Table 1.
Demographic characteristics of the young (n = 4650) and mid-aged (n = 3185) women by occupational category, work hours and work patterns; Australian Longitudinal study on Women’s Health (ALSWH).
| Occupational Category | Work Hours | Work Pattern | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manager/Professional | Clerical/Sales | Trades/Production/Labourer | p | Full-Time | Part-Time | p | Regular Hours | Shift or Night Worker | p | |
| Young cohort | ||||||||||
| N | 2986 | 1370 | 294 | 2688 | 1962 | 3889 | 761 | |||
| Age in years, mean (SD) | 33.6 (1.5) | 33.8 (1.5) | 33.9 (1.5) | <0.001 | 33.6 (1.5) | 33.8 (1.4) | <0.001 | 33.7 (1.5) | 33.6 (1.5) | 0.51 |
| Area of residence urban (%) | 70 | 56 | 41 | <0.001 | 68 | 58 | <0.001 | 64 | 62 | 0.14 |
| Post High school qualification (%) | 95 | 64 | 57 | <0.001 | 86 | 79 | <0.001 | 83 | 83 | 0.99 |
| Married or in de-facto relationship (%) | 73 | 75 | 74 | 0.47 | 64 | 88 | <0.001 | 74 | 71 | 0.07 |
| One or more children under 16 years in house (%) | 47 | 62 | 67 | <0.001 | 30 | 85 | <0.001 | 53 | 53 | 0.67 |
| Current smoker (%) | 12 | 16 | 26 | <0.001 | 16 | 11 | <0.001 | 13 | 15 | 0.17 |
| Risky drinker a (%) | 5 | 6 | 9 | <0.01 | 6 | 4 | <0.01 | 5 | 5 | 0.53 |
| Body Mass Index kg/m2 (mean, SD) | 25.2 (5.4) | 26.7 (6.4) | 26.6 (5.8) | <0.001 | 25.9 (6.0) | 25.5 (5.5) | <0.001 | 25.6 (5.8) | 26.7 (6.4) | <0.001 |
| Self-rated health good to excellent (%) | 93 | 90 | 87 | <0.001 | 92 | 92 | 0.63 | 92 | 91 | 0.31 |
| Work characteristics | ||||||||||
| Full-time workers (%) | 65 | 47 | 39 | <0.001 | 58 | 56 | 0.15 | |||
| Work shift of night (%) | 16 | 14 | 26 | <0.001 | 16 | 17 | 0.15 | |||
| Manager or professional (%) | 72 | 54 | <0.001 | 64 | 64 | <0.001 | ||||
| Clerical or sales (%) | 24 | 37 | 30 | 26 | ||||||
| Trade, production or labourer (%) | 4 | 9 | 6 | 10 | ||||||
| Mid-aged cohort | ||||||||||
| N | 1724 | 1121 | 340 | 1443 | 1742 | 2723 | 462 | |||
| Age in years, mean (SD) | 61.2 (1.4) | 61.2 (1.4) | 61.4 (1.4) | 0.04 | 61.1 (1.4) | 61.3 (1.4) | 0.24 | 61.2 (1.4) | 61.2 (1.3) | 0.03 |
| Area of residence urban (%) | 44 | 43 | 30 | <0.001 | 45 | 40 | <0.01 | 43 | 43 | 0.95 |
| Post High school qualification (%) | 77 | 33 | 25 | <0.001 | 59 | 54 | 0.02 | 55 | 63 | <0.01 |
| Married or in de-facto relationship (%) | 75 | 75 | 78 | 0.55 | 70 | 80 | <0.001 | 77 | 68 | <0.001 |
| One or more children under 16 years in house (%) | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0.01 | 2 | 2 | 0.82 | 2 | 3 | 0.12 |
| Current smoker (%) | 7 | 7 | 12 | 0.01 | 8 | 7 | 0.55 | 7 | 12 | <0.001 |
| Risky drinker a (%) | 7 | 6 | 8 | 0.62 | 8 | 6 | 0.11 | 7 | 5 | 0.19 |
| Body Mass Index kg/m2 (mean, SD) | 26.9 (5.4) | 27.1 (5.2) | 26.9 (5.4) | 0.61 | 27.2 (5.5) | 26.8 (5.1) | 0.03 | 26.8 (5.2) | 27.6 (5.5) | 0.15 |
| Self-rated health good to excellent (%) | 93 | 93 | 89 | 0.03 | 93 | 94 | 0.73 | 93 | 91 | 0.10 |
| Work characteristics | ||||||||||
| Full-time workers (%) | 54 | 36 | 32 | <0.001 | 45 | 46 | 0.71 | |||
| Work shift of night (%) | 16 | 12 | 17 | <0.01 | 15 | 14 | 0.72 | |||
| Manager or professional (%) | 45 | 65 | <0.001 | 53 | 58 | <0.01 | ||||
| Clerical or sales (%) | 41 | 28 | 36 | 30 | ||||||
| Trade, production or labourer (%) | 13 | 8 | 10 | 13 | ||||||
Young cohort: in 2009 aged 31–36 years; Mid-aged cohort: in 2010 aged 59–64 years; a: three or more standard drinks per day; N: number; SD: standard deviation; p: level of significance.