Baseline characteristics of the study population by SES in childhood
| Low SES in childhood | High SES in childhood | P for difference | |
| N (%) | 10 756 (48.5) | 11 438 (51.5) | – |
| Sex (male) | 48.4 | 47.6 | 0.24 |
| Age (years; means, SD) | 60.1 (11.0) | 50.5 (10.3) | <0.0001 |
| SES in adulthood | |||
| Educational level | <0.0001 | ||
| Postgraduate | 6.4 | 18.9 | |
| Up to upper secondary | 24.8 | 44.9 | |
| Up to lower secondary | 68.8 | 36.2 | |
| Housing tenure | <0.0001 | ||
| >1 dwelling ownership | 7.4 | 10.7 | |
| One dwelling ownership | 81.9 | 82.2 | |
| Rent | 10.7 | 7.0 | |
| Occupational class | <0.0001 | ||
| Professional/managerial | 15.9 | 24.8 | |
| Skilled non-manual | 30.5 | 42.5 | |
| Skilled manual | 21.6 | 15.2 | |
| Partly skillled/unskilled | 24.4 | 13.2 | |
| Retired/housewife | 6.6 | 2.9 | |
| Unclassified subjects | 1.1 | 1.5 | |
| Overcrowding | 48.1 | 51.2 | <0.0001 |
| Marital status | <0.0001 | ||
| Married/cohabiting | 85.6 | 86.4 | |
| Separated/divorced | 1.9 | 3.3 | |
| Single | 3.4 | 6.7 | |
| Widower | 9.1 | 3.7 | |
| SES in childhood | |||
| Housing tenure | <0.0001 | ||
| >1 dwelling ownership | 0.4 | 2.2 | |
| One dwelling ownership | 55.6 | 87.9 | |
| Rent | 44.0 | 9.8 | |
| Availability of hot water | 10.5 | 68.5 | <0.0001 |
| Overcrowding | 93.3 | 17.6 | <0.0001 |
| Cardiovascular disease | 7.3 | 3.0 | 0.0049 |
| Cancer | 3.6 | 2.8 | 0.015 |
| Drugs for diabetes | 6.5 | 3.0 | 0.017 |
| Drugs for hypertension | 35.3 | 18.8 | 0.0004 |
| Lipid-lowering drugs | 10.0 | 5.5 | 0.56 |
| Psychological assessment | 0.11 | ||
| Psychologically healthy | 87.8 | 87.9 | |
| Use of antidepressants | 3.0 | 3.0 | |
| Use of psychoactive drugs* | 4.4 | 4.0 | |
| Self-reported diagnosis of psychological disease† | 4.2 | 4.4 | |
| Unascertained | 0.6 | 0.7 | |
| Abdominal obesity | 78.5 | 69.0 | 0.0005 |
| Mediterranean diet score≥7 | 10.6 | 9.8 | 0.66 |
| Leisure-time PA≥30 min/d | 65.7 | 62.6 | 0.0021 |
| Smoking status | 0.058 | ||
| Non-smokers | 50.0 | 48.5 | |
| Smokers | 20.6 | 25.7 | |
| Former smokers | 29.4 | 25.8 | |
Values are represented as percentages unless otherwise stated. Means and p values are adjusted for age (continuous) and sex.
*Other than antidepressants.
†Depression, anxiety or insomnia without use of drugs. Leisure-time PA=leisure time physical activity; Abdominal obesity=waist to hip ratio≥0.85 or≥0.90 for women and men, respectively.
SES, socioeconomic status.