Age-related changes in the associations of social network ties with mortality risk.

Age-related changes in the associations of social network ties with mortality risk were investigated using data from the Terman Life-Cycle Study (L. M. Terman, 1925; L. M. Terman & M. H. Oden, 1947, 1959). Marital status, number of living children, number of living siblings, and number of group memberships in 1940, 1950, 1960, and 1977 were reported across middle adulthood by 697 men and 544 women, with mortality follow-up as of 1991. Initial analyses confirmed previous work indicating that marital history (men only), number of children (both genders), and organizational memberships (both genders) are predictive of mortality risk. Further analyses compared the associations between these social ties and mortality prior to age 70 and at age 70 and older. Results indicated that for men, experiencing marital dissolution and subsequently remarrying is a stronger predictor of mortality risk prior to age 70 (p?=?.05), whereas for women, number of children (p?     

Age, sex, marital status and suicide: an empirical study of east and west

The relationships among age, sex, marital status and suicidal behaviour in Australia and Hong Kong showed disparity in age-specific suicide rates among the four marital status groups, never married, married, widowed and divorced, for both sexes in the two locations. Examining the coefficients of preservation suggested the coefficient for never married to married in all cases was larger than 1, except for the groups of teenagers aged 15-19 years for both sexes and of elderly women aged 60 years or over in Hong Kong. The widowed or divorced groups have lower suicide rates than the married women among the elderly in Hong Kong. Hong Kong women seem not to have been benefited in marriage as much as men. Responsibility and workload in married life rather than low social status are the likely reasons for the relative high female suicide rate in Hong Kong. Possible cultural and environmental factors which are somewhat speculative (yet to be confirmed) are discussed.     

Effects of marital status on the risk of mortality in poor and non-poor neighborhoods

PURPOSE: The purpose of this paper is to consider whether the mortality risks associated with marital status are conditioned by the socioeconomic quality of neighborhoods. METHODS: The analysis is based on the first National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1971-1974 (NHANES I), and the 1987 NHANES I Epidemiologic Followup Survey (NHEFS). Cox proportional hazards regressions were used to assess whether the effect of marital status on the risk of all-cause and cause-specific mortality is altered by local area poverty. Analyses are stratified by age, sex, and urbanicity. RESULTS: The interaction between neighborhood poverty and marital status is suggested for non-elderly men, particularly for cancer mortality and for men in urban areas. Interaction effects are evident among older women residing in urban areas. CONCLUSIONS: The absence of a spouse elevates the risk of mortality but this risk is moderately higher in impoverished neighborhoods, notably in urbanized areas, for non-elderly men and elderly women. Future studies with larger samples of non-married persons where marital status changes are incorporated are needed to improve our understanding of the joint mortality effects of local area poverty and marital status.     

Social class differences in health and functional disability among older men and women

The aims of the study were to describe the health of older men and women and to investigate the social patterning of health and functional disability among older men and women, with special reference to social class differences. The data were derived from the 1994 nationwide Finnish Survey on Living Conditions (N = 1,448). Functional disability, limiting long-standing illness, and self-assessed health were used as health measures. Sociodemographic measures were social class, marital status, and urbanization. The age-adjusted social class differences were clear. Farmers and workers reported more functional disability and poorer health than did the white-collar class. Differences were somewhat smaller among women than among men. Social class was a stronger determinant than urbanization and marital status of functional disability and health.     

