[What impact do social inequalities have on health status in Norway?].

OBJECTIVE

To examine the joint effects of social class, education and income on self-reported ill health.

SETTING

A nationwide representative sample of employed adult Norwegians.

MATERIAL

2,134 employed Norwegians aged 20-64 years derived from the 1991 Survey of Level of Living. Three measures of ill health were studied: Long-standing somatic illness, reduced work potential because of long-standing somatic illness, and mental health.

METHODS

The relationships between the health outcomes and the socioeconomic indicators were modelled by means of multiple logistic regression.

CONCLUSION

Among the selected socioeconomic indicators, occupational class appeared to be the most important predictor of ill health.