The EU referendum and mental health in the short term: A natural experiment using antidepressant prescriptions in England

Background Previous research has highlighted the impact of economic conditions and uncertainty on physical and mental health. The unexpected result of the Brexit referendum in 2016 triggered high levels of economic uncertainty. Objective To examine whether prescriptions for antidepressants increased after the referendum result, benchmarking them aga

Neighborhood socioeconomic status and adherence to dietary recommendations among Finnish adults : A retrospective follow-up study

Neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with dietary habits among the residents, but few studies have examined this association separately among long-term residents and movers. We calculated cumulative neighborhood SES score weighted by residential time in each address over 6 years for non-movers (n = 7704) and movers (n = 8818) using national grid database. Increase in average neighborhood SES was associated with higher adherence to dietary recommendations in both groups. Among the movers, an upward trajectory from low to high neighborhood SES was also associated with better adherence. Our findings suggest high SES areas might offer healthier food environments than low SES areas.Peer reviewe

Multi-level, cross-sectional study of workplace social capital and smoking among Japanese employees

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Social capital is hypothesized to be relevant to health promotion, and the association between community social capital and cigarette smoking has been examined. Individual-level social capital has been found to be associated with smoking cessation, but evidence remains sparse on the contextual effect of social capital and smoking. Further, evidence remains sparse on the association between smoking and social capital in the workplace, where people are spending an increasing portion of their daily lives. We examined the association between workplace social capital and smoking status among Japanese private sector employees.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We employed a two-stage stratified random sampling procedure. Of the total of 1,800 subjects in 60 companies, 1,171 (men/women; 834/337) employees (65.1%) were identified from 46 companies in Okayama in 2007. Workplace social capital was assessed in two dimensions; trust and reciprocity. Company-level social capital was based on inquiring about employee perceptions of trust and reciprocity among co-workers, and then aggregating their responses in order to calculate the proportion of workers reporting mistrust and lack of reciprocity. Multilevel logistic regression analysis was conducted using Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods to explore whether individual- and company-level social capital was associated with smoking. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% credible intervals (CIs) for current smoking were obtained.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Overall, 33.3% of the subjects smoked currently. There was no relationship between individual-level mistrust of others and smoking status. By contrast, one-standard deviation change in company-level mistrust was associated with higher odds of smoking (OR: 1.25, 95% CI: 1.06-1.46) even after controlling for individual-level mistrust, sex, age, occupation, educational attainment, alcohol use, physical activity, body mass index, and chronic diseases. No clear associations were found between lack of reciprocity and smoking both at the individual- and company-level.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Company-level mistrust is associated with higher likelihood of smoking among Japanese employees, while individual perceptions of mistrust were not associated. The link between lack of reciprocity and smoking was not supported either at the individual- or company-level. Further studies are warranted to examine the possible link between company-level trust and smoking cessation in the Japanese workplace.</p

Trajectories of risky drinking around the time of statutory retirement : a longitudinal latent class analysis

Background and AimsLife transitions such as retirement may influence alcohol consumption, but only a few studies have described this using longitudinal data. We identified patterns and predictors of risky drinking around the time of retirement. DesignA cohort study assessing trajectories and predictors of risky drinking among employees entering statutory retirement between 2000 and 2011. Setting and ParticipantsA total of 5805 men and women from the Finnish Public Sector study who responded to questions on alcohol consumption one to three times prior to (w(-3), w(-2), w(-1)), and one to three times after (w(+1), w(+2), w(+3)) retirement. MeasurementsWe assessed trajectories of risky drinking (> 24 units per week among men, > 16 units among women, or an extreme drinking occasion during past year) from pre- to post-retirement, as well as predictors of each alcohol consumption trajectory. FindingsThree trajectories were identified: sustained healthy drinking (81% of participants), temporary increase in risky drinking around retirement (12%) and slowly declining risky drinking after retirement (7%). The strongest pre-retirement predictors for belonging to the group of temporary increase in risky drinking were current smoking [odds ratio (OR)=3.90, 95% confidence interval (CI)=2.70-5.64], male sex (OR=2.77, 95% CI=2.16-3.55), depression (OR=1.44, 95% CI=1.05-1.99) and work-place in the metropolitan area (OR=1.29, 95% CI=1.00-1.66). Compared with the slowly declining risky drinking group, the temporary increase in risky drinking group was characterized by lower occupational status and education, and work-place outside the metropolitan area. ConclusionsIn Finland, approximately 12% of people who reach retirement age experience a temporary increase in alcohol consumption to risky levels, while approximately 7% experience a slow decline in risky levels of alcohol consumption. Male gender, smoking, being depressed and working in a metropolitan area are associated with increased likelihood of increased alcohol consumption.Peer reviewe

