Mortality of men versus women in comparable high-level jobs: 15-year experience in the Federal Women's Study.
The authors investigated exposure to high-level occupations in relation to the well-known survival advantage of women compared with men of the same age. Women in the federal workforce in positions of General Schedule 14 and above in 1979--1993 (n = 4,727) were each matched with three men (n = 14,181) by age, General Schedule level, and supervisory role. Fifteen-year mortality rates were compared between men and women and against expected 15-year mortality from the US general population. Despite similar job demands, women experienced markedly lower 15-year mortality than did men. However, men in these positions had nearly 50% lower mortality compared with age-matched men in the general population; the comparable reduction for women was 38%. The simultaneous substantial, but unequal by gender, improvement in mortality resulted in a reduced male/female mortality ratio, from 1.67 in the general population to 1.40. The reduced male/female mortality ratio was especially prominent for cancer and was not evident for heart disease mortality. Survival was nominally higher in non-White than in White participants. In summary, high-level employment is associated with substantially reduced mortality in both men and women. The relative improvement in survival is greater in men despite a comparable reduction in risk of heart disease mortality by gender.
Detre
K M
KM
University of Pittsburgh, Graduate School of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology, Pittsburgh PA, USA.
Kip
K E
KE
Feinleib
M
M
Matthews
K A
KA
Belle
S
S
D000288:Administrative Personnel / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000639:trends; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D002423:Cause of Death; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006077:Government Agencies / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000401:mortality; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009026:Mortality / Q000639:trends*; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality; D009790:Occupations / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012737:Sex Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D044465:White People