Table 2.
Baseline characteristics of Australian women born 1989–1995 (when aged 18–24 in 2013), according to chronic disease status (n = 14,150)
| Characteristic | Category | Presence of chronic disease | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No n = 11,476 n (%) |
Yes n = 2674 n (%) |
||
| Sociodemographics | |||
| Country of birth | Australia | 10,472 (91.3) | 2512 (93.9) |
| Other English-speaking background | 414 (3.6) | 71 (2.7) | |
| Non-English-speaking background | 434 (3.8) | 65 (2.4) | |
| Missing | 156 (1.4) | 26 (1.0) | |
| Area of residence | Major cities | 8616 (75.1) | 1960 (73.3) |
| Inner regional | 1935 (16.9) | 514 (19.2) | |
| Outer regional/remote/very remote | 921 (8.0) | 199 (7.4) | |
| Missing | 4 (0.0) | 1 (0.0) | |
| Education | Year 12 or below | 5615 (48.9) | 1286 (48.1) |
| Certificate/diploma | 3238 (28.2) | 817 (30.6) | |
| University | 2616 (22.8) | 571 (21.4) | |
| Missing | 7 (0.1) | 0 (0.0) | |
| Relationship status | Partnered | 3572 (31.1) | 914 (34.2) |
| Non-partnered | 7898 (68.8) | 1759 (65.8) | |
| Missing | 6 (0.1) | 1 (0.0) | |
| Work status | Not in paid employment | 2291 (20.0) | 642 (24.0) |
| Part-time | 6233 (54.3) | 1401 (52.4) | |
| Full-time | 2939 (25.6) | 630 (23.6) | |
| Missing | 13 (0.1) | 1 (0.0) | |
| Income management | Impossible/difficult always | 2912 (25.4) | 821 (30.7) |
| Difficult sometimes | 4162 (36.3) | 1000 (37.4) | |
| Not too bad/easy | 4393 (38.3) | 851 (31.8) | |
| Missing | 9 (0.1) | 2 (0.1) | |
| Health care card status | No | 7838 (68.3) | 1638 (61.3) |
| Yes | 3631 (31.6) | 1035 (38.7) | |
| Missing | 7 (0.1) | 1 (0.0) | |
| Health factors | |||
| Smoking status | Non-smoker | 9063 (79.0) | 2084 (77.9) |
| Current smoker | 2413 (21.0) | 590 (22.1) | |
| Missing | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | |
| Alcohol consumption | Non-drinker | 563 (4.9) | 175 (6.5) |
| Low risk drinker | 6813 (59.4) | 1427 (53.4) | |
| Infrequent drinker | 3621 (31.6) | 964 (36.1) | |
| Risky/high risk drinker | 479 (4.2) | 108 (4.0) | |
| Missing | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | |
| Body mass index | Underweight | 904 (7.9) | 152 (5.7) |
| Healthy weight | 6882 (60.0) | 1403 (52.5) | |
| Overweight | 2080 (18.1) | 570 (21.3) | |
| Obese | 1307 (11.4) | 486 (18.2) | |
| Missing | 303 (2.6) | 63 (2.4) | |
| Psychological distress (K10) | Low | 2474 (21.6) | 445 (16.6) |
| Moderate | 3380 (29.5) | 716 (26.8) | |
| High | 3152 (27.5) | 787 (29.4) | |
| Very high | 2469 (21.5) | 726 (27.2) | |
| Missing | 1 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | |
| Reproductive health | |||
| History of pregnancy | No | 9883 (86.1) | 2211 (82.7) |
| Yes | 1589 (13.8) | 463 (17.3) | |
| Missing | 4 (0.1) | 0 (0) | |
| History of termination | No | 10,696 (93.2) | 2481 (92.8) |
| Yes | 765 (6.7) | 191 (7.1) | |
| Missing | 15 (0.1) | 2 (0.1) | |
| History of miscarriage | No | 10,938 (95.3) | 2494 (93.3) |
| Yes | 521 (4.5) | 177 (6.6) | |
| Missing | 17 (0.1) | 3 (0.1) | |
| Parity | Zero | 11,072 (96.5) | 2517 (94.1) |
| One | 312 (2.7) | 115 (4.3) | |
| Two | 76 (0.7) | 37 (1.4) | |
| Three or more | 16 (0.1) | 5 (0.2) | |
| Missing | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | |
| Menstrual symptoms | No | 7353 (64.1) | 1536 (57.4) |
| Yes | 4123 (35.9) | 1138 (42.6) | |
| Missing | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | |
| History of PCOS | No | 11,116 (96.9) | 2489 (93.1) |
| Yes | 360 (3.1) | 185 (6.9) | |
| Missing | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | |
| History of endometriosis | No | 11,224 (97.8) | 2573 (96.2) |
| Yes | 252 (2.2) | 101 (3.8) | |
| Missing | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | |
PCOS Polycystic ovary syndrome