TABLE 1.
—Age-Standardized Prevalence and Means of Health Outcomes and Selected Risk Factors, by Grade of Employmenta and Sex: Whitehall II and GAZEL Cohorts
| Whitehall II: Employment Grade | GAZEL: Employment Grade | ||||||||
| Higher | Intermediate | Lower | P for Trend | Higher | Intermediate | Lower | P for Trend | P for Interactionb | |
| Demographics | |||||||||
| No. (%) | |||||||||
| Men | 1417 (43.9) | 1505 (46.6) | 305 (9.5) | ... | 954 (31.6) | 1579 (52.4) | 482 (16.0) | ... | < .001 |
| Women | 307 (11.8) | 1017 (39.2) | 1274 (49.0) | ... | 277 (7.8) | 2558 (67.3) | 968 (25.4) | ... | < .001 |
| Mean age, y | |||||||||
| Men | 46.8 | 46.6 | 47.3 | > .25 | 47.3 | 47.0 | 47.0 | .03 | .05 |
| Women | 43.3 | 43.8 | 45.4 | < .001 | 44.6 | 44.6 | 43.6 | < .001 | < .001 |
| Health outcomes | |||||||||
| Sickness absence (long spells ≥ 8 days), rates per 100 person-years | |||||||||
| Men | 6.6 | 13.8 | 30.9 | < .001 | 11.4 | 24.9 | 45.9 | < .001 | > .25 |
| Women | 9.7 | 22.5 | 38.2 | < .001 | 23.6 | 41.8 | 63.4 | < .001 | .10 |
| Average or poor health, % | |||||||||
| Men | 17.7 | 23.3 | 35.4 | < .001 | 12.0 | 15.4 | 19.9 | < .001 | .19 |
| Women | 23.3 | 32.8 | 42.4 | < .001 | 13.5 | 18.7 | 23.5 | < .001 | .23 |
| Explanatory factors | |||||||||
| Early childhood environment | |||||||||
| Father blue collar or manual, % | |||||||||
| Men | 7.9c | 10.9 | 14.4 | .002 | 23.9 | 31.1 | 33.6 | < .001 | > .25 |
| Women | 1.1 | 11.2 | 19.2 | .001 | 15.0 | 29.5 | 32.1 | < .001 | < .001 |
| Height, cm | |||||||||
| Men | 177.4 | 175.6 | 172.4 | < .001 | 174.4 | 173.5 | 172.5 | < .001 | < .001 |
| Women | 164.9 | 163.4 | 160.8 | < .001 | 163.3 | 162.1 | 161.3 | < .001 | < .001 |
| Education: higher, % | |||||||||
| Men | 64.6 | 30.9 | 26.1 | .001 | 51.0 | 6.4 | 3.3 | < .001 | < .001 |
| Women | 82.0 | 34.3 | 16.1 | .001 | 62.2 | 7.1 | 2.3 | < .001 | < .001 |
| Health behaviors | |||||||||
| Tobacco: current smokers, % | |||||||||
| Men | 9.3 | 17.9 | 35.8 | < .001 | 28.9 | 32.5 | 31.9 | .14 | < .001 |
| Women | 12.8 | 20.7 | 27.5 | < .001 | 21.6 | 18.6 | 18.8 | > .25 | < .001 |
| Heavy weekly alcohol consumption, % | |||||||||
| Men (≥ 22 units) | 19.3 | 18.1 | 11.5 | .008 | 21.2 | 29.5 | 28.3 | < .001 | < .001 |
| Women (≥ 15 units) | 25.0 | 12.1 | 3.5 | < .001 | 12.6 | 10.5 | 10.2 | > .25 | < .001 |
| Fruits and vegetables: ≥ daily, % | |||||||||
| Men | 61.9 | 51.6 | 36.0 | < .001 | 59.1 | 57.3 | 61.4 | > .25 | < .001 |
| Women | 81.4 | 66.7 | 54.4 | < .001 | 73.7 | 73.5 | 72.6 | > .25 | < .001 |
| Psychosocial environment | |||||||||
| Married, % | |||||||||
| Men | 89.6 | 80.7 | 60.1 | < .001 | 92.6 | 90.9 | 88.8 | .01 | < .001 |
| Women | 58.9 | 54.0 | 68.2 | < .001 | 69.2 | 78.7 | 76.1 | > .25 | .01 |
| Work characteristics: low decision latitude, % | |||||||||
| Men | 11.8 | 34.7 | 82.5 | < .001 | 18.3 | 42.0 | 77.9 | < .001 | .003 |
| Women | 2.2 | 13.7 | 49.2 | < .001 | 4.3 | 29.5 | 51.2 | < .001 | < .001 |
aGrade of employment is based on salary and occupational title.
bTests whether the magnitudes of the grade gradient between the 2 cohorts are the same.
cThe values for the Whitehall II Study are lower because jobs classified as skilled manual (3M) in the United Kingdom are not considered blue collar according to the French classification we used.
The corresponding values would be 36.1, 44.9, and 55.8 for men and 18.4, 44.0, and 62.6 for women if skilled manual were included for the United Kingdom. The tests for trend do not change, nor do any other results.