Comparison of health status, socioeconomic characteristics, and knowledge and use of HIV-related resources between HIV-infected women and men

OBJECTIVES: The authors compared socioeconomic characteristics, and knowledge and use of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-related resources and health status measures between HIV-infected women and men registered within the Denver Health and Hospitals health care system. METHODS: Data collected through two Centers for Disease Control-funded surveillance initiatives (Adult Spectrum of Disease and Supplement to HIV/AIDS Surveillance) were linked. Health status measures were obtained using the Medical Outcomes Study (MOS-20) questionnaire. To compare health status measures between genders, men were matched to women based on disease stage, intravenous drug use, race, years of education, employment status, and age. RESULTS: Among all patients interviewed (n = 419), women (n = 52) were more likely to be minority, uneducated, intravenous drug users, and at earlier stages of HIV-disease than men (n = 367). Employment status was not significantly different. Knowledge of available services was generally good among both genders. Women received public assistance and had health insurance (Medicaid) more often than men. Women used support services, social work, and shelter assistance less often than men. The matched pairs analysis (n = 46 pairs) showed no significant differences between genders in physical and social function, mental health, pain, or general health perceptions; however, role function was better in women than in men (P<0.02). CONCLUSIONS: When controlling for factors that may influence health and access to health care, HIV disease generally impacts the health status of both genders similarly. Women scored higher in role function which may reflect family caretakers' responsibilities. Although knowledge of HIV-related resources was similar by gender, men made contact more often suggesting areas for enhanced outreach toward women.     

Lung cancer mortality in Casale Monferrato (Italy) and attributable risk to occupations in the asbestos-cement production

The study presents mortality rates for lung cancer in the town of Casale Monferrato, where the largest Italian asbestos cement-plant was located. Cases of lung cancer dying in 1989-94 were exhaustively searched for in the register of deaths. Each case of lung cancer has been identified as ever or never employed in the factory with a linkage to the rosters of employees in the plant. Women were also identified as ever or never married to an asbestos-cement worker. The number of person-years at risk for asbestos cement workers and their wives was measured on the basis of the most recent follow-up. Mortality rates were computed separately for those exposed (workers and wives of workers) and for those with no evidence of exposure. Mortality rates for non-exposed were similar to rates in Piedmont (the region where Casale is located). The relative risk (ever exposed vs. never exposed) was 2.8 among men and 2.1 among women. Attributable risk among the exposed was 64.5% for men and 53.1% for women while among the general population it was 18.1% for men and 13.2% for women. The study confirms the dramatic effect of occupational asbestos exposure in Casale Monferrato but does not suggest an increase in lung cancer mortality among people with no occupational activity in the asbestos-cement production.     

Habitual physical activity in a population residing in the city of Barcelona

OBJECTIVES: To describe the sociodemographic distribution of habitual physical activity and to analyse its relationship with self-perceived health status and occupational status, among the population older that 16 years of age in the city of Barcelona, Spain. METHODS: A sample of 1,885 adult men and 2,196 women answered the Health Interview Survey of Barcelona in 1992. Those whose habitual activity required high physical exertion or walking were considered as active. Bivariate and multivariate analyses adjusting logistic regression models were used to study the relationship between habitual physical activity and the rest of variables, for each occupational situation. RESULTS: Fifty six percent of adults reported being physically active. Physical activity was lower among workers than non workers, although workers reported more physical exertion (14.5% in men and 8.0% in women). Physical activity was associated with occupation and educational level among male workers, but only with occupation among female workers. In the non working population, physical activity was lower among those who perceived their health status as fair or poor, compared with those that described it as good or very good, (ORa in men was 0.2, 95% confidence interval = 0.1-0.5; ORa in women was 0.5, 95% confidence interval = 0.3-0.8). CONCLUSIONS: More than half of the Barcelona population were physically active in an habitual manner. Among workers, this activity was mainly determined by the occupation. Non-workers with a poor self-perceived health status did less physical activity.     

