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. 2016 Mar 8;352:i582. doi: 10.1136/bmj.i582

Table 2.

Associations between taller stature and five measures of socioeconomic, using linear or logistic regression and instrumental variable analysis

Socioeconomic status measures and subcategories No Observational* Genetic† Genetic: Egger‡
Change in socioeconomic status (95%CI) per SD taller stature P value Change in socioeconomic status (95%CI) per SD taller stature P value Change in socioeconomic status (95%CI) per SD taller stature P value
Age completed full time education:
 All 82 543 0.11 (0.10 to 0.12) <1×10−15 0.03 (0.01 to 0.05) 0.01 0.07 (0.03 to 0.11) 0.0004
 Men only 38 342 0.11 (0.10 to 0.12) <1×10−15 0.04 (0.01 to 0.07) 0.009 0.08 (0.02 to 0.14) 0.004
 Women only 44 201 0.11 (0.10 to 0.12) <1×10−15 0.01 (−0.02 to 0.04) 0.40
Degree level education:
 All 118 565 OR: 1.25 (1.24 to 1.27) <1×10−15 1.02 (0.99 to 1.05) 0.22
 Men only 56 111 OR: 1.25 (1.23 to 1.27) <1×10−15 1.04 (1.00 to 1.09) 0.08
 Women only 62 454 OR: 1.26 (1.24 to 1.28) <1×10−15 1.00 (0.95 to 1.05) 0.97
Job class (skilled/unskilled):
 All 76 404 OR: 1.29 (1.27 to 1.32) <1×10−15 1.12 (1.07 to 1.18) 6E−7 1.18 (1.08 to 1.29) 0.0002
 Men only 37 608 OR: 1.31 (1.28 to 1.34) <1×10−15 1.13 (1.07 to 1.21) 2E−5 1.23 (1.10 to 1.37) 0.0004
 Women only 38 796 OR: 1.27 (1.24 to 1.31) <1×10−15 1.14 (1.05 to 1.24) 0.003 1.21 (1.08 to 1.36) 0.002
Annual household income:
 All 103 327 0.13 (0.12 to 0.14) <1×10−15 0.05 (0.03 to 0.07) 4E−8 0.05 (0.02 to 0.08) 0.0009
 Men only 50 862 0.15 (0.14 to 0.16) <1×10−15 0.07 (0.05 to 0.10) 1E−9 0.08 (0.04 to 0.12) 0.0002
 Women only 52 465 0.11 (0.10 to 0.12) <1×10−15 0.02 (0.00 to 0.05) 0.09
Townsend deprivation index:
 All 119 519 −0.08 (−0.09 to −0.07) <1×10−15 0.00 (−0.02 to 0.01) 0.71
 Men only 56 582 −0.10 (−0.10 to −0.09) <1×10−15 −0.02 (−0.05 to 0.00) 0.05 −0.08 (−0.12 to −0.04) 0.0004
 Women only 62 937 −0.07 (−0.07 to −0.06) <1×10−15 0.02 (−0.01 to 0.04) 0.19

OR=odds ratio.

For age completed full time education, annual household income, and Townsend deprivation index, changes reported are standard deviation. For degree and job class, odds ratios are shown, representing odds of higher socioeconomic status per SD greater height.

*Age, assessment centre, and sex adjusted associations.

†Uses instrumental variable analysis via ivreg2 command in Stata for continuous variables and two step procedure for binary outcomes using height genetic risk score. F statistic when considering all participants is ≥10 898 for each socioeconomic status measure; in men only, F statistic is ≥5308 for each socioeconomic status measure; in women only, F statistic is ≥5615 for each socioeconomic status measure.

‡Alternative genetic approach detailed in Bowden et al 2015,24 used as sensitivity analysis when instrumental variable was P<0.05.