TABLE 2.
—Age- and Fully-Adjusteda Rate Ratios and Odds Ratios (ORs) (95% Confidence Intervals [CIs]) for the Effect of Employment Grade on Long Spells of Sickness Absence (≥ 8 Days) and Self-Reported Health (Average or Worse), by Study and Sex
| Men | Women | |||
| Age-Adjusted | Fully Adjusted | Age-Adjusted | Fully Adjusted | |
| Sickness Absence | Rate Ratios (95% CI) | Rate Ratios (95% CI) | Rate Ratios (95% CI) | Rate Ratios (95% CI) |
| Whitehall II Studyb (n = 2119 men; 1395 women) | ||||
| Employment grade | ||||
| Higher | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Intermediate | 2.04 (1.71, 2.43) | 1.86 (1.55, 2.24) | 1.98 (1.47, 2.68) | 1.86 (1.36, 2.53) |
| Lower | 5.17 (4.21, 6.34) | 3.85 (2.96, 4.99) | 3.26 (2.42, 4.38) | 2.76 (2.00, 3.80) |
| GAZELc (n = 1948 men; 2258 women) | ||||
| Employment grade | ||||
| Higher | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Intermediate | 2.13 (1.86, 2.43) | 1.99 (1.73, 2.27) | 1.64 (1.40, 1.92) | 1.52 (1.29, 1.78) |
| Lower | 3.77 (3.23, 4.40) | 3.17 (2.67, 3.75) | 2.27 (1.93, 2.68) | 1.96 (1.65, 2.32) |
| Age-Adjusted | Fully Adjusted | Age-Adjusted | Fully Adjusted | |
| Self-reported health | OR (95% CI) | OR (95% CI) | OR (95% CI) | OR (95% CI) |
| Whitehall II Studyb (n = 2244 men; 1626 women) | ||||
| Employment grade | ||||
| Higher | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Intermediate | 1.42 (1.14, 1.79) | 1.19 (0.93, 1.52) | 1.30 (0.88, 1.92) | 1.19 (0.79, 1.79) |
| Lower | 2.97 (2.13, 4.15) | 1.65 (1.09, 2.49) | 1.91 (1.30, 3.80) | 1.48 (0.94, 2.33) |
| GAZEL (n = 1948 men; 2245 women) | ||||
| Employment grade | ||||
| Higher | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Intermediate | 1.20 (0.90, 1.60) | 1.25 (0.93, 1.70) | 1.25 (0.80, 1.96) | 1.21 (0.76, 1.92) |
| Lower | 1.61 (1.08, 2.41) | 1.60 (1.02, 2.51) | 1.53 (0.95, 2.49) | 1.39 (0.84, 2.30) |
aUsing set of best predictors for each cohort and sex (i.e., explanatory variables with statistically significant linear trends for grade). Waist-to-hip ratio not included because of missing values in half of the GAZEL cohort. Sensitivity analyses show similar results.
bFully adjusted Whitehall II men: age, father’s social class, height, smoking, alcohol, fruit and vegetable intake, body mass index, not married, low decision latitude, high job demands. Women: age, father’s social class, height, smoking, alcohol, fruit and vegetable intake, body mass index, not married, low decision latitude, high job demands.
cFully adjusted GAZEL men: age, father’s social class, height, alcohol, body mass index, not married, low decision latitude, high job demands. Women: age, father’s social class, height, body mass index, low decision latitude, high job demands.