Older workers in the construction industry: results of a routine health examination and a five year follow up

OBJECTIVE: To describe the health status of older construction workers and the occurrence of early retirement due to disability or of mortality within a five year follow up. METHODS: Firstly, a cross sectional study was performed among 4958 employees in the German construction industry, aged 40-64 years, who underwent standardised routine occupational health examinations in 1986-8. The study population included plumbers, carpenters, painters/varnishers, plasterers, unskilled workers, and white collar workers (control group). Job specific prevalence and age adjusted relative prevalence were calculated for hearing loss, abnormal findings at lung auscultation, reduced forced expiratory volume, increased diastolic blood pressure, abnormalities in the electrocardiogram, increased body mass index, hypercholesterolaemia, increased liver enzymes, abnormal findings in an examination of the musculoskeletal system, and abnormalities of the skin. Secondly, follow up for disability and all cause mortality was ascertained between 1992 and 1994 (mean follow up period = 4.5 y). Job specific crude rates were calculated for the occurrence of early retirement due to disability and for all cause mortality. With Cox's proportional hazards model, job specific relative risks, adjusted for age, nationality, and smoking were obtained. RESULTS: Compared with the white collar workers, a higher prevalence of hearing deficiencies, signs of obstructive lung diseases, increased body mass index, and musculoskeletal abnormalities were found among the construction workers at the baseline exam. During the follow up period, 141 men died and 341 men left the labour market due to disability. Compared with white collar workers, the construction workers showed a 3.5 to 8.4-fold increased rate of disability (P < 0.05 for all occupational groups) and a 1.2 to 2.1-fold increased all cause mortality (NS). CONCLUSIONS: This study shows the need and possibilities for further health promotion in workers employed in the construction industry, targeting both work related conditions and personal lifestyle factors. Rehabilitation measures should be enforced to limit the rate of disability among construction workers.     

Linking occupational conditions to physical health through marital, social, and intrapersonal processes

In the present longitudinal study of 330 married men and 300 married women, we use a comprehensive structural equation model to investigate how occupation is linked to physical health. Results show that occupational quality influences health-risk behavior (measured by composite indices) for both men and women through a series of mediating variables: social integration, marital integration, and psychological control. Health-risk behavior is related to adverse change in physical health status over a two-year period. Occupational quality influences social and marital integration and psychological control for both husbands and wives. Social integration and marital integration also enhance husbands' psychological control, but marital integration is the only factor contributing to wives' psychological control. In turn, psychological control is associated with health-risk behaviors for both husbands and wives. In addition, both social and marital integration directly deter husbands' health-risk behaviors, while social integration is the only variable to directly influence wives' health-risk behaviors.     

Knives, guns, and interparent violence: Relations with child behavior problems.

Behavior problems were examined across 3 groups of children (8–12 years of age), living in families characterized by recent physical spousal violence. The groups were (a) 47 children who reported observing marital violence that included the threat or use of knives or guns (observed); (b) 57 children who did not report witnessing marital violence involving knives or guns but whose mothers reported that violence involving knives or guns had occurred in a recent marital dispute (occurred); and (c) 51 children who did not report witnessing marital violence involving knives or guns and whose mothers also reported no violence involving knives or guns (neither). Children in the observed group displayed higher levels of behavior problems than did children in the neither group, but they did not differ from children in the occurred group. Children in the occurred group also displayed higher levels of behavior problems than did children in the neither group. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Trends in suicide in England and Wales, 1982-96

This article, the first of two, updates previous analyses of suicides published in Population Trends. Suicide trends in England and Wales are analysed by age and sex. Analyses by method and occupation suggest a link between suicide rates and easy access to effective means of committing suicide. The steadily growing number of cars with catalytic converters may go some way to explain the decreasing suicide rates from 'other gas poisoning' for both men and women since the early 1990s. Indeed, it may also explain to some extent the decline in overall suicide rates for men since this time.     

Beer binging and mortality: results from the Kuopio ischaemic heart disease risk factor study, a prospective population based study

OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between beer binging (regular sessions of heavy beer drinking) and mortality. DESIGN: Prospective population based study with the baseline assessment of level of alcohol intake (dose), by type of drink and drinking pattern, previous and existing diseases, socioeconomic background, occupational status, involvement in organisations during leisure time, physical activity in leisure time, body mass index, blood pressure, serum lipids and plasma fibrinogen concentration, during an average of 7.7 years' follow up of mortality. SETTING: Finland. SUBJECTS: A population sample of 1641 men who consumed beer who were aged 42, 48, 54, or 60 years at baseline. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: All cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality, death due to external causes, fatal myocardial infarctions. RESULTS: The risk of death was substantially increased in men whose usual dose of beer was 6 or more bottles per session compared with men who usually consumed less than 3 bottles, after adjustment for age and total alcohol consumption (relative risk 3.01 (95% confidence interval 1.54 to 5.90) for all deaths; 7.10 (2.01 to 25.12) for external deaths; and 6.50 (2.05 to 20.61) for fatal myocardial infarction). The association changed only slightly when smoking, occupational status, previous diseases, systolic blood pressure, low density lipoprotein and high density lipoprotein cholesterol concentration, plasma fibrinogen concentration, body mass index, marital status, leisure time physical activity, and involvement in organisations were controlled for. CONCLUSION: The pattern of beer binging is associated with increased risk of death, independently of the total average consumption of alcoholic drinks. The relation is not explained by known behavioural, psychosocial, or biological risk factors. Death due to injuries and other external causes is overrepresented among beer bingers, but a strong association with fatal myocardial infarction suggests that the pathway may also involve other acute triggers of severe health events.     

Social role and birth cohort influences on gender-linked personality traits in women: A 20-year longitudinal analysis.

Growth curve modeling was used to examine the impact of social role experiences (e.g., marital support, occupational prestige) and birth cohort on mean-level differences and age-related changes in positive personality traits indicative of either femininity or masculinity in 758 mothers heterogeneous in age, assessed 4 times over 2 decades. Both femininity and masculinity increased significantly from mean ages 39 through 59; each was predictive of an age change in the other. Low masculinity was associated with a more rapid increase in femininity, whereas high occupational prestige decreased the magnitude of association between masculinity and femininity. Femininity increased with more marital support but decreased with unmarried status, more children at home, and working full or part time; among full-time workers, that effect was modified by marital support. Masculinity increased with full-time work and high occupational prestige. A trend for differing levels of femininity, and contrasting associations of masculinity with femininity and marital conflict in women born after 1944 compared with those born earlier, suggests shifting social norms and gender relations in the marital role. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An examination of gender and racial differences among Missouri insanity acquittees

This study examines gender and racial differences among Missouri insanity acquittees, which included 42 African American females, 279 African American males, 63 Caucasian females, and 458 Caucasian males. Significant differences across the four groups were not found in age, current marital status, a diagnosis of borderline intellectual functioning/mental retardation, committing crimes of assault and burglary, and whether insanity acquittees ever received conditional releases to reside in the community. Some variations across the four gender/race categories were related to race (diagnoses of schizophrenia, mood disorders, and other Axis I diagnoses), but variations were more frequently related to gender (whether ever married; diagnoses of substance abuse, sexual disorders, antisocial personality disorder, borderline personality disorder, and any personality disorder; committing crimes of murder, sexual offenses, and serious offenses; and current residential status). African American males were identified as being an at-risk population. They were the most likely to have a schizophrenia diagnosis, a substance abuse diagnosis, an antisocial personality disorder diagnosis, and to be hospitalized on the survey date. Implications for treatment and future research are explored.     

Marital distress and the metabolic syndrome: Linking social functioning with physical health.

Mechanisms by which poor relationship functioning contributes to poor health are not fully understood. We conducted a study to evaluate the association between marital distress and the metabolic syndrome (MetS), which refers to a clustering of characteristics that have individually been shown to be associated with elevated risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes and which collectively have been shown to increase risk for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, stroke, and mortality. A population-based English sample of couples (N = 671 couples) in which both partners were between the ages of 52 and 79 years old completed a self-report measure of marital distress and a nurse visit that included collection of blood pressure, blood samples, and anthropometric measures. Results indicated that for women, after controlling for demographic variables, greater marital distress was significantly associated with increasing likelihood of meeting criteria for the MetS and with the individual MetS criteria of elevated blood pressure and elevated fasting glucose. The association between marital distress and the MetS remained significant for women when additionally controlling for depressive symptoms and health habits (smoking status, physical activity). Marital distress was not significantly associated with the MetS or any of the individual MetS criteria for men. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mechanisms of specific immunotherapy of allergic diseases

