Whitehall Study

Definition

The original Whitehall study of British civil servants began in 1967 and showed a steep inverse association between social class, as assessed by grade of employment, and mortality from a wide range of diseases. The Whitehall II study was later established in 1985 to identify causal pathways linking socioeconomic position to pathophysiological changes and clinical disease. The Whitehall II is an ongoing prospective cohort study of 10,308 British white-collar workers employed in the civil service (Marmot et al. 1991). The study is primarily interested in the pathways explaining social inequalities via characteristics of the work environment, such as job strain, and health-related behaviors including physical activity, smoking, and diet. Data are collected at regular intervals through a combination of self-administered questionnaires and clinical examination. In the 20 years separating the two studies, there has been no diminution in social class difference in morbidity: there...