Table 2

Associations between Effort-Reward Imbalance (ERI) dimensions and co-occurrence of risk factors in women (N = 28,894)


Age adjusted model
Fully adjusted model*




1 vs 0 risk factors
2 vs 0 risk factors
3–4 vs 0 risk factors
1 vs 0 risk factors
2 vs 0 risk factors
3–4 vs 0 risk factors

OR (95% CI)
OR (95% CI)
OR (95% CI)
OR (95% CI)
OR (95% CI)
OR (95% CI)

Ecological score






Effort (component of ERI)






     Low
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
     Intermediate
0.88 (0.82–0.94)
0.82 (0.75–0.89)
0.78 (0.67–0.90)
0.96 (0.90–1.03)
0.93 (0.86–1.01)
0.93 (0.80–1.09)
     High
0.79 (0.74–0.84)
0.65 (0.60–0.70)
0.59 (0.51–0.69)
0.94 (0.87–1.01)
0.81 (0.74–0.89)
0.80 (0.67–0.95)
Rewards (component of ERI)






     High
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
     Intermediate
1.05 (0.98–1.11)
1.12 (1.03–1.21)
1.08 (0.92–1.26)
0.97 (0.95–1.11)
1.03 (0.94–1.12)
0.98 (0.84–1.16)
     Low
1.26 (1.18–1.35)
1.61 (1.48–1.75)
1.90 (1.63–2.20)
1.03 (0.95–1.11)
1.22 (1.11–1.35)
1.35 (1.13–1.60)
Effort-Reward Imbalance






     Low ERI
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
     Intermediate ERI
1.00 (0.93–1.06)
1.10 (1.01–1.19)
1.05 (0.89–1.23)
0.98 (0.92–1.05)
1.07 (0.99–1.16)
1.02 (0.87–1.19)
     High ERI
1.21 (1.13–1.29)
1.51 (1.39–1.64)
1.83 (1.57–2.12)
1.07 (1.00–1.15)
1.25 (1.15–1.37)
1.44 (1.23–1.69)







Individual score






Effort (component of ERI)






     Low
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
     Intermediate
0.87 (0.80–0.95)
0.78 (0.69–0.86)
0.72 (0.60–0.87)
0.91 (0.84–1.00)
0.84 (0.77–0.96)
0.80 (0.67–0.97)
     High
0.86 (0.78–0.94)
0.77 (0.70–0.87)
0.70 (0.58–0.86)
0.93 (0.85–1.02)
0.86 (0.77–0.96)
0.82 (0.67–1.00)
Rewards (component of ERI)






     High
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
     Intermediate
1.09 (1.03–1.16)
1.11 (1.03–1.20)
1.13 (0.97–1.31)
1.07 (1.00–1.14)
1.08 (1.00–1.16)
1.09 (0.93–1.27)
     Low
1.17 (1.10–1.26)
1.33 (1.23–1.45)
1.69 (1.45–1.96)
1.11 (1.04–1.19)
1.22 (1.12–1.33)
1.51 (1.30–1.76)
Effort-Reward Imbalance






     Low ERI
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
     Intermediate ERI
1.01 (0.95–1.07)
0.99 (0.91–1.07)
0.98 (0.84–1.14)
1.02 (0.96–1.09)
1.01 (0.93–1.09)
1.01 (0.87–1.17)
     High ERI
1.10 (1.02–1.17)
1.19 (1.10–1.30)
1.36 (1.17–1.59)
1.07 (1.00–1.15)
1.15 (1.06–1.26)
1.31 (1.12–1.52)

Only participants with no missing data in any of the covariates or ecological ERI were included in these models. (In the analyses for the individual ERI score, N = 28,544.)

ERI, Effort-Reward Imbalance; OR, odds ratio; CI, confidence interval

*Adjusted for age, socioeconomic position, job contract, and marital status.

Statistically significant at 95% confidence level or better bolded.

Risk factors are current smoker, BMI ≥25 kg/m2, physically inactive, and heavy drinker, where inactive individuals have <2 MET-hours/day, and heavy drinkers are women who consume on average >190 g of absolute alcohol per week.

Kouvonen et al. BMC Public Health 2006 6:24   doi:10.1186/1471-2458-6-24