Health and health care of employed adults: occupation and gender.
This paper reports on a study of health and health care of employed women and men that used the National Health Interview Survey of 1975-1977 as the data source. Materials from the Dictionary of Occupational Titles and other government sources were used to develop scales for psychosocial and physical health features of individual occupations. Multiple regressions were then used to study the relation of occupational factors and gender along with family factors, to health status, chronic limitations, and use of physician and hospital services. The study shows a correlation of the jobs that are more complex and challenging and offer more autonomy with better health status. The current job structure shows more variation in psychological level of occupations than in physical healthiness; women are concentrated in the less desirable occupations. The study also examines gender differences in illness-day measures and health care utilization in 36 occupations with substantial employment of both sexes, and finds considerable variability among occupations in the extent of gender differences.