Socioeconomic disparities in physical activity among Swedish women and trends over time – the population study of women in Gothenburg

Figures & data

Figure 1. Description of the four 38- and 50-year-old age groups of women examined in the Population Study of Women examinations in 1980–81 and 2004–05, respectively. Year of birth, number of invited women and number of women who participated in the respective examinations.

Figure 2. Change in the proportion of women who belonged to low/high physical activity group at work and leisure time, from 1980–81 to 2004–05 for socio-occupational group low, medium, and high, respectively, 38-year-olds (a-d) and 50-year-olds (e-h).

Table 1. Characteristics of 38- and 50-year-old women in the Population Study of Women in Gothenburg regarding the assessments performed in 1980–81 and 2004–05, respectively.

Variables/age	1980–81		2004–05
	38 years	50 years	38 years	50 years
	N = 122	N = 355	N = 207	N = 293
	n (%)	n (%)	n (%)	n (%)
Marital status
Married n (%)	79 (65)	261 (73)	90 (44)	154 (53)
Smoking	46 (38)	139 (39)	23 (11)	67 (23)
Employment status
Full time = 35 h/w	48 (40)	112 (32)	126 (61)	179 (61)
Part time = 1-34 h/w	56 (46)	180 (51)	51 (25)	62 (21)
Unemployment	17 (14)	62 (18)	26 (13)	49 (17)
Physical activity – work
I Low	22 (18)	96 (27)	26 (13)	50 (17)
II Intermediate	62 (51)	180 (51)	69 (34)	138 (48)
III High	33 (27)	69 (19)	97 (48)	93 (32)
IV Very high	5 (4)	10 (3)	11 (5)	6 (2)
Physical activity – leisure time
I Low	42 (34)	114 (32)	46 (23)	48 (17)
II Intermediate	51 (42)	161 (45)	74 (36)	128 (44)
III High	28 (23)	76 (21)	72 (35)	104 (36)
IV Very high	1 (1)	4 (1)	12 (6)	9 (3)
Socio-occupational level
Low	51 (43)	143 (47)	50 (25)	84 (29)
Medium	57 (48)	129 (43)	98 (50)	145 (51)
High	11 (9)	30 (10)	49 (25)	57 (20)
Educational level
Low	43 (35)	228 (65)	89 (44)	143 (49)
High	79 (65)	127 (35)	114 (56)	150 (51)

Table 2. The association between: (a), low (I) vs. high (II, III, IV) physical activity (outcome) at work/leisure time, (b), high (III, IV) vs. low (I, II) physical activity (outcome) at work/leisure time, and low/high socio-occupational group and low/high education group, respectively, defined as the exposed group. Odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI).(a) Low physical activity (I) versus (II, III and IV).

	Low physical activity – at work				Low physical activity – leisure time
	1980–81		2004–05		1980–81		2004–05
	OR (CI)	p	OR (CI)	p	OR (CI)	p	OR (CI)	p
Low socio-occupational Group
38 years	0.47 (0.17−1.32)	0.15	0.49 (0.16−1.51)	0.21	2.12 (0.99−4.55)	0.053	1.53 (0.73−3.21)	0.26
50 years	0.55 (0.32−0.93)	0.03	0.88 (0.44−1.77)	0.73	1.45 (0.89−2.37)	0.14	1.02 (0.51−2.03)	0.95
Low education
38 years	0.64 (0.23−1.78)	0.39	0.63 (0.27−1.49)	0.29	1.21 (0.56−2.63)	0.63	1.29 (0.66−2.51)	0.45
50 years	0.67 (0.41−1.08)	0.10	1.89 (1.01−3.53)	0.045	1.20 (0.74−1.93)	0.46	1.21 (0.64−2.26)	0.56
High socio-occupational Group
38 years	2.13 (0.78–5.88)	0.15	2.04 (0.66−6.25)	0.21	0.47 (0.22−1.01)	0.053	0.65 (0.31−1.37)	0.26
50 years	1.82 (1.08–3.13)	0.03	1.14 (0.56−2.27)	0.73	0.69 (0.42−1.12)	0.14	0.98 (0.49−1.96)	0.95
High education
38 years	1.56 (0.56–4.35)	0.39	1.59 (0.67−3.70)	0.29	0.83 (0.38−1.79)	0.63	0.78 (0.40−1.52)	0.45
50 years	1.49 (0.93–2.44)	0.10	0.53 (0.28−0.99)	0.045	0.83 (0.52−1.35)	0.46	0.83 (0.44−1.56)	0.56

(b) High physical activity (III, IV) versus low (I, II).

	High physical activity – at work				High physical activity – leisure time
	1980–81		2004–05		1980–81		2004–05
	OR (CI)	p	OR (CI)	p	OR (CI)	p	OR (CI)	p
Low socio-occupational Group
38 years	5.39 (2.31–12.58)	<0.001	3.85 (1.86–7.99)	<0.001	0.51 (0.21–1.25)	0.14	0.98 (0.51–1.89)	0.95
50 years	2.50 (1.43-4.38)	<0.001	3.03 (1.78–5.17)	<0.001	0.77 (0.45–1.31)	0.34	0.71 (0.42–1.22)	0.21
Low education
38 years	1.81 (0.82–3.98)	0.14	1.72 (0.98–3.03)	0.06	0.63 (0.25–1.58)	0.32	1.45 (0.82–2.56)	0.20
50 years	2.30 (1.28–4.15)	0.005	1.31 (0.80–2.14)	0.28	0.94 (0.56–1.59)	0.83	0.74 (0.46–1.19)	0.21
High socio-occupational group
38 years	0.19 (0.08–0.43)	<0.001	0.26 (0.13–0.54)	<0.001	1.96 (0.80–4.76)	0.14	1.02 (0.53–1.96)	0.95
50 years	0.40 (0.23–0.70)	<0.001	0.33 (0.19–0.56)	<0.001	1.30 (0.76–2.22)	0.34	1.41 (0.82–2.38)	0.21
High education
38 years	0.55 (0.25–1.22)	0.14	0.58 (0.33–1.02)	0.06	1.59 (0.63–4.00)	0.32	0.69 (0.39–1.22)	0.20
50 years	0.43 (0.24–0.78)	0.005	0.76 (0.47–1.25)	0.28	1.06 (0.63–1.79)	0.83	1.35 (0.84–2.17)	0.21

Bold figures: Statistically significant differences between the cohorts.

Table 3. Odds for increase over time (from 1980-81 to 2004-05) in mean physical activity level (using the four levels of the activity scale) at work and leisure time for 38- and 50-year-old cohorts, adjusted for socio-occupational group and educational level, respectively. Odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI).

	Adjusted for Socio-occupational group1980–2004	Adjusted for Educational level 1980–2004
	OR (CI)	OR (CI)
Physical activity at work
38-year-olds	2.59 (1.65–4.07)	2.29 (1.40–3.75)
50-year-olds	2.09 (1.52–2.8`8)	2.01 (1.35–2.98)
Physical activity leisure time
38-year-olds	1.93 (1.25–2.98)	1.67 (1.04–2.70)
50-year-olds	2.04 (1.49–2.79)	2.27 (1.54–3.34)

Bold figures: Statistically significant differences between the cohorts in increase in mean physical activity levels in 1980 and 2004. There was no interaction between the effect of socio-occupational group and education.