‘Work, Age and Health’ in Germany – From a Gender Perspective

Background In many countries labour market participation of older women is increasing. What do we know about health and health determinants of older female employees? Method Telephone interviews were performed among a random sample of 9,942 workers in Germany in 2009 (55% women, mean age 42.3 years). Logistic regressions were carried out to compare five social groups [‘academics and managers’ (reference) to ‘unskilled workers’] for the prevalence of poor self-rated health (SRH) controlled for age (model 1), age and life style factors (2), age and working conditions (3) and controlled for all (1 to 3). Analyses were carried out stratified for gender and age groups (<= 35, 36-49, => 50 years).  Results There was a considerable social gradient in the prevalence of poor SRH in both genders. Among unskilled males the age adjusted OR for poor SRH was 3.29 (95% CI 2.45-4.42), among females 3.33 (95% CI 2.27-4.90). In both genders, there was a stronger social gradient among younger and older employees. Also in both genders, the social gradient attenuated with > 20% when working conditions were included and by about 40% when life style was added.  Interestingly, the findings for older women (n=1,508) differed from general findings. Firstly, poor SRH among older ‘academics and managers’ was extremely low (12%). Secondly, life style explained much more of the health differences between the social classes (11 to 36%) than work (6 to 17%).  Discussion  The deviating findings for older women deserve attention. Age specific distribution of work tasks, selection effects, exposure history effects and possibly cohort effects may explain the low explanatory power of work factors and the high explanatory power of life style factors found. A closer look to this group is needed as it is expected to increase in size and proportion of the work force in Germany.