Chronic gastrointestinal symptoms and quality of life in the Korean population

Table 1 Characteristics of the study population n (%)

Variable	Male	Female	Total
	(n = 762)	(n = 655)	(n = 1417)
Age
18-29	163 (11.5)	151 (10.7)	314 (22.2)
30-39	132 (9.3)	110 (7.8)	242 (17.1)
40-49	169 (11.9)	146 (10.3)	315 (22.2)
50-59	150 (10.6)	116 (8.2)	266 (18.8)
60-69	148 (10.4)	132 (9.3)	280 (19.7)
Median age (yr)	45	44	44
Mean age (yr)	44.1 ± 14.4	43.7 ± 15.1	43.9 ±14.8
BMI (kg/m2)	22.8	22.0	22.4
Ever tobacco smoker (%)	67.8a	4.0	38.3
Alcohol use (> 75 g/wk) (%)	36.4a	2.6	20.7
Marital status (single)1 (%)	26.5	28.7	27.5
Employed (%)	85.4a	45.6	67.0
Presence of religion (%)	50.5b	65.0	57.2
High school graduate (%)	57.0a	49.2	53.4
Economic status (%)
High	6.4	6.3	6.4
Middle	76.1	79.8	77.8
Low	17.5	13.9	15.8

¹Marital status was divided into single or married/living as a couple. Single status was extended to include unmarried persons, divorced individuals and those with a deceased spouse

^aP < 0.01,

^bP < 0.001 compared to female.