Table 2.
Associations (odds-ratios (ORs)) of educational attainment levela among nonstudents (NS) v. students with subsequent onset of DSM-IV/CIDI bulimia nervosa (BN) and binge-eating disorder (BED) by sex in the WMH surveys (n = 22 635)b
| Total | Female | Male | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OR | (95% CI) | OR | (95% CI) | OR | (95% CI) | |
| I. BN | ||||||
| NS Not graduated primary | 0.5* | (0.3–0.8) | 0.6 | (0.3–1.0) | 0.2* | (0.0–0.9) |
| NS Graduated primary but not secondary | 0.6* | (0.4–0.9) | 0.6* | (0.3–0.9) | 0.6 | (0.3–1.3) |
| NS Graduated secondary but not University | 0.8 | (0.5–1.2) | 0.8 | (0.5–1.4) | 0.7 | (0.3–1.7) |
| NS Graduated University | 0.5* | (0.2–0.9) | 0.5 | (0.2–1.1) | 0.4 | (0.1–1.5) |
| Still a student | 1.0 | – | 1.0 | – | 1.0 | – |
| χ24 | 13.0* | 8.5 | 4.8 | |||
| II. BED | ||||||
| NS Not graduated primary | 0.5* | (0.3–0.8) | 0.4* | (0.3–0.7) | 1.0 | (0.5–2.0) |
| NS Graduated primary but not secondary | 0.7 | (0.5–1.1) | 0.6* | (0.4–1.0) | 1.1 | (0.5–2.3) |
| NS Graduated secondary but not University | 0.9 | (0.6–1.3) | 0.7 | (0.5–1.1) | 1.5 | (0.7–3.2) |
| NS Graduated University | 0.7 | (0.4–1.2) | 0.7 | (0.4–1.2) | 0.9 | (0.3–2.6) |
| Still a student | 1.0 | – | 1.0 | – | 1.0 | – |
| χ24 | 12.1* | 12.9* | 2.0 | |||
*Significant at the 0.05 level, two-sided test.
aIn the total sample, 1.3% of respondents had no education, 9.4% began but did not graduate from primary school, 6.5% graduated from primary school but had no secondary education, 24.1% began but did not graduate from secondary school, 26.8% graduated from secondary school but had no post-secondary education, 15.5% had some post-secondary education but did not graduate from university, and 16.3% graduated from university. These seven categories were collapsed into four for purposes of the analyses reported here due to sparse data in some categories.
Based on discrete-time survival models with person-year the unit of analysis controlling person-year, age at interview, sex, parents' education, country and prior history of other DSM-IV/CIDI disorders. The prior disorders were coded as time-varying covariates. Chronic physical conditions were not controlled due to a preliminary finding that they are not strongly related to eating disorders at this point in the life course and their inclusion has no effect on the results reported here. A total of 23 000 respondents were assessed for eating disorders in the 12 WMH surveys considered here, but the respondents included in the analysis are limited to the 22 635 with complete data on education, marital status, employment status and earnings.