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Table 1 Characteristics and chi-square analysis of health survey respondents by NEET status

From: Cancer-related health behaviours of young people not in education, employment or training (‘NEET’): a cross-sectional study

Variable Categories All NEETs Included Economically Inactive NEETs Excluded Totala (%)
% NEET % NEET
Sex 1 Male **14 *11 1881 (44)
2 Female 20 8 2391 (56)
Ageb   **Mean age NEET = 21 *Mean age NEET = 20  
  Mean age non-NEET = 20 Mean age non-NEET = 20  
Ethnicity 1 White UK & Irish 17 10 3571 (84)
2 Other (incl. gypsy/traveller) 16 10 684 (16)
Marital status 1 Married/cohabiting **27 *12 821 (19)
2 Other (incl. single/separated/divorced) 15 9 3450 (81)
Access to car/van 1 Yes **11 **6 3024 (71)
2 No 33 19 1248 (29)
Top academic qualification 1 Degree or higher **12 **8 536 (13)
2 HNC/D or equiv (higher education below degree) 12 6 386 (9)
3 Higher/A-level or equiv (upper school qualification) 9 5 1496 (35)
4 Standard grade/O-level or equiv (lower school qualification) 21 13 1314 (31)
5 Foreign or other qualification 34 18 170 (4)
6 No educational qualification 41 23 347 (8)
Housing tenure 1 Own outright/with mortgage **8 **5 1955 (46)
2 Other (incl. part rent/part mortgage, renting, rent-free, squatting) 25 14 2313 (54)
Receipt of means-tested benefits 0 No **7 **5 1706 (40)
1 Yes 24 13 2566 (60)
Total annual household income 1 < £15,600 **36 **22 1057 (25)
2 £15,600-£25,999 17 10 736 (17)
3 £26,000-£36,399 10 6 510 (12)
4 £36,400-£51,999 5 3 517 (12)
5 £52,000-£69,999 5 2 344 (8)
6 £70,000-£150,000+ 7 4 386 (9)
7 Refused 15 9 426 (10)
8 Don’t know 14 8 296 (7)
NSSEC 1 Managerial & professional **6 **4 439 (10)
2 Intermediate 16 8 652 (15)
3 Routine & manual 19 11 2262 (53)
4 Other or never worked/long-term unemployed 18 11 919 (22)
Limiting long-term illness 1 Limiting long-term illness **32 13 446 (10)
2 Non-limiting long-term illness 14 8 409 (10)
3 No limiting long-term illness 15 9 3411 (80)
Self-assessed general health 1 Very good/good **15 **9 3757 (88)
2 Fair/bad/very bad 34 19 512 (12)
GHQ-12 score 0 Score 0 **15 **8 2250 (53)
1 Score 1–2 16 9 1144 (27)
2 Score 3–4 19 11 476 (11)
3 Score 5–12 29 19 402 (9)
Survey 1 Health Survey for England (HSE) 17 9 2555 (60)
2 Scottish Health Survey (SHeS) 17 10 1717 (40)
Survey year 1 2010 18 9 1502 (35)
2 2011 17 9 1527 (36)
3 2012 16 10 1243 (29)
  1. *p < 0.05
  2. **p < 0.001
  3. aThe value for Total may not exactly equal the sum of NEET and non-NEET counts due to missing data within categories. Frequencies and percentages in this column are based on all NEETs
  4. bMean age at survey interview between NEETs and non-NEETs was compared using a 2-sample t-test. 95% confidence interval for mu(Agenon-neet)-mu(Ageneet) was (−1.2, −0.8) when all NEETs were included and (−0.9, −0.3) when excluding economically inactive NEETs
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BMC Cancer

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