Widening Socioeconomic Disparities in Pain and Physical Function Among Americans Are Linked with Growing Obesity

2021 ◽  
pp. 089826432110281
Author(s):  
Dana A. Glei ◽  
Andrew C. Stokes ◽  
Maxine Weinstein

Objectives: We investigate whether obesity accounts for widening socioeconomic disparities in pain. Methods: Based on nationally representative samples of Americans aged 25–74 in 1995–1996 and 2011–2014, we use logistic regression to model period change in headaches, backaches, and joint aches as well as physical limitations and to determine whether those changes vary by a multidimensional measure of socioeconomic status. Results: Prevalence of backaches, joint aches, physical limitations, and obesity increased between the mid-1990s and the early 2010s, particularly among more disadvantaged Americans. Socioeconomic disparities in frequent backaches, frequent joint pain, and physical limitations more than doubled over this period. We estimate that obesity and health conditions may account for nearly a quarter of the widening disparity in frequent backaches and about half of the widening disparity in frequent joint pain and physical limitations. Discussion: Widening disparities in backaches, joint pain, and physical limitations have coincided with growing obesity.

2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 317-324 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan Bayly ◽  
Michelle M Scollo ◽  
Melanie A Wakefield

ObjectiveWe examined the roll-your-own (RYO) tobacco product market in Australia from 2001 to 2016. Trends in use of RYO tobacco among Australian adults were examined for 2004–2016.MethodsChanges in brand availability, pouch sizes and lowest priced products were noted from trade magazines. Prevalence of smoking of RYO and factory-made (FM) cigarettes among those 18 years and older was obtained from five consecutive waves of a large (n>21 000) nationally representative triennial survey from 2004 to 2016. Trends in cigarette use were examined using logistic regression.ResultsChanges in the Australian RYO market from 2001 to 2016 included a doubling in the number of brands, progressively smaller pouch sizes with smaller increases in price than in traditional RYO and comparable FM products. While use of FM cigarettes declined between 2004 and 2016, the proportion of adults exclusively using RYO tobacco linearly increased with each survey wave (OR 1.03, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.05, p<0.001), from 1.2% in 2004 to 1.7% in 2016. Exclusive RYO use among current smokers increased more among females than males, and young adults compared with those aged 30 years or older, but did not differ by socioeconomic status.ConclusionsIn contrast to substantial declines in FM cigarette use, exclusive use of RYO cigarettes increased in Australians since 2004, particularly among females and young adults. This has corresponded to a period of substantial changes to the RYO market, including progressively smaller and relatively more affordable products. Policy action to reduce price-related marketing and correct consumer misinformation about RYO tobacco are urgently required.


2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 583-605
Author(s):  
Adam M. Enders ◽  
Joseph E. Uscinski

Extremist political groups, especially “extreme” Republicans and conservatives, are increasingly charged with believing misinformation, antiscientific claims, and conspiracy theories to a greater extent than moderates and those on the political left by both a burgeoning scholarly literature and popular press accounts. However, previous investigations of the relationship between political orientations and alternative beliefs have been limited in their operationalization of those beliefs and political extremity. We build on existing literature by examining the relationships between partisan and nonpartisan conspiracy beliefs and symbolic and operational forms of political extremity. Using two large, nationally representative samples of Americans, we find that ideological extremity predicts alternative beliefs only when the beliefs in question are partisan in nature and the measure of ideology is identity-based. Moreover, we find that operational ideological extremism is negatively related to nonpartisan conspiracy beliefs. Our findings help reconcile discrepant findings regarding the relationship between political orientations and conspiracy beliefs.


2017 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 233372141769667 ◽  
Author(s):  
Minjee Lee ◽  
M. Mahmud Khan ◽  
Brad Wright

Objective: We investigated the association between childhood socioeconomic status (SES) and coronary heart disease (CHD) in older Americans. Method: We used Health and Retirement Study data from 1992 to 2012 to examine a nationally representative sample of Americans aged ≥50 years ( N = 30,623). We modeled CHD as a function of childhood and adult SES using maternal and paternal educational level as a proxy for childhood SES. Results: Respondents reporting low childhood SES were significantly more likely to have CHD than respondents reporting high childhood SES. Respondents reporting both low childhood and adult SES were 2.34 times more likely to have CHD than respondents reporting both high childhood and adult SES. People with low childhood SES and high adult SES were 1.60 times more likely than people with high childhood SES and high adult SES to report CHD in the fully adjusted model. High childhood SES and low adult SES increased the likelihood of CHD by 13%, compared with high SES both as a child and adult. Conclusion: Childhood SES is significantly associated with increased risk of CHD in later life among older adult Americans.


