Gender differences in respiratory symptoms in 19-year-old adults born preterm

Objective: To study the prevalence of respiratory and atopic symptoms in (young) adults born prematurely, differences between those who did and did not develop Bronchopulmonary Disease (BPD) at neonatal age and differences in respiratory health between males and females. Methods: Design: Prospective cohort study. Setting: Nation wide follow-up study, the Netherlands. Participants: 690 adults (19 year old) born with a gestational age below 32 completed weeks and/or with a birth weight less than 1500g. Controls were Dutch participants of the European Community Respiratory Health Survey (ECRHS). Main outcome measures: Presence of wheeze, shortness of breath, asthma, hay fever and eczema using the ECRHS-questionnaire

The incorporation of different demand concepts in the job demand-control model: effects on health care professionals

This paper reports a study of 212 health care professionals that focuses on job characteristics as predictors of employee health. By means of covariance structure modelling (LISREL 8) we tested the interactive assumptions of the Karasek (1979) Job Demand-Control (JD-C) Model [Karasek, R.A., Jr., 1979. Job demands, job decision latitude, and mental strain: implications for job redesign. Administrative Science Quarterly, 24, 285-307.] using three different concepts of job demands (i.e. psychological job demands, physical demands and emotional demands) in combination with a more focused measure of decision latitude (i.e. job autonomy) to predict employee health (i.e. job satisfaction, job involvement, emotional exhaustion and psychosomatic health complaints). Controlling for gender and age, the results partly support the JD-C hypotheses by finding three out of twelve assumed interaction effects. More specifically, different outcome variables are predicted by different combinations of job autonomy with the three kinds of job demands, respectively. In conclusion, although we refute the central hypotheses of the JD-C model to a large extent, the current (interactive) findings are quite illuminating and will be discussed in the context of their theoretical and practical implications. Researchers as well as practitioners have to broaden their perspective on 'job demands' in health care work and need to focus on different kinds of job demands to capture the complexity of this work setting.Job demand-control model Health care professionals Burnout Covariance structure modelling

Gender differences in respiratory symptoms in 19-year-old adults born preterm

Objective: To study the prevalence of respiratory and atopic symptoms in (young) adults born prematurely, differences between those who did and did not develop Bronchopulmonary Disease (BPD) at neonatal age and differences in respiratory health between males and females. Methods: Design: Prospective cohort study. Setting: Nation wide follow-up study, the Netherlands. Participants: 690 adults (19 year old) born with a gestational age below 32 completed weeks and/or with a birth weight less than 1500g. Controls were Dutch participants of the European Community Respiratory Health Survey (ECRHS). Main outcome measures: Presence of wheeze, shortness of breath, asthma, hay fever and eczema using the ECRHS-questionnaire Results: The prevalence of doctor-diagnosed asthma was significantly higher in the ex-preterms than in the general population, whereas eczema and hay fever were significant lower. Women reported more symptoms than men. Preterm women vs controls: asthma 13% vs 5% (p<0.001); hay fever 8% vs 20% (p<0.001); eczema 10% vs 42% (p<0.001). Preterm men vs controls: asthma 9% vs 4% (p=0.007); hay fever 8% vs 17% (p=0.005); eczema 9% vs 31% (p<0.001) Preterm women reported more wheeze and shortness of breath during exercise (sob) than controls: wheeze 30% vs 22% (p=0.009); sob 27% vs 16% (p<0.001); 19-year-old women with BPD reported a higher prevalence of doctor diagnosed asthma compared to controls (24% vs 5% p <0.001) and shortness of breath during exercise (43% vs 16% p=0.008). The prevalence of reported symptoms by men with BPD were comparable with the controls. Conclusions: Our large follow-up study shows a higher prevalence of asthma, wheeze and shortness of breath in the prematurely born young adults. 19-year-old women reported more respiratory symptoms than men. Compared to the general population atopic diseases as hay fever and eczema were reported less often. © 2005 Vrijlandt et al., licensee BioMed Central Ltd