Physical and mental health correlates of status incongruence

The report explored the relationship between status incongruence, the degree of similarity of rankings on paired status variables, and diverse interview-based measures of physical and mental health. The subjects in the study were some 169 adult men; one half of them came from a national survey sample, while the other half represented an arthritis clinic sample with patients and controls. Data on education, occupation, income, and perceived social class (PSC) were used to construct several status incongruence indices. The major findings were: 1. Neither rheumatoid arthritis nor ulcer were related to status incongruence. 2. Education-occupation incongruence showed by far the strongest association with poor mental health. Among the two types of incongruence, education > occupation and occupation > education, the former had particularly poor mental health. 3. Education-PSC, occupation-PSC, education-income, and occupation-income types of incongruence showed weaker associations. Direction of incongruence made a difference in the education-PSC comparison: the education > PSC incongruent group had poorer mental health than the PSC > education incongruent group. Ce rapport étudie la relation entre la discordance du status («status incongruence»), le degré de similitude d'évaluation de variables couplées du status et diverses mesures de la santé physique et mentale basées sur des interviews. Les sujets de l'étude étaient 169 hommes adultes dont la moitié provenait d'un échantillon d'une investigation nationale, tandis que l'autre moitié représentait un échantillon d'une clinique d'arthritiques avec des patients et des cas de contrôle. Des données sur l'éducation, l'occupation, le revenu et la classe sociale (perceived social class = PSC) furent utilisées pour l'élaboration de divers indices de discordance de status. Les résultats principaux furent: 1) Ni l'arthrite rhumatoïde ni l'ulcère n'étaient reliés à la discordance du status. 2) La discordance éducation-occupation était de loin la plus étroitement associée à une santé mentale défaillante. Parmi les deux types de discordance, éducation > occupation et occupation > éducation, le premier était caractérisé par une santé mentale particulièrement mauvaise. 3) Les types de discordance éducation-PSC, occupation-PSC, éducation-revenu et occupationrevenu étaient plus faiblement associés. La direction de la discordance faisait une différence dans la comparaison éducationPSC: le groupe de discordance éducation > PSC se distinguait par une santé mentale moins bonne que le groupe de discordance PSC > éducation. Der Bericht gibt die Untersuchung der Beziehung zwischen der Unausgeglichenheit innerhalb des Sozialstands, dem Ausmaß der Ähnlichkeit von Einstufungen durch vorgegebene Gegensatzpaare von Statusmerkmalen und verschiedenen, auf Interviewbasis begründeten Einschätzungen der körperlichen und seelischen Gesundheit wieder. Die Probanden der Studie waren 169 erwachsene Männer; die Hälfte von ihnen stammte aus einer staatlichen Begutachtungsgruppe, die andere Hälfte verkörperten Patienten und Kontrollpersonen aus einer Arthritisklinik. Daten über Erziehung, Beruf, Einkommen und beurteilte Sozialklasse (perceived social class = PSC) wurden verwandt, um mehrere Indices für Statusinkongruenz zu bilden. Die Hauptergebnisse waren: 1) Weder rheumatische Arthritis noch Ulcus standen in Beziehung mit Statusinkongruenz. 2) Ein Mißverhältnis zwischen Erziehung und Beruf zeigte bei weitem die engste Beziehung zu schlechter seelischer Gesundheit. Von den beiden Inkongruenztypen, Erziehung > Beruf und Beruf > Erziehung, hatte der erste eine besonders schlechte seelische Gesundheit. 3) Mißverhältnisse zwischen Erziehung und PSC, Beruf und PSC, Erziehung und Einkommen und Beruf und Einkommen zeigten schwächere Beziehungen. Die Richtung der Inkongruenz bewirkte einen Unterschied im Vergleich zwischen Erziehung und PSC: die inkongruente Gruppe Erziehung > PSC war bei schlechterer seelischer Gesundheit als die inkongruente Gruppe PSC > Erziehung.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/41742/1/127_2004_Article_BF00584107.pd

Population health and the economy: Mortality and the Great Recession in Europe

We analyze the evolution of mortality‐based health indicators in 27 European countries before and after the start of the Great Recession. We find that in the countries where the crisis has been particularly severe, mortality reductions in 2007–2010 were considerably bigger than in 2004–2007. Panel models adjusted for space‐invariant and time‐invariant factors show that an increase of 1 percentage point in the national unemployment rate is associated with a reduction of 0.5% (p < .001) in the rate of age‐adjusted mortality. The pattern of mortality oscillating procyclically is found for total and sex‐specific mortality, cause‐specific mortality due to major causes of death, and mortality for ages 30–44 and 75 and over, but not for ages 0–14. Suicides appear increasing when the economy decelerates—countercyclically—but the evidence is weak. Results are robust to using different weights in the regression, applying nonlinear methods for detrending, expanding the sample, and using as business cycle indicator gross domestic product per capita or employment‐to‐population ratios rather than the unemployment rate. We conclude that in the European experience of the past 20 years, recessions, on average, have beneficial short‐term effects on mortality of the adult population.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/142224/1/hec3495_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/142224/2/hec3495.pd

Effects of Externally Rated Job Demand and Control on Depression Diagnosis Claims in an Industrial Cohort

This study examined whether externally rated job demand and control were associated with depression diagnosis claims in a heavy industrial cohort. The retrospective cohort sample consisted of 7,566 hourly workers aged 18–64 years who were actively employed at 11 US plants between January 1, 1996, and December 31, 2003, and free of depression diagnosis claims during an initial 2-year run-in period. Logistic regression analysis was used to model the effect of tertiles of demand and control exposure on depression diagnosis claims. Demand had a significant positive association with depression diagnosis claims in bivariate models and models adjusted for demographic (age, gender, race, education, job grade, tenure) and lifestyle (smoking status, body mass index, cholesterol level) variables (high demand odds ratio = 1.39, 95% confidence interval: 1.04, 1.86). Control was associated with greater risk of depression diagnosis at moderate levels in unadjusted models only (odds ratio = 1.47, 95% confidence interval: 1.12, 1.93), while low control, contrary to expectation, was not associated with depression. The effects of the externally rated demand exposure were lost with adjustment for location. This may reflect differences in measurement or classification of exposure, differences in depression diagnosis by location, or other location-specific factors

Macrosocial determinants of population health in the context of globalization

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/55738/1/florey_globalization_2007.pd