The role of childhood social position in adult type 2 diabetes: evidence from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing

Background Socioeconomic circumstances in childhood and early adulthood may influence the later onset of chronic disease, although such research is limited for type 2 diabetes and its risk factors at the different stages of life. The main aim of the present study is to examine the role of childhood social position and later inflammatory markers and health behaviours in developing type 2 diabetes at older ages using a pathway analytic approach. Methods Data on childhood and adult life circumstances of 2,994 men and 4,021 women from English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) were used to evaluate their association with diabetes at age 50 years and more. The cases of diabetes were based on having increased blood levels of glycated haemoglobin and/or self-reported medication for diabetes and/or being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Father’s job when ELSA participants were aged 14 years was used as the measure of childhood social position. Current social characteristics, health behaviours and inflammatory biomarkers were used as potential mediators in the statistical analysis to assess direct and indirect effects of childhood circumstances on diabetes in later life. Results 12.6 per cent of participants were classified as having diabetes. A disadvantaged social position in childhood, as measured by father’s manual occupation, was associated at conventional levels of statistical significance with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes in adulthood, both directly and indirectly through inflammation, adulthood social position and a risk score constructed from adult health behaviours including tobacco smoking and limited physical activity. The direct effect of childhood social position was reduced by mediation analysis (standardised coefficient decreased from 0.089 to 0.043) but remained statistically significant (p = 0.035). All three indirect pathways made a statistically significantly contribution to the overall effect of childhood social position on adulthood type 2 diabetes. Conclusions Childhood social position influences adult diabetes directly and indirectly through inflammatory markers, adulthood social position and adult health behaviours

Labour-Market Characteristics and Self-Rated Health: Evidence from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study

In the face of labour-force ageing, understanding labour-market characteristics and the health status of middle-aged and older workers is important for sustainable social and economic development. Self-rated health (SRH) is a widely-used instrument to detect health problems and predict mortality. This study investigated labour-market characteristics that may have an impact on the SRH among Chinese middle-aged and older workers, using data from the national baseline wave of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study. The analytical sample included 3864 individuals who at the time held at least one non-agricultural job. Fourteen labour-market characteristics were clearly defined and investigated. Multiple logistic regression models of the associations of each labour-market characteristic with SRH were estimated. Seven labour-market characteristics were associated with higher odds of poor SRH when controlled for age and sex. Employment status and earned income remained significantly associated with poor SRH, when controlling for all the sociodemographic factors and health behaviours. Doing unpaid work in family businesses is associated with 2.07 (95% CI, 1.51–2.84) times probability of poor SRH, compared with employed individuals. Compared with more affluent individuals (highest quintile of earned income), people in the fourth and fifth quintiles had 1.92 (95% CI, 1.29–2.86) times and 2.72 (95% CI, 1.83–4.02) times higher chance, respectively, of poor SRH. In addition, residence type and region were important confounders. Measures improving adverse working conditions should be taken to prevent future risk of impaired health among the Chinese middle-aged and older workforce

Reliability and predictive validity of two scales of self-rated health in China: results from China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS)

Background Despite the widespread use of the single item self-rated health (SRH) question, its reliability has never been evaluated in Chinese population. Methods We used data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, waves 1–4 (2011–2019). In wave 1, the same SRH question was asked twice, separated by other questions, on a subset of 4533 subjects, allowing us to examine the test–retest reliability of SRH. In addition, two versions of SRH questions (the WHO and US versions) were asked (n = 11,429). Kappa (κ), weighted kappa ($${\kappa}_{w}$$ κ w ), and polychoric correlation coefficient (ρ) were used for reliability assessment. Cox proportional-hazards models were estimated to assess the predictive validity of SRH measurement for mortality over 7 years of follow up. To do so, relative index of inequality (RII) and slope index of inequality (SII) were estimated for each SRH scale. Results There was moderate to substantial test–retest reliability (κ = 0.54, $${\kappa}_{w}$$ κ w =0.63) of SRH; 31% of respondents who used the same scale twice changed their ratings after answering other questions. There was strong positive association between the two SRH measured by the two scales (ρ > 0.8). Compared with excellent/very good SRH, adjusted hazard ratios (HR) of death are 2.30 (95% CI, 1.70–3.13) for the US version and 1.86 (95% CI, 1.33–2.60) for the WHO version. Using slope indices of inequality, the WHO version estimated slightly larger mortality differences (RII = 3.50, SII = 15.53) than the US version (RII = 3.25, SII = 14.80). Conclusions In Chinese middle-aged and older population, the reliability of SRH is generally good, although the two commonly used versions of SRH scales could not be compared directly. Both indices predict mortality, with similar predictive validity

