (0-13) | NS |
| Polypharmacy* (%) (n = 221) | 66.5 | 44.7 | NS |
| Weight (median) (n = 247) | 63.6 | 62.3 | NS |
| Body mass index BMI (Kg/m2) (%) (n = 247) | |||
| BMI < 18.5 (Kg/m2) | 2.8 | 4.9 | NS |
| BMI 18.5-29.9 (Kg/m2) | 78.6 | 76.2 | NS |
| BMI > 29.9 (Kg/m2) | 18.6 | 18.9 | NS |
*Polypharmacy: use of 5 or more medications.**Non-significant.