A government agency and its contractors employing nearly 96,000 workers throughout the country was surveyed for documented incidents of violence in the workplace. Thirty-five occupational medicine and related professionals (36% of those surveyed) from 27 locations returned the questionnaire. Of the responders, 20 individuals reported 74 incidents of workplace violence, with nearly 30% of these occurrences involving weapons, including 11 with guns. In a companion survey of human resource departments from 28 locations, there were 16 responders (57% of those surveyed) with 13 of them documenting 96 additional incidents. No duplicate reporting of the same event occurred between the two surveys. Approximately 70% of the agency workers were employed in locations covered by the 51 responders. Although the data are limited, the number of incidents and level of violence appear to be increasing over time. Of the 108 incidents for which time of occurrence was known, 32 were defined as "very serious," which included physical assault, threat or assault with a weapon, murder, suicide, or stalking. Verbal threats, verbal assaults, and vandalism were defined as "serious" incidents. A Cochran-Armitage trend test for an increasing proportion over time of "very serious" vs. "serious" events was statistically significant, with a P-value of 0.026.     

Suicide and life insurance. Evaluation of suicide cases

A retrospective evaluation of 521 life assurance contracts belonging to 468 persons who had committed suicide within the first 3 years of contract was performed. Contract data such as tarif, sum assured and duration do not differ from those of the other customers. Except for a few there were hardly any persons who acquired life assurance under speculative purposes, such as the intention to gain financial advantages for their relatives at the expense of the community of all insured persons by claiming life insurance benefits after suicide. By means of these results, one can easily state that the 3 years' exemption period according to the German rules and regulations for life assurance is an effective barrier against misuse in case of suicide. The incidence of suicide cases among all mortality cases cannot be established due to peculariarities of the German insurance market. Other evaluations were performed as to age, sex and marital status of the persons involved, the point in time when suicide was performed, the methods chosen and possible motives. Psychiatric problems such as depression and addiction can be found in the past medical history of many persons. The criterium of exclusion of free will was found in 14.4 percent of all cases.     

Health difference in eastern Europe: preliminary findings from the Nowa Huta study

This paper reports the findings of a retrospective study of differential mortality trends among men in a cohort of steelworks employees during the period 1974-1993, a period which encompassed the rise of Solidarity, martial law, and the transition to democracy in Poland. The Nowa Huta study traced vital status for 34,141 individuals and found few systematic differences in death rates among the social groupings it compared. However, there was a significant temporary increase in mortality differentials between skilled and unskilled manual workers, as well as between men of manual worker and peasant farmer origin, in 1981. In addition, differences between manual and non-manual workers opened up after 1991 and reached statistical significance in 1993. This paper considers the extent to which employment at the Nowa Huta steelworks, experienced within a specific and changing political context, may have contributed to the pattern of findings revealed by the study. The paper argues that an adequate account of the East-West health divide should include explicit consideration of qualitative differences in the structuring the social distribution of health.     

Clinical features in panic disorder with agoraphobia: a comparison of men and women

This study compared 96 women and 58 men suffering from panic disorder with agoraphobia. Participants completed questionnaires assessing various clinical features associated with panic disorder with agoraphobia (PDA), general adjustment, and drug/alcohol use. Results showed that PDA is a more severe condition in women. Women reported more severe agoraphobic avoidance when facing situations or places alone, more catastrophic thoughts, more body sensations, and higher scores on the Fear Survey Schedule. Also, women more often had a comorbid social phobia or posttraumatic stress disorder. The lower agoraphobic avoidance of men was associated with their alcohol use. However, there were no differences between genders in other dimensions, including depression, situational and trait anxiety, stressful life events, social self-esteem, marital adjustment, and drug use.