Table 1

Characteristics of study population (n=9160) and exit from paid employment through different pathways per educational level

	Educational level
	Low		Intermediate		High
	(N=2412)		(N=3531)		(N=3217)
	n	%	n	%	n	%
Gender
Male	1317	54.6*	1965	55.6*	1967	61.1*
Age
45–49	574	23.8*	977	27.7*	841	26.1*
50–54	560	23.2*	1011	28.6*	825	25.6*
55–59	826	34.2*	1055	29.9*	988	30.7*
60–64	452	18.7*	488	13.8*	563	17.5*
Married or cohabitating
Yes	1933	80.1*	2760	78.2*	2478	77.0*
Chronic disease
No	1001	41.5*	1555	44.0*	1605	49.9*
One	989	41.0*	1400	39.7*	1161	36.1*
Multiple	422	17.5*	576	16.3*	451	14.0*
Specific chronic diseases
Cardiovascular	272	11.3*	396	11.2*	316	9.8*
Diabetes Mellitus	223	9.2*	275	7.8*	203	6.3*
Digestive	166	6.9	237	6.7	212	6.6
Musculoskeletal	995	41.3*	1303	36.9*	1012	31.5*
Psychological	99	4.1	166	4.7	147	4.6
Respiratory	191	7.9	313	8.9	259	8.1
Labour force exit
Disability benefits	115	4.8	156	4.4	82	2.5
Unemployment benefits	356	14.8	472	13.4	368	11.4
Early retirement benefits	424	17.6	558	15.8	624	19.4
Economically inactive	114	4.7	125	3.5	74	2.3

*P<0.05, indicating a significant differences between low, intermediate and high educated workers at baseline values.