Is studying medicine good for your health? Long-term health outcomes of a cohort of clinical medicine graduates in England and Wales in the ONS Longitudinal Study.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To quantify the potential protective effect on health associated with study of a clinical medicine degree.

Design

Prospective population-based cohort data collected at census and linked over time: cohort born before 1976 and survived to 2011. Subgroup analysis on those who reported having a degree at 1991 census.

Setting

England and Wales population-based, including institutions.

Participants

159 116 men and 174 062 women; 13 390 men with degrees and 8143 women with degrees.

Main outcome measure

Self-reported general health in 2011 based on logistic regression analysis.

Results

Male graduates had 92% higher odds of having good or very good health than male non-graduates after adjustment for age and socioeconomic position (CI 1.82 to 2.03

SUBMITTER: Shelton N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7978287 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature