The aim of the study is to (i) identify common dietary patterns, (ii) study socioeconomic differences in these dietary patterns, and (iii) assess whether they contribute to socioeconomic differences in biological risk factors. The data come from the Whitehall II study of London civil servants,...

This study examines the effect of point of reference on the predictive validity of self-rated health for mortality in a 5-year follow-up period. Two self-rated health measures are examined: an age group comparative question and a global question with no explicit point of reference. The baseline...

Two contrasting hypotheses on the effects of combining marital, parental and work roles on mortality are analysed in this paper. The 'multiple role' hypothesis suggests that the effects are harmful, but the 'role accumulation' hypothesis argues that the benefits will outweigh the possible...

We compared the pattern of socioeconomic inequalities in physical functioning and perceived health among male and female employees in Britain, Finland and Japan. Participants were male and female public sector employees in Britain, Finland and Japan, who were economically active and 40-60...

The economic resources available to an individual or a household have been hypothesised to affect health through the direct material effects of living conditions as well as through social comparison and experiences of deprivation. The focus so far has been mainly on current individual or...

Poor physical and mental functioning are more common among women than men and those with disadvantaged work and family characteristics. This study aims to clarify whether sex differences in health functioning can be explained by sex differences in work and family characteristics. The subjects...

In a context of population ageing, it is of particular interest to study the determinants of care home use. This article compares data from registers in Finland (1997-2001) and Belgium (2001-2005). Being a woman is associated with a higher probability of residing in a care home at an older age...

Income inequalities widened considerably from 1987 to 2007 in Finland. We compared the association between household income and health problems across three periods and in several different ways of modelling the dependence. Our aim was to find out whether the change in the distribution of income...

Using nationally-representative register data for older people in Finland in period 1998–2003 we study how the number of days in acute hospital and long term institutional care services varies by age and proximity to death and how these use patterns change as mortality improves. Acute health...