Workplace sex composition and ischaemic heart disease: A longitudinal analysis using Swedish register data

Abstract

Aims: The aim of this study is to follow-up on previous research indicating that the sex composition of workplaces is related to a number of health outcomes, including sickness absenteeism and mortality. We test two hypotheses. The first is Kanter’s theory of tokenism, which suggests that minority group members suffer from an increased risk of stress. Secondly, we test the hypothesis that workplaces with a higher proportion of men will have a higher incidence rate of ischaemic heart disease (IHD), as men are more likely to engage in negative health behaviours, and through peer effects this will result in a workplace culture that is detrimental to health over the long term. Methods: Large-scale, longitudinal Swedish administrative register data are used to study the risk of overnight hospitalization for IHD amongst 67,763 men over the period 1990 to 2001. Discrete-time survival analyses were estimated in the form of logistic regression models. Results: Men have an elevated risk of suffering from IHD in non-gender-balanced workplaces, but this association was only statistically significant in workplaces with 61–80% and 81–100% males. However, after adjusting for occupation no clear pattern of association could be discerned. No pattern of association was observed for women. Conclusions: This study suggests that the gender composition of workplaces is not strongly associated with the risk of suffering from IHD.

Keywords

Gender segregation ischaemic heart disease tokenism peer effects workplace

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Kanter

R M

. Men and women of the corporation. New York: Basic Books 1977.

Reskin

McBrier

Kmec

. The determinants and consequences of workplace sex and race composition. Annu Rev Sociol 1999;25:335–61.

Bygren

. The gender composition of workplaces and mens and womens turnover. Eur Sociol Rev 2010;26:193–202.

Barclay

. Sex composition of the workplace and mortality risk. J Biosocial Sci 2013;45:807–21.

Svedberg

Bildt

Lindelöw

. Self-reported health among employees in relation to sex segregation at work sites. J Occup Health 2009;51:223–31.

Hensing

Alexanderson

. The association between sex segregation, working conditions, and sickness absence among employed women. Occup Environ Med 2004;61:e7.

Mastekaasa

. Sickness absence in female- and male-dominated occupations and workplaces. Soc Sci Med 2005;60:2261–72.

Bryngelson

Hertzman

Fritzell

. The relationship between gender segregation in the workplace and long-term sickness absence in Sweden. Scand J Public Health 2011;0:1–9.

Ames

Grube

Moore

. Social control and workplace drinking norms: A comparison of two organizational cultures. J Studies Alcohol 2000;61:203–19.

10.

Barrientos-Gutierrez

Gimeno

Mangione

. Drinking social norms and drinking behaviours: a multilevel analysis of 137 workgroups in 16 worksites. Occup Environ Med 2007;64:602–8.

11.

Hultin

. Some take the glass escalator, some hit the glass ceiling? Career consequences of occupational sex segregation. Work Occup 2003;30:30–61.

12.

Kraft

Blum

Martin

. Drinking patterns and the gender mix of occupations: Evidence from a national survey of American workers. J Subst Abuse 1993;5:157–74.

13.

Stainback

Ratliff

Roscigno

. The context of workplace sex discrimination: Sex composition, workplace culture and relative power. Social Forces 2011;89:1165–88.

14.

Chatman

Boisnier

Spataro

. Being distinctive versus being conspicuous: The effects of numeric status and sex-stereotyped tasks on individual performance in groups. Organiz Behav Human Decision Proc 2008;107;141–60.

15.

Christakis

Fowler

. The spread of obesity in a large social network over 32 years. N Engl J Med 2007;357:370–9.

16.

Christakis

Fowler

. The collective dynamics of smoking in a large social network. N Engl J Med 2008;358:2249–58.

17.

Ali

Amialchuk

Heiland

. Weight-related behavior among adolescents: The role of peer effects. PLoS ONE 2011;6:DOI: e21179.

18.

Näslund

. Relationships between health behavior, knowledge, and beliefs among Swedish blue-collar workers. Scand J Public Health 1997;25:100–10.

19.

Vaez

Laﬂamme

. Health behaviors, self-rated health, and quality of life: A study among first-year Swedish university students. J Am Coll Health 2003;51:156–62.

20.

Von Bothmer

MIK

Fridlund

. Gender differences in health habits and in motivation for a healthy lifestyle among Swedish university students. Nurs Health Sci 2005;7:107–18.

21.

Ali

Chaix

Merlo

. Gender differences in daily smoking prevalence in different age strata: A population-based study in southern Sweden. Scand J Public Health 2009;37:146–52.

22.

Haavio-Mannila

. Impact of co-workers on female alcohol use. Contemporary drug problems. New York: Federal Legal Publications, Inc. 1992.

23.

Helgertz

Hanneman

. Economic stress in the short and long term and the onset of ischemic heart disease. In: Hanneman

(ed.) It breaks a man’s heart. socioeconomic differences in the onset of cardiovascular disease in contemporary Sweden. Lund: Lund University; 2012, pp. 69–100.

24.

Schmidt

Kohlmann

. When to use the odds ratio or the relative risk? Int J Public Health. 2008:53:165–7.

25.

Primo

Jacobsmeier

Milyo

. The practical researcher: Estimating the impact of state policies and institutions with mixed-level data. State Politics Policy Quart 2007;7:446–59.

26.

Snijders

TAB

Bosker

. Multilevel analysis: An introduction to basic and advanced multilevel modeling, 2nd Edition. London: Sage; 2012.

27.

Jin

Elwert

Freese

Christakis

. Preliminary evidence regarding the hypothesis that the sex ratio at sexual maturity may affect longevity in men. Demography 2010;47:579–86.

28.

Barclay

. Sex ratios at sexual maturity and longevity: Evidence from Swedish register data. Demogr Res 2013;29:837–64.

29.

Östlin

Alfredsson

Hammar

. Myocardial infarction in male and female dominated occupations. Occup Environ Med 1998;55:642–4.

30.

Room

. Gender roles and interactions in drinking and drug use. J Subst Abuse 1996;8:227–39.