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Table 1 Clinical characteristics of the participants, by country and survey year

From: Differing trends in the association between obesity and self-reported health in Portugal and Switzerland. Data from national health surveys 1992–2007

Country

Survey 1

Survey 2

Survey 3

Survey 4

Test

Portugal (survey year)

1995-6

1998-9

2005-6

  

Sample size

22,162

22,695

16,899

  

Women (%)

13,522 (61.0)

14,284 (62.9)

9923 (58.7)

 

72.65 ***

BMI (kg/m2)

25.6 ± 4.1

25.9 ± 4.2

26.2 ± 4.4

 

82.07 ***

BMI categories (%)

     

 Normal

10,582 (47.8)

10,477 (46.2)

7293 (43.2)

  

 Overweight

8512 (38.4)

8776 (38.7)

6655 (39.4)

 

129.5 ***

 Obese

3068 (13.8)

3442 (15.2)

2951 (17.5)

  

Educational level (%)

     

 Basic

17,611 (79.4)

16,895 (74.4)

11,216 (66.4)

  

 Secondary

3249 (14.7)

4136 (18.2)

3965 (23.4)

 

863.4 ***

 University

1302 (5.9)

1664 (7.4)

1718 (10.2)

  

Smokers (%)

3189 (14.4)

3379 (14.9)

2525 (14.9)

 

3.10 NS

Self-rated health (%)

     

 Very good

531 (2.4)

544 (2.4)

963 (5.7)

  

 Good

5567 (25.1)

6159 (27.1)

5291 (31.3)

 

821.0 ***

 Fair

9385 (42.4)

9920 (43.7)

6965 (41.2)

  

 Bad

5232 (23.6)

4810 (21.2)

2793 (16.5)

  

 Very bad

1447 (6.5)

1262 (5.6)

887 (5.3)

  

Switzerland (survey year)

1992-3

1997

2002

2007

 

Sample size

14,521

12,470

18,904

17,869

 

Women (%)

7946 (54.7)

6934 (55.6)

10,343 (54.7)

9857 (55.2)

3.12 NS

BMI (kg/m2)

23.6 ± 3.8

24.0 ± 4.0

24.4 ± 4.1

24.5 ± 4.1

142.9 ***

BMI categories (%)

     

 Normal

10,091 (69.5)

8148 (65.3)

11,567 (61.2)

10,822 (60.6)

 

 Overweight

3627 (25.0)

3448 (27.7)

5747 (30.4)

5459 (30.6)

386.0 ***

 Obese

803 (5.5)

874 (7.0)

1590 (8.4)

1588 (8.9)

 

Educational level (%)

     

 Basic

3081 (21.2)

2745 (22.0)

3632 (19.2)

2469 (13.8)

 

 Secondary

8300 (57.2)

7576 (60.8)

12,081 (63.9)

10,518 (58.9)

1004.7 ***

 University

3140 (21.6)

2149 (17.2)

3191 (16.9)

4882 (27.3)

 

Smokers (%)

4648 (32.0)

4209 (33.8)

5770 (30.5)

4910 (27.5)

153.9 ***

Self-rated health (%)

     

 Very good

4040 (27.8)

3270 (26.2)

4262 (22.6)

3517 (19.7)

 

 Good

8127 (56.0)

7076 (56.7)

11729 (62.1)

11,648 (65.2)

 

 Fair

1782 (12.3)

1612 (12.9)

2224 (11.8)

2005 (11.2)

449.1 ***

 Bad

488 (3.4)

419 (3.4)

586 (3.1)

578 (3.2)

 

 Very bad

84 (0.6)

93 (0.8)

103 (0.5)

121 (0.7)

 
  1. Results are expressed as mean ± standard deviation or as number of subjects and (percentage). Statistical analysis by analysis of variance or chi-square: NS, not significant; *, p < 0.05; **, p < 0.01; ***, p < 0.001.