Ratings of health and quality of life by young working people: are there occupational or education-based differences?
The study examines differences in self-rated health and perceived quality of life (QoL) among young working people according to occupation and education level. Subjects were extracted from a cross-sectional data set, covering questionnaire responses of people aged 20-74 years from the Swedish region of Ostergötland, and addressing individual environmental and health conditions. The emphasis was on males and females in paid employment aged 20-34 (n = 863). Differences in self-rated health items and in perceived QoL were subjected to a series of t-tests. Two measures of individual socioeconomic position were considered - occupation and education. No education-based differences were found, and there were few differences based on occupation. Among males, manual workers reported significantly higher scores with regard to pain and physical function than did non-manual workers. Male and female manual workers scored significantly lower on current perceived QoL than non-manual workers. In the case of females, the differences between manual and non-manual workers also applied to former perceived QoL. Yet, after applying the Bonferroni correction, none of the differences observed remained significant. In line with some earlier studies, it appears that -- among young working adults -- the manners in which health status and QoL are perceived are not strongly conditional on socioeconomic position.
Vaez
M
M
Karolinska Institutet, Department of Public Health Sciences, Division of Social Medicine, Stockholm, Sweden. marjan.vaez@phs.ki.se
Ekberg
K
K
Laflamme
L
L
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009790:Occupations; D011788:Quality of Life