Table 1.
Demographics, Health Problems, Lifestyle, and Quality of Life of Midage Australian Women by Employment Status
| |
Survey 3 2001 |
Survey 4 2004 |
Survey 5 2007 |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |
Employed |
Employed |
Employed |
|||
| Characteristic | No n=2,554 % | Yes n=11,148 % | No n=3,058 % | Yes n=7,763 % | No n=3,437 % | Yes n=7,112 % |
| Sociodemographics | ||||||
| Education*,**,*** | ||||||
| No formal | 25 | 12 | - | - | - | - |
| SC/HSC | 52 | 48 | - | - | - | - |
| Trade/Ap/Cert/Dip | 17 | 22 | - | - | - | - |
| ≥University | 6 | 18 | - | - | - | - |
| Area of residence | ||||||
| Remote | 63 | 63 | 63 | 61 | 61 | 60 |
| Urban | 37 | 37 | 37 | 39 | 39 | 40 |
| Marital status*,**,*** | ||||||
| Married/de facto | 84 | 83 | 83 | 80 | 82 | 78 |
| Widowed | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 |
| Separated/divorced | 10 | 11 | 10 | 14 | 11 | 14 |
| Never married | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Children at home (yes)**,*** | 35 | 39 | 25 | 29 | 16 | 21 |
| Provides care for someone because of their long-term illness, disability, or frailty*,**,*** | ||||||
| No | 71 | 75 | 68 | 72 | 68 | 72 |
| Yes, someone who lives with you | 11 | 5 | 12 | 6 | 12 | 6 |
| Yes, someone who lives elsewhere | 17 | 20 | 19 | 22 | 20 | 22 |
| SEIFA disadvantage*,**,*** | ||||||
| Quartile 1 | 30 | 23 | 28 | 23 | 28 | 22 |
| Quartile 2 | 25 | 24 | 28 | 24 | 26 | 25 |
| Quartile 3 | 25 | 26 | 24 | 25 | 25 | 26 |
| Quartile 4 | 20 | 26 | 20 | 28 | 22 | 28 |
| Health problems | ||||||
| Arthritis*,**,*** | 31 | 22 | 33 | 23 | 37 | 26 |
| Diabetes*,**,*** | 6 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 9 | 5 |
| Heart disease*,**,*** | 3 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 3 |
| High blood pressure*,**,*** | 24 | 16 | 25 | 19 | 34 | 25 |
| Stroke*,*** | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Asthma*,**,*** | 12 | 9 | 13 | 9 | 12 | 9 |
| Bronchitis*,**,*** | 6 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 5 |
| Osteoporosis*,**,*** | 5 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 6 |
| Cancer*,*** | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 3 |
| Depression*,**,*** | 17 | 10 | 16 | 11 | 16 | 11 |
| Anxiety*,**,*** | 10 | 6 | 11 | 7 | 13 | 8 |
| Any other psychiatric condition*,**,*** | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Chronic fatigue syndrome*,**,*** | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Back pain*,**,*** | 28 | 18 | 23 | 15 | 26 | 16 |
| Lifestyle | ||||||
| Smoking*,** | ||||||
| Yes | 18 | 13 | 14 | 12 | 10 | 9 |
| Weight*,**,*** | ||||||
| Body mass index >30 | 28 | 22 | 31 | 23 | 31 | 24 |
| Quality of life: Mean (SD) | ||||||
| SF-36 Mental Health Component score*,**,*** | 48(12) | 50(10) | 49(12) | 51(10) | 50(11) | 52(9) |
| SF-36 Physical Health Component score*,**,*** | 44(12) | 49(9) | 44(12) | 49(9) | 44(11) | 49(9) |
*
Significant association with workforce participation in survey 3 (p<0.005); **significant association with workforce participation in survey 4 (p<0.005); ***significant association with workforce participation in survey 5 (p<0.005).
Ap, apprenticeship; Cert, certificate; Dip, diploma; HSC, higher school or leaving certificate; SC, school or intermediate certificate; SD, standard deviation; SEIFA, socio-economic indexes for areas.