Associations among health-related behaviours: sociodemographic variation in Finland.
OBJECTIVE
The study examines sociodemographic variation in associations and co-occurrence of health behaviours that contribute to multifactorial chronic diseases.


METHODS
Mantel-Haenszel odds ratios were used to examine pairwise associations among smoking, alcohol use, physical activity, and diet across categories of sociodemographic characteristics. Breslow-Day test for homogeneity was used to test for sociodemographic differences. In addition, co-occurrence of each two unhealthy behaviours was examined across sociodemographic groups using nationwide population survey data from 26,014 Finnish adults.


RESULTS
Most of the health behaviours examined were interrelated and sociodemographic differences in the associations were few. Differences were inconsistent for all sociodemographic characteristics. Variation was observed only in the strength of the associations, not in their direction. However, due to unequal distribution of the individual behaviours, co-occurrence of unhealthy behaviours varied strongly across sociodemographic groups.


CONCLUSIONS
Associations between health behaviours were relatively similar across sociodemographic groups. Since co-occurrence of unhealthy behaviours depends on the prevalence of individual unhealthy behaviours and the strength of their association, their co-occurrence in any particular sociodemographic group was primarily determined by the prevalence of individual unhealthy behaviours.
Laaksonen
Mikko
M
Health Promotion Research Unit, Department of Epidemiology and Health Promotion, National Public Health Institute, Helsiniki. mikko.t.laaksonen@helsinki.fi
Lahelma
Eero
E
Prättälä
Ritva
R
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000428:Alcohol Drinking; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D004032:Diet; D004493:Education; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland; D015438:Health Behavior; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D017533:Marital Status; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D012424:Rural Population; D012737:Sex Factors; D012907:Smoking; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014505:Urban Population