The role of childhood social position in adult type 2 diabetes: Evidence from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing

Copyright @ 2014 Pikhartova et al. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.Background: Socioeconomic circumstances in childhood and early adulthood may influence the later onset of chronic disease, although such research is limited for type 2 diabetes and its risk factors at the different stages of life. The main aim of the present study is to examine the role of childhood social position and later inflammatory markers and health behaviours in developing type 2 diabetes at older ages using a pathway analytic approach. Methods. Data on childhood and adult life circumstances of 2,994 men and 4,021 women from English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) were used to evaluate their association with diabetes at age 50 years and more. The cases of diabetes were based on having increased blood levels of glycated haemoglobin and/or self-reported medication for diabetes and/or being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Father's job when ELSA participants were aged 14 years was used as the measure of childhood social position. Current social characteristics, health behaviours and inflammatory biomarkers were used as potential mediators in the statistical analysis to assess direct and indirect effects of childhood circumstances on diabetes in later life. Results: 12.6 per cent of participants were classified as having diabetes. A disadvantaged social position in childhood, as measured by father's manual occupation, was associated at conventional levels of statistical significance with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes in adulthood, both directly and indirectly through inflammation, adulthood social position and a risk score constructed from adult health behaviours including tobacco smoking and limited physical activity. The direct effect of childhood social position was reduced by mediation analysis (standardised coefficient decreased from 0.089 to 0.043) but remained statistically significant (p = 0.035). All three indirect pathways made a statistically significantly contribution to the overall effect of childhood social position on adulthood type 2 diabetes. Conclusions: Childhood social position influences adult diabetes directly and indirectly through inflammatory markers, adulthood social position and adult health behaviours. © 2014Pikhartova et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.Economic and Social Research Council-funded International Centre for Life Course Studies in Society and Health (RES-596-28-0001)

Does owning a pet protect older people against loneliness?

This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.Pet ownership is thought to make a positive contribution to health, health behaviours and the general well-being of older people. More specifically pet ownership is often proposed as a solution to the problem of loneliness in later life and specific 'pet based' interventions have been developed to combat loneliness. However the evidence to support this relationship is slim and it is assumed that pet ownership is a protection against loneliness rather than a response to loneliness. The aim of this paper is to examine the association between pet ownership and loneliness by exploring if pet ownership is a response to, or protection against, loneliness using Waves 0-5 from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA)

Mikä on tutkintotodistuksesi tuotto?

Odotettujen tulojen tiedetään vaihtelevan koulutusasteiden ja -alojen välillä, mutta kuinka suuria erot tarkemmin ottaen ovat ja miten erot ovat kehittyneet viime vuosina? Artikkelissa pyritään antamaan vastauksia näihin kysymyksiin Tilastokeskuksen yksilötason rekisteriaineistojen analyysin avulla. Tulosten mukaan parhaassa työiässä olevien 36–45 -vuotiaiden suomalaisten koulutukselleen saama tuotto on pysynyt keskimäärin korkeana 1990-luvun puolivälin jälkeen ikäryhmän koulutustason merkittävästä kasvusta huolimatta. Sekä tuottojen tasossa että niiden trendeissä havaitaan kuitenkin merkittäviä eroja eri opintoaloilta valmistuneiden välillä.nonPeerReviewe