Table I.

Number of respondents and prevalence of sub-optimal self-reported health (SRH) in different socio-demographic groups and across literacy levels.

Variable	Category	No. of respondents				Sub-optimal SRH (%)
		Denmark	Finland	Norway	Sweden	Denmark	Finland	Norway	Sweden
Total		7284	5454	4942	4555	17	18	17	16
Sex	Male	3590	2753	2555	2249	16	20	16	14
	Female	3694	2701	2387	2214	18	16	18	19
Age group (years)	16–24	1064	895	963	841	9	8	10	11
	25–34	1028	1043	919	801	11	9	13	10
	35–44	1353	970	1071	866	16	11	12	14
	45–54	1446	1,120	1,056	924	21	20	20	18
	55–65	2393	1426	933	1031	26	36	30	25
Educational level	Low	1696	978	1224	930	26	26	25	26
	Medium	2394	2315	1815	1519	17	20	17	14
	High	2864	2161	1902	1510	10	11	10	10
Literacy skills	Level ⩽ 1	1246	470	503	518	34	37	28	32
	Level 2	2558	1437	1507	1218	20	25	22	20
	Level 3	2949	2353	2304	2000	11	14	13	12
	Level 4/5	531	1194	628	727	8	8	9	7