Introduction
Methods
Data source
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The Health Survey for England (HSE) is a nationally representative survey conducted periodically since 1991. It covers individuals aged 16 years and over in private households across England using stratified random sampling. The HSE has core modules that are used every year and special topics introduced in selected years. Core health questions include: general health, fruit and vegetable intakes, height and weight, tobacco and alcohol consumption, and certain illnesses. In selected years, other conditions include oral health, chronic diseases, and physical activity. This study is restricted to the 2010 HSE which contains comprehensive questions on psychosocial work conditions.
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The Thai Cohort Study (TCS) is part of the overarching Thai Health-Risk Transition: A National Cohort Study. The study consists of 87,134 adults enrolled at the Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University (STOU) who volunteered to participate in the 20-page health questionnaire covering socio-geo-demographic characteristics, self-reported physical and mental health and personal wellbeing, weight and height, health-risk behaviours including tobacco and alcohol consumption, diet and exercise, as well as health service use. The TCS involved two subsequent follow-ups in 2009 and 2013, with response rates of over 70 %. The TCS represents well the sex ratio, geographic location, religion, and modest income of working Thai adults [12]. Our report presented here is restricted to the 2005 baseline TCS questionnaire which provides a wide array of questions on psychosocial job characteristics.
Data harmonisation
Key variables | Health Survey for England (n = 14112) | Thai Cohort Study (n = 87134) | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Age groups | Age distributiona
| In paid work | Age distribution | In paid work |
<20 | 43.2 (6093) | 3.1 (122) | 2.9 (2502) | 1.6 (1151) |
20–34 | 11.6 (1642) | 25.5 (1014) | 68.7 (59894) | 68.4 (48690) |
35–45 | 11.5 (1618) | 28.5 (1132)b
| 22.8 (19843) | 24.5 (17459) |
46–65 | 20.1 (2837) | 40.4 (1606) | 5.5 (4792) | 5.4 (3820) |
65+ | 13.6 (1922) | 2.5 (98) | 0.1 (103) | 0.04 (31) |
Psychological distress
| ||||
High distress | 11.7 (132) | 12.3 (3857) | ||
Job security
| ||||
Extremely secure | 28.0 (317) | 18.5 (5726) | ||
Secure | 40.6 (459) | 50.1 (15553) | ||
Moderately secure | 19.5 (221) | 21.5 (6667) | ||
Not at all secure | 11.9 (135) | 10.0 (3094) | ||
Autonomy
| ||||
Often | 48.5 (547) | 55.1 (16996) | ||
Sometimes | 35.3 (398) | 33.4 (10295) | ||
Rarely | 11.9 (135) | 9.1 (2807) | ||
Never | 4.2 (47) | 2.5 (760) | ||
Coping with demands
| ||||
Often | 38.9(438) | 48.2(14834) | ||
Sometimes | 49.1(553) | 40.5 (12473) | ||
Rarely/never | 12.0(135) | 11.3 (3475) | ||
Support by employer
a
| ||||
Often | 39.9(449) | 58.4(17937) | ||
Sometimes | 34.6 (389) | 23.8 (7309) | ||
Rarely/never | 12.5 (140) | 8.7 (2680) | ||
Not applicable | 12.9 (145) | 9.1 (2790) | ||
Occupation groups
| ||||
High | 53.1 (597) | 25.3 (6703) | ||
Medium | 18.8 (18.8) | 44.3 (11758) | ||
Low | 28.2 (28.2) | 30.4 (8059) | ||
Hours of paid work
| ||||
35 hours + per week | 73.5 (832) | 84.5 (26397) |
Job factors and covariates | Odds Ratios for psychological distressa [95 % Confidence Interval] | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Heath Survey for England (n = 1132) | Thai Cohort Study (n = 17459) | |||
Bivariate OR | Multivariate AORb
| Bivariate OR | Multivariate AORb
| |
Job security
| ||||
Extremely secure | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
Secure | 1.46 [0.88–2.43] | 1.44 [0.78–2.68] | 1.08 [0.98–1.20] | 1.02 [0.91–1.14] |
Moderately secure |
2.30 [1.32–3.98] | 1.82 [0.94–3.53] |
1.71 [1.53–1.92] |
1.56 [1.37–1.77] |
Not at all secure |
2.64 [1.44–4.84] |
2.58 [1.28–5.22] |
2.82 [2.49–3.18] |
2.32 [2.00–2.69] |
Autonomy
| ||||
Often | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
Sometimes |
2.31 [1.51–3.54] |
1.78 [1.07–2.98] | 0.89 [0.82–0.96] | 0.79 [0.72–0.86] |
Rarely |
2.67 [1.54–4.66] |
2.16 [1.14–4.10] |
1.37 [1.23–1.53] | 0.97 [0.85–1.10] |
Never |
3.52 [1.63–4.61] |
2.61 [1.09–6.25] |
1.57 [1.30–1.90] | 0.99 [0.79–1.24] |
Coping with demands
| ||||
Often | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
Sometimes |
1.69 [1.08–2.65] | 1.33 [0.79–2.25] |
1.37 [1.27–1.48] |
1.34 [1.22–1.46] |
Rarely/never |
5.14 [3.05–8.68] |
2.57 [1.35–4.92] |
2.64 [2.39–2.90]
|
2.42 [2.17–2.71] |
Support by employer
| ||||
Often | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
Sometimes |
1.81 [1.16–2.83] | 1.44 [0.89–2.33] |
1.52 [1.41–1.65] |
1.36 [1.24–1.49] |
Rarely/never |
3.06 [1.68–5.57] |
1.93 [1.05–3.56] |
2.35 [2.12–2.62] |
1.84 [1.63–2.08] |
Covariates
| ||||
Sex
| ||||
Males | 1.00 | 1.00 | ||
Females | 1.21[0.75–1.95] | 1.09 [0.99–1.19] | ||
Occupational status
| ||||
High | 1.00 | 1.00 | ||
Medium | 0.72 [0.44–1.19] | 0.95 [0.86–1.05] | ||
Low | 0.73 [0.44–1.21] | 1.02 [0.94–1.05] | ||
Part-time/full-time
| ||||
Part-time | 1.00 | 1.00 | ||
Full-time | 1.36 [0.83–2.23] | 1.16 [0.95–1.29] |