Changes in physical activity during transition to retirement: a cohort study

BACKGROUND: Retirement is a major life transition which may affect lifestyle. The aim of this study is to examine within-individual changes in physical activity during the transition from full-time work to retirement. METHODS: The study population consisted of 9,488 Finnish public-sector employees who retired in 2000-2011 and who reported their leisure-time and commuting physical activity before and after retirement. On average, participants provided data at 3.6 (of the four) repeat examinations during 10 years before and 10 years after the retirement. Physical activity was self-reported and was expressed as weekly metabolic equivalent task (MET) hours. Generalized estimating equations were used to examine physical activity trajectories around retirement. RESULTS: Among participants entering to statutory retirement physical activity first increased by 1.81 MET-hours (95 % confidence interval [CI] 1.20 to 2.42) during 4-year retirement transition, but then decreased by -1.80 MET hours (95 % CI -2.83 to -0.79) during the subsequent post-retirement period. Older retirement age, higher occupational status and fewer chronic diseases were associated with greater increase in physical activity during transition to statutory retirement. CONCLUSIONS: Statutory retirement appears to be associated with a temporary increase in physical activity. Future research should examine ways to maintain the increased activity level after retirement.BioMed Central open acces

Quantifying neighbourhood socioeconomic effects in clustering of behaviour-related risk factors: a multilevel analysis

Peer reviewe

Childhood Adversity as a Predictor of Non-Adherence to Statin Therapy in Adulthood

PurposeTo investigate whether adverse experiences in childhood predict non-adherence to statin therapy in adulthood.MethodsA cohort of 1378 women and 538 men who initiated statin therapy during 2008–2010 after responding to a survey on childhood adversities, was followed for non-adherence during the first treatment year. Log-binomial regression was used to estimate predictors of non-adherence, defined as the proportion of days covered by dispensed statin tablets <80%. In fully adjusted models including age, education, marital status, current smoking, heavy alcohol use, physical inactivity, obesity, presence of depression and cardiovascular comorbidity, the number of women ranged from 1172 to 1299 and that of men from 473 to 516, because of missing data on specific adversities and covariates.ResultsTwo in three respondents reported at least one of the following six adversities in the family: divorce/separation of the parents, long-term financial difficulties, severe conflicts, frequent fear, severe illness, or alcohol problem of a family member. 51% of women and 44% of men were non-adherent. In men, the number of childhood adversities predicted an increased risk of non-adherence (risk ratio [RR] per adversity 1.11, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.01–1.21], P for linear trend 0.013). Compared with those reporting no adversities, men reporting 3–6 adversities had a 1.44-fold risk of non-adherence (95% CI 1.12–1.85). Experiencing severe conflicts in the family (RR 1.27, 95% CI 1.03–1.57]) and frequent fear of a family member (RR 1.27, 95% CI 1.00–1.62]) in particular, predicted an increased risk of non-adherence. In women, neither the number of adversities nor any specific type of adversity predicted non-adherence.ConclusionsExposure to childhood adversity may predict non-adherence to preventive cardiovascular medication in men. Usefulness of information on childhood adversities in identification of adults at high risk of non-adherence deserves further research

Cross-sectional associations of neighbourhood socioeconomic disadvantage and greenness with accelerometer-measured leisure-time physical activity in a cohort of ageing workers

Strengths and limitations of this study • Physical activity (PA) was measured objectively with wrist-worn accelerometers rather than self-reports allowing separate analysis for light, moderate-to-vigorous and total PA. • Data on working days enabled us to separately assess leisure-time PA on working days versus non-working days. • Neighbourhood disadvantage and greenness were independently assessed, allowing us to check the interactive effect of these two dimensions in relation to leisure-time PA. • The study population included predominately female ageing workers, so the generalisability of the findings to other populations needs to be confirmed in future studies. • Cross-sectional study design limits causal inference.Objective: Neighbourhood characteristics may affect the level of physical activity (PA) of the residents. Few studies have examined the combined effects of distinctive neighbourhood characteristics on PA using objective data or differentiated between activity during working or non-working days. We examined the associations of socioeconomic disadvantage and greenness with accelerometer-measured leisure-time PA during working and non-working days. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Finnish Retirement and Aging (FIREA) study. Participants: 708 workers (604 women, mean age 62.4 ranging from 58 to 64 years,) participating in the FIREA study who provided PA measurement data for at least 1 working and non-working day. Primary and secondary outcomes: PA was measured with wrist-worn accelerometer on average of 4 working and 2 non-working days. Outcomes were total PA, light PA (LPA) and moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA). These measurements were linked to data on neighbourhood socioeconomic disadvantage and greenness within the home neighbourhood (750×750 m). Generalised linear models were adjusted for possible confounders. Results: On non-working days, higher neighbourhood disadvantage associated with lower levels of total PA (p value=0.07) and higher level of neighbourhood greenness associated with higher level of total PA (p value=0.04). Neighbourhood disadvantage and greenness had an interaction (p value=0.02); in areas of low disadvantage higher greenness did not associate with the level of total PA. However, in areas of high disadvantage, 2 SD higher greenness associated with 46 min/day (95% CI 8.4 to 85) higher total PA. Slightly stronger interaction was observed for LPA (p=0.03) than for the MVPA (p=0.09). During working days, there were no associations between neighbourhood characteristics and leisure-time total PA. Conclusions: Of the disadvantaged neighbourhoods, those characterised by high levels of greenness seem to associate with higher levels of leisure-time PA during non-working days. These findings suggest that efforts to add greenness to socioeconomically disadvantaged neighbourhoods might reduce inequalities in PA