Characteristics of patient participants (n = 126 patients).

†Based on self-report, selecting from a list of eight specified conditions: (1) heart disease, such as angina, heart attack, or congestive heart failure (CHF); (2) lung disease, such as asthma, emphysema, chronic bronchitis, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD); (3) liver disease, such as cirrhosis or chronic hepatitis; (4) intestinal or stomach ulcers, or other bowel disorders, such as Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis; (5) kidney failure or chronic kidney disease; (6) diabetes; (7) arthritis; and (8) stroke. ‡Assessed by the SF-12 and classified using four different criteria based on number of standard deviations below the age-group norm (see text for details).