Development and validation of a social position measure in Greece

Abstract

Abstract Background A valid measure of social position is important for investigating health inequalities. The registrar general classification is not theoretically based or validated and it is based only on occupation. On the other hand, the National Statistics Socio-economic Classification (NS-SeC) distinguishes between different social positions in terms of both their typical labour market and work situations. The aim of this study was to validate the NS-SeC in a Greek population. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2018 in Athens, Greece. Participants were classified in one of the seven social position classes of NS-SeC based on their responses to questions related to their occupation, employment status (employer, self-employed or employee), supervisor or manager and number of employees in the workplace. Participants were also asked to rate their general health over the previous 12 months in one of three categories: “good”, “fairly good”, or “not good”. The multivariable logistic regression model was used to investigate the predictive validity of NS-SeC. Results 73 individuals with a mean age 43.2 (sd = 11.5) participated in the study. The 46.6% of the participants belonged to the class “managerial and professional occupations”, the 20.5% to the class “intermediate occupations”, while the 31.5% belonged to the class “routine and manual occupations”. The adjusted odds ratio (OR) for “fairly good” or “not good” general health was five times higher in the “routine and manual occupations” in comparison to the combine group of the other two classes (OR: 5.1; 95% Confidence Interval: 1.4-18.2). Conclusions The Greek version of NS-SeC has an excellent predictive validity and it is considered a valid measure of social position in a Greek population. Therefore, it can be used by public health authorities and public health researchers to investigate health inequalities attributed to socio-economic conditions. Key messages The Greek National Statistics Socio-economic Classification is a valid measure of socio-economic position. The Greek National Statistics Socio-economic Classification could be used by public health authorities and public health researchers to investigate health inequalities.