End-digits preference for self-reported height depends on language

Bopp, Matthias; Faeh, David

doi:10.1186/1471-2458-8-342

BMC Public Health

Table 2 Self-reported end-digits in height: Swiss Health Surveys (SHS) 1992–2002 (N = 47,192)

From: End-digits preference for self-reported height depends on language

	Swiss Nationals: interview language
End-digit preference	German			French			Italian
	N	%		N	%		N	%
SHS 1992/93	8,956	100.0		3,245	100.0		660	100.0
0	1,715	19.1	**	676	20.8		156	23.6
5	1,179	13.2	**	504	15.5	*	117	17.7	*
8	1,253	14.0		408	12.6		80	12.1
2	1,198	13.4		399	12.3		78	11.8
0+5	2,894	32.3	**	1,180	36.4		273	41.4	**
2+4+6+8	3,918	43.7	**	1,292	39.8		242	36.7	*
SHS 1997	7,221	100.0		2,809	100.0		773	100.0
0	1,231	17.0	**	554	19.7		195	25.2	**
5	883	12.2	**	443	15.8	**	112	14.5
8	1,058	14.7	**	339	12.1	*	96	12.4
2	918	12.7		316	11.2		79	10.2
0+5	2,114	29.3	**	997	35.5	*	307	39.7	**
2+4+6+8	3,222	44.6	**	1,105	39.3	*	273	35.3	**
SHS 2002	11,809	100.0		4,098	100.0		1,199	100.0
0	2,047	17.3	**	787	19.2		288	24.0	**
5	1,435	12.2	**	615	15.0	**	175	14.6
8	1,708	14.5		564	13.8		149	12.4
2	1,538	13.0		488	11.9		131	10.9
0+5	3,482	29.5	**	1,402	34.2	*	463	38.6	**
2+4+6+8	5,273	44.7	**	1,657	40.4	*	455	37.9	*
Total (all 3 SHSs)	27,986	100.0		10,152	100.0		2,632	100.0
0	4,993	17.8	**	2,017	19.9		639	24.3	**
5	3,497	12.5	**	1,562	15.4	**	404	15.3	*
8	4,019	14.4	**	1,311	12.9		325	12.3
2	3,654	13.1	**	1,203	11.8		288	10.9	*
0+5	8,490	30.3	**	3,579	35.3	**	1,043	39.6	**
2+4+6+8	12,413	44.4	**	4,054	39.9	**	970	36.9	**
	Foreign Nationals (irrespective of interview language)
End-digit preference	Germany¹			France			Italy			Other
	N	%		N	%		N	%		N	%
SHS 1992/93	332	100.0		175	100.0		674	100.0		857	100.0
0	67	20.2		43	24.6		195	28.9	**	192	22.4
5	39	11.7		25	14.3		125	18.5	**	131	15.3
8	43	13.0		20	11.4		80	11.9		109	12.7
2	40	12.0		18	10.3		62	9.2	**	113	13.2
0+5	106	31.9		68	38.9		320	47.5	**	323	37.7
2+4+6+8	140	42.2		66	37.7		230	34.1	**	342	39.9
SHS 1997	254	100.0		124	100.0		705	100.0		935	100.0
0	45	17.7		35	28.2	*	153	21.7		210	22.5	*
5	25	9.8		20	16.1		139	19.7	**	156	16.7	*
8	36	14.2		18	14.5		75	10.6	*	99	10.6	*
2	25	9.8		8	6.5		91	12.9		115	12.3
0+5	70	27.6		55	44.4	*	292	41.4	**	366	39.1	**
2+4+6+8	111	43.7		46	37.1		265	37.6		361	38.6
SHS 2002	379	100.0		152	100.0		728	100.0		1,107	100.0
0	67	17.7		39	25.7	*	180	24.7	**	234	21.1
5	39	10.3		21	13.8		137	18.8	**	174	15.7	*
8	63	16.6		12	7.9	*	82	11.3		137	12.4
2	53	14.0		20	13.2		72	9.9	*	128	11.6
0+5	106	28.0		60	39.5		317	43.5	**	408	36.9	**
2+4+6+8	177	46.7		50	32.9		243	33.4	**	410	37.0	**
Total (all 3 SHSs)	965	100.0		451	100.0		2,107	100.0		2,899	100.0
0	179	18.5		117	25.9	**	528	25.1	**	636	21.9	**
5	103	10.7	**	66	14.6		401	19.0	**	461	15.9	**
8	142	14.7		50	11.1		237	11.2	**	345	11.9	*
2	118	12.2		46	10.2		225	10.7	*	356	12.3
0+5	282	29.2	*	183	40.6	**	929	44.1	**	1,097	37.8	**
2+4+6+8	428	44.4		162	35.9	*	738	35.0	**	1,113	38.4	**

¹ including nationals of Austria and the Principality of Liechtenstein
Counts (N) and proportions (%) in Swiss and foreign residents. Asterisks indicate statistical significant difference (respective linguistic group vs. all others, *: p < 0.05; **: p < 0.01)

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ISSN: 1471-2458

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