Work factors and psychological distress in nurses' aides: a prospective cohort study

BMC Public Health

Table 1 Characteristics of respondents and dropouts.

	Respondents		Dropouts
Characteristics at baseline	N	%	N	%
Age (years)
< 30	273	6.7	137	13.7
30–39	824	20.2	221	22.1
40–49	1778	43.6	338	33.8
50–59	1065	26.1	265	26.5
> 59	136	3.3	39	3.9
Gender
Female	3912	96.0	947	94.9
Male	164	4.0	51	5.1
Marital status
Married or cohabiting	3271	80.3	771	77.3
Single	800	19.7	227	22.7
Have preschool children
No	3490	87.0	843	85.8
Yes	522	13.0	140	14.2
Special tasks of care taking during leisure time ^†
No	2944	72.6	721	72.6
Yes	1112	27.4	272	27.4
Pregnant
No	3978	99.1	955	98.0
Yes	37	0.9	19	2.0
Long-term health problems (any kind)
No or "yes, but not bothered"	3006	74.4	736	74.4
Yes, and bothered by it	1033	25.6	253	25.6
Regular physical exercise
No	1724	42.4	451	45.2
Yes	2343	57.6	547	54.8
Years of experience as nurses' aide
< 10 years	706	17.3	235	23.5
10 years or more	3370	82.7	764	76.5

^† Caring for handicapped child, old relatives etc. N = number of individuals. % = column percentages

ISSN: 1471-2458