Table 2

Prevalence and incidence of poor self reported health by occupational characteristics

	Men				Women
	Cross sectional study (n=8277)		Prospective study (n=5575)		Cross sectional study (n=3170)		Prospective study (n=2089)
	n	Prevalence of poor self reported health (%)	n	Incidence of poor self reported health (%)	n	Prevalence of poor self reported health (%)	n	Incidence of poor self reported health (%)
p<0.05, p<0.01, **p<0.001.
Educational level
University	1579	15.7	1146	10.8	280	17.9	204	15.3
Upper vocational	604	17.7	425	11.1	178	25.0	123	13.8
Upper secondary	537	19.0	370	12.3	380	22.7	258	12.1
Lower vocational	4181	19.1	2794	12.1	1531	22.7	1008	15.5
Lower secondary	1027	20.2	659	10.8	600	25.5	372	16.0
Primary	347	23.2	179	12.4	201	26.6	124	19.7
Occupation		**		ns		ns		ns
Managers	1660	16.8	1164	11.3	257	17.0	182	12.8
Engineers	1920	15.3	1353	9.2	219	19.4	156	14.2
Administrative associate professionals	969	21.6	630	11.2	1739	22.4	1161	14.9
Technicians	464	19.4	319	12.0	–	–	–	–
Foremen	2414	19.2	1584	13.1	367	20.3	251	12.0
Clerks	223	22.6	138	13.9	579	31.6	332	21.2
Skilled industrial workers	300	22.4	192	16.9	–	–	–	–
Craftsmen	302	29.6	175	12.1	–	–	–	–
Number of stressful occupational events		***		*		***		*
0	5490	16.9	3749	11.3	2206	21.0	1481	14.8
1	2011	22.0	1311	12.4	675	26.4	442	16.1
⩾2	776	22.0	515	12.1	289	32.5	166	17.6
Psychological demands		***		ns		***		ns
Low	3936	14.8	2735	9.7	1414	17.9	984	12.8
High	4055	22.2	2663	13.6	1558	28.2	978	18.2
Decision latitude		***		***		***		***
High	4734	15.9	3332	11.0	1160	18.3	822	14.1
Low	3265	22.7	2067	12.6	1812	26.2	1142	15.8
Social support		***		ns		***		ns
High	3917	13.9	2790	10.4	1348	17.2	966	12.5
Low	3859	23.1	2466	13.0	1550	27.8	963	18.4
Physical demands		***		**		***		***
Low	4319	15.3	3073	10.4	1617	18.4	1156	13.0
High	3816	22.3	2426	12.9	1452	28.2	879	18.2
		***		**		***		***