American Journal of Epidemiology Vol. 154, No. 3 : 221-229
Copyright © 2001 by The Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health
ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTIONS |
Mortality of Men versus Women in Comparable High-level Jobs: 15-Year Experience in the Federal Women's Study
1 University of Pittsburgh, Graduate School of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology, Pittsburgh PA.
2 National Center for Health Statistics, Department of Health and Human Services, Hyattsville, MD.
The authors investigated exposure to high-level occupations in relation to the well-known survival advantage of women compared with men of the same age. Women in the federal workforce in positions of General Schedule 14 and above in 1979–1993 (n = 4,727) were each matched with three men (n = 14,181) by age, General Schedule level, and supervisory role. Fifteen-year mortality rates were compared between men and women and against expected 15-year mortality from the US general population. Despite similar job demands, women experienced markedly lower 15-year mortality than did men. However, men in these positions had nearly 50% lower mortality compared with age-matched men in the general population; the comparable reduction for women was 38%. The simultaneous substantial, but unequal by gender, improvement in mortality resulted in a reduced male/female mortality ratio, from 1.67 in the general population to 1.40. The reduced male/female mortality ratio was especially prominent for cancer and was not evident for heart disease mortality. Survival was nominally higher in non-White than in White participants. In summary, high-level employment is associated with substantially reduced mortality in both men and women. The relative improvement in survival is greater in men despite a comparable reduction in risk of heart disease mortality by gender.
cause of death; follow-up studies; men; mortality; occupations; sex ratio; women
Abbreviations: COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; CVD, cardiovascular disease; GS, General Schedule; NDI, National Death Index; SMR, standardized mortality ratio.