1998 ◽  
Vol 83 (1) ◽  
pp. 319-327 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walter R. Schumm ◽  
Farrell J. Webb ◽  
Stephan R. Bollman

In 1972, Bernard argued that marriage was good for men and bad for women. Subsequent research noted that wives, on average, reported lower marital satisfaction than husbands. Furthermore, when differences within couples existed on marital satisfaction, the wife was usually the less satisfied spouse; however, most previous studies of the gender/marital satisfaction relationship had not been based on nationally representative samples. A nationally representative sample from the 1988 Survey of Families and Households was used to assess the relationship of gender with marital satisfaction. Within-couple analyses indicated that wives were less satisfied with their marriages than husbands and that, when substantial within-couple differences occurred with respect to marital satisfaction, the wife was usually the less satisfied spouse. Results provide at least small support for feminist assertions about the relatively adverse nature of marriage for women in the United States.


2021 ◽  
pp. 109019812110104
Author(s):  
Annie Pelekanakis ◽  
Jennifer L. O’Loughlin ◽  
Katerina Maximova ◽  
Annie Montreuil ◽  
Jodi Kalubi ◽  
...  

Introduction An association between socioeconomic status (SES) and smoke-free private spaces among smokers could be due to heavier smoking among low SES smokers. We assessed whether quantity smoked or SES are independently associated with smoke-free homes or cars in daily smokers. Method Data were drawn from a cross-sectional telephone survey (2011–2012) of 750 daily smokers age ≥18 years in Quebec, Canada (45% response). Multivariable logistic regression was used to model the independent association between (a) number of cigarettes smoked per day, and (b) each of educational attainment, annual household income, or active employment status and smoke-free homes or cars. Results Participants were 41.0 years old on average, 57% were female. Median (IQR) number of cigarettes smoked per day was 14 (10, 20). Forty-eight percent of participants reported smoke-free homes; 34% reported smoke-free cars. Quantity smoked was strongly associated with both smoke-free homes and cars. Income and education (but not actively employed) were associated with smoke-free homes. None of the SES indicators were associated with smoke-free cars. Conclusions Interventions targeting smokers to promote smoke-free homes and cars should incorporate components to help smokers reduce quantity smoked or preferably, to quit. Interventions targeting smoke-free homes will also need to address SES inequalities by education and income. Our data suggest that reduction in quantity smoked may help smokers reduce SHS exposure in cars, but that an inequality lens may not be relevant.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Tatiana Gamboa-Gamboa ◽  
Romain Fantin ◽  
Jeancarlo Cordoba ◽  
Ivannia Caravaca ◽  
Ingrid Gómez-Duarte

Abstract Objective: This article analyzes the relationship between socioeconomic status and the prevalence of overweight and obesity in the primary school population in Costa Rica. Design: A National School Weight/Height Census was disseminated across Costa Rica in 2016. The percentage of children who were overweight or obese was calculated by sex, age, and socioeconomic indicators (type of institution: private, public, mix; type of geographic location: rural, urban; and the level of development of the district of residence: quartiles). A mixed effects multinomial logistic regression model and mixed effects logistic regression model were used to analyze the association between the prevalence of being overweight or obese and district socioeconomic status. Setting: The survey was carried out in public and private primary schools across Costa Rica in 2016. Participants: 347,366 students from 6 to 12 years old, enrolled in public and private primary schools. Results: The prevalence of overweight and obesity among children was 34.0%. Children in private schools were more likely to be overweight or obese than students in public schools (OR=1.10 [1.07, 1.13]). Additionally, children were less likely to be overweight or obese if attending a school in a district of the lowest socioeconomic quartile compared to the highest socioeconomic quartile (OR=0.79 [0.75, 0.83]), and in a rural area compared to the urban area (OR=0.92 [0.87, 0.97]). Conclusions: Childhood obesity in Costa Rica continues to be a public health problem. Prevalence of overweight and obesity in children was associated with indicators of higher socioeconomic status.


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