Predictors of self-rated health: a 12-month prospective study of IT and media workers

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to determine health-related risk and salutogenic factors and to use these to construct prediction models for future self-rated health (SRH), i.e. find possible characteristics predicting individuals improving or worsening in SRH over time (0–12 months). METHODS: A prospective study was conducted with measurements (physiological markers and self-ratings) at 0, 6 and 12 months, involving 303 employees (187 men and 116 women, age 23–64) from four information technology and two media companies. RESULTS: There were a multitude of statistically significant cross-sectional correlations (Spearman's Rho) between SRH and other self-ratings as well as physiological markers. Predictors of future SRH were baseline ratings of SRH, self-esteem and social support (logistic regression), and SRH, sleep quality and sense of coherence (linear regression). CONCLUSION: The results of the present study indicate that baseline SRH and other self-ratings are predictive of future SRH. It is cautiously implied that SRH, self-esteem, social support, sleep quality and sense of coherence might be predictors of future SRH and therefore possibly also of various future health outcomes

Folk Medicine in the Philippines: A Phenomenological Study of Health-Seeking Individuals

Background: Folk medicine refers to traditional healing practices anchored on cultural beliefs of body physiology and health preservation. Reflective of indigenous heritage, it fosters a better understanding of health and disease, healthcare systems, and biocultural adaptation. In the Philippines, Quiapo is a well-known site for folk medicine services, cultural diversity, religious practices, and economic activities. Methods: This study utilized a phenomenological approach to comprehend the lived experiences of health-seeking individuals and the meaning behind their acquisition of folk medicine products. Using convenience sampling, seven participants acquiring folk medicine products in Quiapo on the day of data collection were approached and interviewed on separate instances. The collected data subsequently underwent thematic analysis. Results: Analysis revealed three emergent themes: health-seeking behavior, sources of knowledge, and folk medicine utilization. Health-seeking behavior was linked with the participants’ purpose of going to Quiapo, reasons for utilizing folk medicine, experiences in using folk medicine, and beliefs associated with the product bought. Sources of knowledge tackled the participants’ sources of information about Quiapo and its products. Folk medicine utilization relates to the type of product bought, its perceived medicinal use, and its history of usage. Conclusion: Folk medicine is perceived to be effective alleviating health concerns. The acquisition of such products is attributed to satisfaction from prior experience, distrust in the current healthcare system, family tradition, and intention to supplement existing medical treatment. This study provides health professionals a better understanding of patients who patronize folk medicine, subsequently aiding them in providing a holistic approach to treatment

Childhood socioeconomic position and objectively measured physical capability levels in adulthood: a systematic review and meta-analysis

<p><b>Background:</b> Grip strength, walking speed, chair rising and standing balance time are objective measures of physical capability that characterise current health and predict survival in older populations. Socioeconomic position (SEP) in childhood may influence the peak level of physical capability achieved in early adulthood, thereby affecting levels in later adulthood. We have undertaken a systematic review with meta-analyses to test the hypothesis that adverse childhood SEP is associated with lower levels of objectively measured physical capability in adulthood.</p> <p><b>Methods and Findings:</b> Relevant studies published by May 2010 were identified through literature searches using EMBASE and MEDLINE. Unpublished results were obtained from study investigators. Results were provided by all study investigators in a standard format and pooled using random-effects meta-analyses. 19 studies were included in the review. Total sample sizes in meta-analyses ranged from N = 17,215 for chair rise time to N = 1,061,855 for grip strength. Although heterogeneity was detected, there was consistent evidence in age adjusted models that lower childhood SEP was associated with modest reductions in physical capability levels in adulthood: comparing the lowest with the highest childhood SEP there was a reduction in grip strength of 0.13 standard deviations (95% CI: 0.06, 0.21), a reduction in mean walking speed of 0.07 m/s (0.05, 0.10), an increase in mean chair rise time of 6% (4%, 8%) and an odds ratio of an inability to balance for 5s of 1.26 (1.02, 1.55). Adjustment for the potential mediating factors, adult SEP and body size attenuated associations greatly. However, despite this attenuation, for walking speed and chair rise time, there was still evidence of moderate associations.</p> <p><b>Conclusions:</b> Policies targeting socioeconomic inequalities in childhood may have additional benefits in promoting the maintenance of independence in later life.</p&gt

Swiss residents' arguments for and against a career in medicine

BACKGROUND: In some Western countries, the medical profession is continuously losing prestige, doctors are claiming of high demands, low rewards, and difficult structural working conditions. This study aimed to investigate the arguments given by Swiss residents for and against a career in medicine. METHODS: As part of a prospective cohort study of Swiss medical school graduates on career development, 567 fourth-year residents were asked to answer the free-response item of what arguments there still were in favour of or against a career in medicine. They also indicated whether they would choose the medical profession all over again (yes/no). The statements were transcribed, content categories inductively formulated, and their descriptions written down in a code manual. Arguments were encoded according to the code manual and assigned to eight content categories (Mayring's content analysis). Frequency distributions were given for categories and tested with Chi(2)-tests for differences in gender, speciality fields, and whether or not the respondent would again choose a career in medicine. RESULTS: The 567 participants made 1,640 statements in favour of and 1,703 statements against a career in medicine. The content analysis of the residents' answers yielded eight categories with arguments both for and against a career in medicine. Of all "statements for" responses, 70% fell into the two top-ranking categories of Personal experiences in day-to-day working life (41.2%) and Interpersonal experiences in professional relationships (28.8%). The top-ranking category of the "statements against" arguments was General work-related structural conditions (32%), followed by Social prestige and health-policy aspects (21%). Main arguments in favour of a career in medicine were interdisciplinary challenge, combination of basic sciences and interpersonal concerns, helping suffering people, guarantee of a secure job; arguments against comprised high workload, time pressure, emotional stress, poorly structured continuing education, increasing bureaucracy, work-life imbalance, low income, and decreasing social prestige. The statements revealed few differences depending on gender, medical field, and attitude towards choosing the medical profession again; one out of five young doctors would not do so. CONCLUSION: Residents' chief complaint is deteriorating structural working conditions, including unfavourable work-life balance. Making medicine an attractive profession again will require sustainable changes in health-policy framework and social reward

