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Table 3 Demographics, social, illness and physical activity characteristics of survey population by ethnicitya

From: Chronic fatigue syndrome in an ethnically diverse population: the influence of psychosocial adversity and physical inactivity

 

Sample size, n(%)

Demographic variable

Total, N(%)

White

Irish

Black Caribbean

Bangladeshi

Indian

Pakistani

Pvalue

  

835 (19.5)

733 (17.1)

691 (16.1)

650 (15.2)

648 (15.1)

724 (16.9)

 

Sex

        

   Male

1,950 (45.5)

365 (43.7)

323 (44.1)

280 (40.5)

321 (49.4)

316 (48.8)

345 (47.7)

≤0.04

   Female

2,332 (54.5)

471 (56.1)

410 (55.9)

412 (59.5)

329 (50.6)

331 (51.2)

379 (52.3)

 

Age, yr

        

   16 to 34

1,774 (41.4)

260 (31.1)

209 (28.5)

269 (38.9)

376 (57.8)

248 (38.3)

412 (56.9)

≤0.001

   35 to 54

1,647 (38.5)

355 (42.5)

345 (47.1)

251 (36.3)

187 (28.7)

280 (43.2)

229 (21.6)

 

   55 to 74

862 (20.1)

221 (26.4)

179 (24.4)

171 (24.7)

88 (13.5)

120 (18.5)

83 (11.5)

 

Marital status

        

   Married

2,674 (62.5)

518 (62.1)

461 (62.8)

279 (40.4)

446 (68.7)

464 (71.7)

506 (69.9)

≤0.001

   Divorced/separated

313 (7.3)

75 (9)

78 (10.6)

84 (12.2)

18 (2.8)

32 (4.9)

26 (3.6)

 

   Widowed

142 (3.3)

36 (4.3)

25 (3.4)

18 (2.6)

28 (4.3)

19 (2.9)

16 (2.2)

 

   Single

1,150 (26.9)

205 (24.6)

170 (23.2)

310 (44.9)

157 (24.2)

132 (20.4)

176 (24.3)

 

Employment status

        

   Employed

2,273 (55)

536 (66.4)

490 (69)

376 (57.4)

181 (29.1)

394 (61.9)

296 (42.4)

≤0.001

   Unemployed

168 (4.1)

10 (1.2)

12 (1.7)

39 (6)

40 (6.4)

33 (5.2)

34 (4.9)

 

   Retired

446 (10.8)

130 (16.1)

96 (13.5)

97 (14.8)

33 (5.3)

49 (7.7)

41 (5.9)

 

   Other economically inactive

1,242 (30.1)

131 (16.2)

112 (15.8)

143 (21.8)

369 (59.2)

160 (25.2)

327 (46.8)

 

Educational level

        

   Degree or above

951 (23.2)

213 (26.5)

195 (27.6)

172 (26)

62 (10.1)

187 (29.9)

122 (17.8)

≤0.001

   A level/GCSE

1,549 (37.8)

356 (44.3)

294 (41.6)

272 (41.1)

172 (27.9)

221 (35.3)

234 (34.1)

 

   Foreign qualification

172 (4.2)

32 (4)

35 (5)

30 (4.5)

17 (2.8)

29 (4.6)

29 (4.2)

 

   No qualification

1,428 (34.8)

202 (25.2)

183 (25.9)

188 (28.4)

365 (59.3)

189 (30.2)

301 (43.9)

 

Social class (employment type)

        

   Nonmanual labour

1,681 (41.9)

463 (56.3)

351 (48.5)

279 (42.7)

92 (16.4)

279 (44.6)

217 (34.5)

≤0.001

   Manual labour

2,335 (58.1)

360 (43.7)

372 (51.5)

375 (57.3)

469 (83.6)

347 (55.4)

412 (65.5)

 

Social support scores (tertiles)

        

   Confiding/emotional support

       

≤0.001

Low

1,137 (27)

225 (27.1)

194 (26.8)

226 (33.5)

154 (24)

168 (26.5)

170 (24.1)

 

Average

1,667 (39.6)

301 (36.3)

244 (33.7)

239 (35.4)

313 (48.8)

262 (41.4)

308 (43.7)

 

High

1,404 (33.4)

303 (36.6)

287 (39.6)

210 (31.1)

174 (27.1)

203 (32.1)

227 (32.2)

 

   Practical support

       

≤0.001

Low

892 (21.2)

200 (24.1)

149 (20.5)

179 (26.5)

68 (10.6)

145 (22.9)

151 (21.4)

 

Average

1,308 (31)

296 (35.7)

259 (35.7)

253 (37.4)

130 (20.3)

185 (29.2)

185 (26.2)

 

High

2,013 (47.8)

334 (40.2)

318 (43.8)

244 (36.1)

443 (69.1)

303 (47.9)

371 (52.5)

 

   Negative aspects of support

       

≤0.001

Low

646 (15.4)

159 (19.2)

113 (15.6)

135 (20)

31 (4.9)

100 (15.8)

108 (15.3)

 

Average

1,484 (35.3)

365 (44)

331 (45.6)

225 (33.3)

126 (19.7)

200 (31.6)

237 (33.6)

 

High

2,078 (49.4)

306 (36.9)

282 (38.8)

316 (46.7)

481 (75.4)

332 (52.5)

361 (51.1)

 

Chronic strain mean scoresb

1.62

1.34

1.44

1.71

2.31

1.38

1.53

≤0.0001

Perceived discrimination mean scoresb

0.30

0.13

0.15

0.65

0.19

0.39

0.35

≤0.0001

Days of moderate activity ≥30 minutes/day in past 4 weeks

       

≤0.001

   5 or more (high)

1,131 (26.5)

268 (32.1)

231 (31.6)

228 (33.1)

93 (14.3)

170 (26.2)

141 (19.5)

 

   1 to 4 (medium)

1,274 (29.8)

278 (33.3)

247 (33.7)

201 (29.2)

139 (21.4)

192 (29.6)

217 (30.1)

 

   1 or <1 (low)

1,870 (43.7)

288 (34.5)

254 (34.7)

260 (37.7)

418 (64.3)

286 (44.1)

364 (50.4)

 

Activity intensity

       

≤0.001

   Inactive/light

903 (22)

6 (0.7)

102 (14.4)

116 (17.4)

308 (49.9)

156 (24.9)

215 (31.3)

 

   Moderate/vigorous

3,201 (78)

795 (99.3)

606 (85.6)

549 (82.6)

309 (50.1)

470 (75.1)

472 (68.7)

 

Anxiety mean scoresb

0.30

0.31

0.38

0.29

0.20

0.29

0.32

0.005

Depressive mean scoresb

0.43

0.41

0.41

0.42

0.36

0.46

0.51

0.003

  1. aGCSE: General Certificate of Secondary Education. bweighted mean