Addressing Social Inequality in Aging by the Danish Occupational Social Class Measurement

• Published in: Journal of aging and health Vol. 26; no. 1; pp. 106 - 127
• Main Authors: Christensen, Ulla, Krølner, Rikke, Nilsson, Charlotte J., Lyngbye, Pernille W., Hougaard, Charlotte Ø., Nygaard, Else, Thielen, Karsten, Holstein, Bjørn E., Avlund, Kirsten, Lund, Rikke
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.02.2014; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Aging; Aging - physiology; Chronic Disease; Cohort Studies; Copenhagen, Denmark; Denmark; Diagnostic Self Evaluation; Epidemiology; Female; Health Problems; Health Status Disparities; Health technology assessment; Humans; Illness; Inequality; Male; Middle age; Middle Aged; Mobility Limitation; Occupations; Public health; Regression analysis; Reproducibility of Results; Schools; Social Class; Social classes; Social Inequality; Socioeconomic factors; Surveys and Questionnaires; Denmark; Denmark, Copenhagen; occupational social class; aging; measurement; social gradient
• ISSN: 0898-2643; 1552-6887
• DOI: 10.1177/0898264314522894

Objective: To present the Danish Occupational Social Class (DOSC) measurement as a measure of socioeconomic position (SEP) applicable in a late midlife population, and to analyze associations of this measure with three aging-related outcomes in midlife, adjusting for education. Method: Systematic coding procedures of the DOSC measurement were applied to 7,084 participants from the Copenhagen Aging and Midlife Biobank (CAMB) survey. We examined the association of this measure of SEP with chronic conditions, self-rated health, and mobility in logistic regression analyses, adjusting for school education in the final analysis. Results: The measure of SEP showed a strong social gradient along the social classes in terms of prevalence of chronic conditions, poor self-rated health, and mobility limitations. Adjusting for school education attenuated the association only to a minor degree. Discussion: The DOSC measure was associated with aging-related outcomes in a midlife Danish population, and is, thus, well suited for future epidemiological research on social inequalities in health and aging.