Long working hours and risk of 50 health conditions and mortality outcomes : a multicohort study in four European countries

Background: Studies on the association between long working hours and health have captured only a narrow range of outcomes (mainly cardiometabolic diseases and depression) and no outcome-wide studies on this topic are available. To achieve wider scope of potential harm, we examined long working hours as a risk factor for a wide range of disease and mortality endpoints. Methods: The data of this multicohort study were from two population cohorts from Finland (primary analysis, n=59 599) and nine cohorts (replication analysis, n=44 262) from Sweden, Denmark, and the UK, all part of the Individual-participant Meta-analysis in Working Populations (IPD-Work) consortium. Baseline assessed long working hours (>55 hours per week) were compared to standard working hours (35-40 h). Outcome measures with follow-up until age 65 years were 46 diseases that required hospital treatment or continuous pharmacotherapy, all-cause, and three cause-specific mortality endpoints, ascertained via linkage to national health and mortality registers. Findings: 2747 (4.6%) participants in the primary cohorts and 3027 (6.8%) in the replication cohorts worked long hours. After adjustment for age, sex, and socioeconomic status, working long hours was associated with increased risk of cardiovascular death (hazard ratio 1.68; 95% confidence interval 1.08-2.61 in primary analysis and 1.52; 0.90-2.58 in replication analysis), infections (1.37; 1.13-1.67 and 1.45; 1.13-1.87), diabetes (1.18; 1.01-1.38 and 1.41; 0.98-2.02), injuries (1.22; 1.00-1.50 and 1.18; 0.98-1.18) and musculoskeletal disorders (1.15; 1.06-1.26 and 1.13; 1.00-1.27). Working long hours was not associated with all-cause mortality. Interpretation: Follow-up of 50 health outcomes in four European countries suggests that working long hours is associated with an elevated risk of early cardiovascular death and hospital-treated infections before age 65. Associations, albeit weak, were also observed with diabetes, musculoskeletal disorders and injuries. In these data working long hours was not related to elevated overall mortality. (C) 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.Peer reviewe

Job strain and the risk of severe asthma exacerbations : a meta-analysis of individual-participant data from 100 000 European men and women

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Long working hours and change in body weight : analysis of individual-participant data from 19 cohort studies

Objective To examine the relation between long working hours and change in body mass index (BMI). Methods We performed random effects meta-analyses using individual-participant data from 19 cohort studies from Europe, US and Australia (n = 122,078), with a mean of 4.4-year follow-up. Working hours were measured at baseline and categorised as part time (= 55 h/week (long working hours). There were four outcomes at follow-up: (1) overweight/obesity (BMI >= 25 kg/m(2)) or (2) overweight (BMI 25-29.9 kg/m(2)) among participants without overweight/obesity at baseline; (3) obesity (BMI >= 30 kg/m(2)) among participants with overweight at baseline, and (4) weight loss among participants with obesity at baseline. Results Of the 61,143 participants without overweight/obesity at baseline, 20.2% had overweight/obesity at follow-up. Compared with standard weekly working hours, the age-, sex- and socioeconomic status-adjusted relative risk (RR) of overweight/obesity was 0.95 (95% CI 0.90-1.00) for part-time work, 1.07 (1.02-1.12) for 41-48 weekly working hours, 1.09 (1.03-1.16) for 49-54 h and 1.17 (1.08-1.27) for long working hours (Pfor trendPeer reviewe

Overweight, obesity, and risk of cardiometabolic multimorbidity: pooled analysis of individual-level data for 120 813 adults from 16 cohort studies from the USA and Europe

Summary Background Although overweight and obesity have been studied in relation to individual cardiometabolic diseases, their association with risk of cardiometabolic multimorbidity is poorly understood. Here we aimed to establish the risk of incident cardiometabolic multimorbidity (ie, at least two from: type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, and stroke) in adults who are overweight and obese compared with those who are a healthy weight. Methods We pooled individual-participant data for BMI and incident cardiometabolic multimorbidity from 16 prospective cohort studies from the USA and Europe. Participants included in the analyses were 35 years or older and had data available for BMI at baseline and for type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, and stroke at baseline and follow-up. We excluded participants with a diagnosis of diabetes, coronary heart disease, or stroke at or before study baseline. According to WHO recommendations, we classified BMI into categories of healthy (20·0–24·9 kg/m2), overweight (25·0–29·9 kg/m2), class I (mild) obesity (30·0–34·9 kg/m2), and class II and III (severe) obesity (≥35·0 kg/m2). We used an inclusive definition of underweight (Peer reviewe