Variables used to assess self rated health in the Whitehall II data
| Variable | Description |
|---|---|
| *Not self reported. | |
| Early life factors and family history | |
| Height* | Height measured at clinical screening at phase 1. |
| Father’s social class | Assessed using registrar general’s social class classification: six hierarchical categories: 1(high) to 6 (low). |
| Vital status of parents | A three point scale assessing whether both parents alive (1), 1 alive or both dead (3). |
| Chronic diseases in parents | A six point scale assessing whether either parent suffered from angina, heart attack, stroke, high blood pressure, and diabetes; 0 = no disease and 5 = all five diseases. |
| Chronic diseases in siblings | A six point scale assessing any sibling suffered from angina, heart attack, stroke, high blood pressure, and diabetes; 0 = no disease and 5 = all five diseases. |
| Sociodemographics | |
| Material difficulties | Score from 0–8, composed of two five point scales assessing the extent to which person could afford food and clothing for the family and had difficulty in paying bills; 0 = not difficult and 8 = very difficult. |
| Education | A three point scale assessing education: 1 = university, 2 = secondary, 3 = primary level of education. |
| Employment grade | A six point scale representing occupational position in the British civil service; 1(high) to 6 (low). |
| Marital status | Four point scale: 1 = married/cohabiting, 2 = single, 3 = divorced/separated and 4 = widowed. |
| Psychosocial factors | |
| Health locus of control | View on whether there were things one could do to reduce chance of heart attack: 1 = definitely, 2 = might, 3 = little one can do. |
| Affect balance scale | The 10 items of the Bradburn affect balance scale were presented as four point scales (0–3), summed up to a scale ranging from −15 to +15; high scores reflect high positive affect.32 |
| Hostility score | The Cook-Medley hostility scale, high scores reflect high hostility.41 |
| Satisfaction with life scale | Five item scale, scores range from 0–30; high scores indicate greater life satisfaction.42 |
| Social isolation | High scores on the scale (0–6) reflect greater social isolation; assessing lack of people to share with, no relatives, friends or work colleagues seen, and no social or religious belonging. |
| Network scale | Network scale (0–28) assesses the frequency and the number of friends, relatives and work colleagues seen; and participation in social and religious groups; high scores indicate bigger network. |
| Life events | Number of life events (0–8) in the past year: serious illness/injury, death of a close relative/friend, serious illness/injury of a close person, financial difficulty, divorce/separation, other marital/family problem, mugging/robbery, change of job/residence. |
| Upset with life events | Sum of four point scales (0–3) assessing the impact of the each life event (total 0–24); high scores reflect greater emotional impact. |
| Job demand | Karasek measure of psychological job demands; high scores reflect high demand.43 |
| Decision latitude | Karasek measure: 15 items dealing with decision authority and skill discretion, combined into an index of decision latitude (or job control); high scores reflect greater control.39 |
| Work satisfaction | A one item 4-point measure from the Karasek questionnaire asking respondents to judge how satisfied they were with their job overall; high scores reflect greater dissatisfaction.39 |
| Health behaviour | |
| Smoking | Five point composite index representing non/former/light/medium/heavy smoker; 1 = non-smoker and 5 = heavy smoker. |
| Alcohol consumption | Composite index assessing the units of alcohol consumed in the past week. |
| Level of physical activity | Composed of a three point scale assessing low/medium or high level of physical activity; 1 = high and 3 = low level. |
| Frequency of eating fresh fruit and vegetables | Frequency of eating fresh fruit and vegetables on an eight point scale; 1 = consumed 2 or more times a day and 8 = seldom or never consumed. |
| Health | |
| Sickness absence | Self reported number of sick days in the past year. |
| Longstanding illness | Response to a question asking the person if they had a longstanding illness: 0 = no and 1 = yes. |
| Number of longstanding illnesses | The sum of the number of longstanding illnesses indicated by particpants; 0 = no illness. |
| Number of recurring health problems | Number of health problems out of a list of 13: bronchitis, arthritis, sciatica, persistent skin trouble, asthma, hay fever, persistent stomach trouble, constipation, piles, persistent foot trouble, trouble with varicose veins, depression, persistent trouble with gums or mouth. 0 = no problems and 13 = all of them. |
| Symptom score | Number of symptoms in the last 14 days: phlegm, diarrhoea, indigestion, shortness of breath, dizziness, earache, swollen ankles, nervous/depressed, cold/flu, sore throat, sleep problems, pains in chest, backache, nausea/vomiting, tired, skin trouble, toothache. 0 = no problems and 17 = all of them. |
| Number of medicines used in the past 14 days | List, indicating the number of all prescribed drugs used by the participant in the past 14 days; 0—no medicines. |
| Sleep | Five categories of number of hours slept: 1 = <9; 2 = <8; 3 = <7; 4 = <6; 5 = <5. |
| Body mass index (BMI)* | Weight in kilograms divided by the square of the height in metres. |
| Physical illness indicator | Composite indicator of three doctor diagnosed illnesses (diabetes, heart trouble, hypertension) and respiratory illness measured by MRC chronic bronchitis questionnaire; 0 = no illness and 4 = all 4 illnesses. |
| Minor psychiatric morbidity | Mental health was assessed using the general health questionnaire; 0 = good mental health and 90 = poor mental health.34 |