Table 1 Description of the study participants, showing analysis of sex differences by χ ²

Year of survey

   2004

43 589

51.7

20 060

52.0

23 529

51.5

276.08

<0.001

   2008

40 674

48.3

18 499

48.0

22 175

48.5

332.23

<0.001

Age, years

   18-24

6630

7.9

2665

6.9

3965

8.7

254.90

<0.001

   25-34

9958

11.8

4030

10.5

5928

13.0

361.76

<0.001

   35-44

11 488

13.6

4975

12.9

6513

14.3

205.91

<0.001

   45-54

12 630

15.0

5494

14.2

7136

15.6

213.47

<0.001

   55-64

15 482

18.4

7336

19.0

8146

17.8

42.38

<0.001

   65-74

16 974

20.1

8769

22.7

8205

18.0

18.74

<0.001

   75-84

11 101

13.2

5290

13.7

5811

12.7

24.45

<0.001

Country of birth

   Sweden

74 659

88.6

34 307

89.0

40 352

88.3

489.45

<0.001

   Other country in Scandinavia

4431

5.3

1848

4.8

2583

5.7

121.92

<0.001

   Country outside of Scandinavia

5173

6.1

2404

6.2

2769

6.1

25.75

<0.001

Employment status

   Employed

34 349

40.8

15 815

41.0

18 534

40.6

215.23

<0.001

   Self-employed

4428

5.4

3089

8.0

1339

2.9

691.62

<0.001

   On parental leave

1471

1.7

144

0.4

1327

2.9

951.39

<0.001

   On leave, other reasons

85

0.1

34

0.1

51

0.1

3.40

0.065

   Full-time housewife/husband

752

0.9

93

0.2

659

1.4

426.01

<0.001

   Student

4239

5.0

1458

3.8.

2781

6.1

412.91

<0.001

   Unemployed

2831

3.4

1172

3.0

1659

3.6

83.78

<0.001

   On sick leave/early retirement

4809

5.7

1675

4.3

3134

6.9

442.65

<0.001

   Old-age pension

25 702

30.5

13 048

33.8

12 654

27.7

6.04

0.014

   Other

3023

3.6

1091

2.8

1932

4.2

233.97

<0.001

   Missing data

2574

3.1

940

2.4

1634

3.6

187.12

<0.001

Other chronic disease

   Yes

25 836

30.7

11 525

29.9

14 311

31.3

300.43

<0.001

   No

55 269

65.6

25 645

66.5

29 624

64.8

286.46

<0.001

   Missing data

3158

3.7

1389

3.6

1769

3.9

45.73

<0.001

Financial stress

   No financial stress

59 348

70.4

29 026

75.3

30 322

66.3

28.30

<0.001

   Medium financial stress

15 740

18.7

6015

15.6

9725

21.3

874.47

<0.001

   High financial stress

6758

8.0

2525

6.5

4233

9.3

431.68

<0.001

   Missing data

2417

2.9

993

2.6

1424

3.1

76.86

<0.001

Tangible social support

   High social support

70 757

84.0

31 760

82.4

38 997

85.3

740.20

<0.001

   Low social support

11 793

14.0

6007

15.6

5786

12.7

4.14

0.042

   Missing data

1713

2.0

792

2.1

921

2.0

9.72

0.002

Psychological well-being

   Normal/high

70 218

83.3

33 639

87.2

36 579

80.0

123.10

<0.001

   Reduced

13 465

16.0

4648

12.1

8817

19.3

1290.80

<0.001

   Missing data

580

0.7

272

0.7

308

0.7

2.23

0.135

Psychosomatic symptoms

   Few-medium symptoms

69 582

82.6

34 242

88.8

35 340

77.3

17.33

<0.001

   Many symptoms

13 925

16.5

4000

10.4

9925

21.7

2521.05

<0.001

   Missing data

756

0.9

317

0.8

439

1.0

19.69

<0.001

Financial stress-tangible social support

   No stress-high support

51 792

61.5

24 856

64.5

26 936

58.9

83.53

<0.001

   Medium stress-high support

12 742

15.1

4689

12.2

8053

17.6

888.13

<0.001

   High stress-high support

4900

65.8

1700

4.4

3200

7.0

459.18

<0.001

   No stress-low support

6902

8.2

3843

10.0

3059

6.7

89.06

<0.001

   low support

2724

3.2

1215

3.2

1509

3.3

31.73

<0.001

   High stress-low support

1788

2.1

792

2.1

996

2.2

23.28

<0.001

   Missing data

3415

4.1

1464

3.8

1951

4.3

69.45

<0.001