Table 2.

Hazard ratios for all cause mortality by levels of sickness absence and health indicators among civil servants in the Whitehall II Study. Adjusted for age and grade

	Men		Women
	No of deaths	Hazard ratio (95% CI)	No of deaths	Hazard ratio (95% CI)
Medically certified absence* (spells per 10 years):
0	82	1.00	17	1.00
>0 to 2	31	1.30 (0.86 to 1.98)	11	1.26 (0.59 to 2.71)
>2 to 5	47	2.24 (1.55 to 3.23)	20	1.60 (0.83 to 3.08)
>5	55	4.77 (3.31 to 6.88)	39	2.72 (1.51 to 4.91)
Self certified absence† (spells per 10 years):
0	39	1.00	9	1.00
>0 to 10	70	0.76 (0.51 to 1.13)	17	0.62 (0.28 to 1.40)
>10 to 20	41	0.90 (0.57 to 1.41)	24	0.78 (0.36 to 1.71)
>20	65	1.40 (0.91 to 2.16)	37	0.80 (0.38 to 1.68)
Self rated health status:
Very good or good	161	1.00	52	1.00
Average or worse	80	1.58 (1.20 to 2.07)	58	1.78 (1.22 to 2.60)
Longstanding illness, disability, or infirmity:
No	126	1.00	50	1.00
Yes	92	1.31 (1.00 to 1.72)	47	1.74 (1.16 to 2.59)
No of recurrent health problems:
0	44	1.00	24	1.00
1-3	94	1.08 (0.81 to 1.44)	45	0.78 (0.51 to 1.19)
>3	21	1.50 (0.96 to 2.34)	10	0.73 (0.38 to 1.39)
No of symptoms:
0	34	1.00	15	1.00
1-4	90	1.06 (0.78 to 1.50)	45	0.74 (0.44 to 1.26)
>4	34	1.26 (0.83 to 1.92)	19	0.65 (0.35 to 1.21)
Minor psychiatric morbidity (general health questionaire score >4):
No	186	1.00	76	1.00
Yes	56	0.94 (0.70 to 1.27)	34	1.14 (0.76 to 1.71)
Physical illness indicator‡:
No	190	1.00	93	1.00
Yes	49	1.88 (1.37 to 2.58)	15	1.11 (0.64 to 1.92)

^*P for linear trend <0.001 in men and women.

^†P for curvilinear trend 0.03 for men and 0.90 for women.

^‡Diabetes, diagnosed heart disease, hypertension, abnormalities on electrocardiogram, respiratory illness.