scholarly journals Prospective Cohort Study of Sociodemographic Factors, Including Occupation and Subsequent Unemployment, Under COVID-19 in Japan

Author(s):  
Makiko Kuroishi ◽  
Tomohisa Nagata ◽  
Ayako Hino ◽  
Seiichiro Tateishi ◽  
Akira Ogami ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: We examined the relationship between sociodemographic factors, including occupation and unemployment, among workers during COVID-19 in Japan.Methods: We conducted a prospective cohort study using a self-administrated questionnaire. We surveyed the socioeconomic status, personal characteristics, and occupation of recruited workers at baseline (December 22–25, 2020); subsequent unemployment was examined at follow-up (February 18-19, 2021). We determined the odds ratio (OR) of unemployment for sociodemographic status and occupation. The multivariate model was adjusted for sex and age.Results: Among the 19,941 participants, 725 (3.6%) had experienced unemployment. Multivariate analysis showed that the OR and 95% confidence interval (CI) of unemployment associated with sex were 1.35 (1.14–1.60) for women compared with men. With increasing age, the OR for unemployment was lower (OR, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.97–0.99; P <0.001), adjusted for sex. The OR and 95% CI for the association with marital status were as follows: 1.33 (1.03–1.71) for being married (spouse not working); 2.09 (1.65–2.64) for bereaved or divorced; and 1.29 (1.07–1.56) for unmarried compared with married (spouse working). The respective figures for the association with annual household income were as follows: 4.05 (3.00–5.46) for <2 million yen; 2.12 (1.62–2.78) for 2–4 million yen; and 1.46 (1.11–1.93) for 4–6 million yen, compared with >10 million yen. The figures for the association with education were 1.73 (1.12–2.66) for junior high or high school and 1.83 (1.19–2.83) for vocational school, junior college, or technical school. The association with occupation was 2.01 (1.63–2.48) for temporary or contract employees, 1.35 (1.02–1.78) for self-employed, and 3.02 (1.68–5.42) for agriculture, forestry, or fishing, compared with general employees; it was 0.56 (0.40–0.79) for public employees, faculty members, or non-profit organization employees. The association with job type was 1.25 (1.04–1.51) for jobs mainly involving interpersonal communication and 1.85 (1.55–2.21) for mainly manual or physical labor, compared with mainly desk work.Conclusions: COVID-19 appears to have created difficulties for previously vulnerable groups. This suggests the need for employment and economic support for such individuals.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Makiko Kuroishi ◽  
Tomohisa Nagata ◽  
Ayako Hino ◽  
Seiichiro Tateishi ◽  
Akira Ogami ◽  
...  

Background: This study examined the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and subsequent unemployment. Methods: This prospective cohort study was conducted using a self-administrated questionnaire in Japan. SES, personal characteristics, and occupation of recruited workers were surveyed at baseline (December 22-25, 2020); subsequent unemployment was examined at follow-up (February 18-19, 2021). We determined the odds ratios (ORs) of unemployment for SES and other variables using a multilevel logistic model. Results: Among all 19,941 participants, 2.3% reported experience of unemployment through negative reasons. Multivariate analysis showed the OR and 95% confidence interval for unemployment associated with age to be 0.66 (0.47-0.92) for 30-39 years, 0.36 (0.25-0.51) for 40-49, 0.36 (0.25-0.53) for 50-59, and 0.43 (0.27-0.67) for more than 60 compared with 20-29 years. The association with annual household income was 2.96 (1.94-4.50) for <2 million yen and 1.51 (1.03-2.22) for 2-4 million yen compared with >10 million yen. The association with marital status was 1.43 (1.04-1.98) for bereaved/divorced compared with married (working spouse). The association with occupation was 1.75 (1.35-2.29) for temporary or contract employees and 2.11 (1.04-4.30) for agriculture, forestry, or fishing compared with general employees. The association with job type was 1.69 (1.34-2.15) for mainly manual labor. Conclusion: We observed a relationship between SES and subsequent unemployment under COVID-19. It is necessary to provide broad, ongoing support in the form of both short-term assistance and long-term job training and health care.


BMJ Open ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (12) ◽  
pp. e017956
Author(s):  
Robert W Smith ◽  
Kerry Kuluski ◽  
Andrew P Costa ◽  
Samir K Sinha ◽  
Richard H Glazier ◽  
...  

ObjectiveTo examine the influence of patient-level sociodemographic factors on the incidence of hospital readmission within 30 days among medical patients in a large Canadian metropolitan city.DesignProspective cohort study.Setting and participantsPatients admitted to the General Internal Medicine service of an urban teaching hospital in Toronto, Canada participated in a survey of sociodemographic information. Patients were not surveyed if deemed medically unstable, receiving care in medical/surgical step-down beds or were isolated for infection control. Included in the final analysis was a diverse cohort of 1427 adult, non-palliative, patients who were discharged home.MeasuresThirteen patient-level sociodemographic variables were examined in relation to time to unplanned all-cause readmission within 30 days. Illness level was accounted for by the following covariates: self-perceived health status, previous hospital utilisation, primary diagnosis case mix group, Charlson Comorbidity Index score and inpatient length of stay.ResultsApproximately, 14.4% (n=205) of patients experienced readmission within 30 days. Sociodemographic factors were not significantly associated with time to readmission in unadjusted and adjusted analyses. Indicators of illness level, namely, previous hospitalisations, were the strongest risk factors for readmission within this cohort. One previous admission (adjusted HR 1.78; 95% CI 1.22 to 2.59, P<0.01) and at least four previous emergency department visits (adjusted HR 2.33; 95% CI 1.46 to 4.43, P<0.01) were associated with increased hazard of readmission within 30 days.ConclusionsPatient-level sociodemographic factors did not influence the incidence of unplanned all-cause readmission within 30 days. Further research is needed to understand the generalisability of our findings and investigate whether contextual factors, such as access to universal health insurance coverage, attenuate the effects of sociodemographic factors.


2011 ◽  
Vol 198 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lamiece Hassan ◽  
Luke Birmingham ◽  
Mari A. Harty ◽  
Manuela Jarrett ◽  
Peter Jones ◽  
...  

BackgroundMental illness is common among prisoners, but little evidence exists regarding changes in symptoms in custody over time.AimsTo investigate the prevalence and predictors of psychiatric symptoms among prisoners during early custody.MethodIn a prospective cohort study, 3079 prisoners were screened for mental illness within 3 days of reception. To establish baseline diagnoses and symptoms, 980 prisoners were interviewed; all remaining in custody were followed up 1 month and 2 months later.ResultsSymptom prevalence was highest during the first week of custody. Prevalence showed a linear decline among men and convicted prisoners, but not women or remand prisoners. It decreased among prisoners with depression, but not among prisoners with other mental illnesses.ConclusionsOverall, imprisonment did not exacerbate psychiatric symptoms, although differences in group responses were observed. Continued discussion regarding non-custodial alternatives for vulnerable groups and increased support for all during early custody are recommended.


BMJ Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. e036910
Author(s):  
Akiomi Inoue ◽  
Akizumi Tsutsumi ◽  
Hisashi Eguchi ◽  
Yuko Kachi ◽  
Akihito Shimazu ◽  
...  

ObjectivesWe examined the association of workplace social capital (WSC), including structural and cognitive dimensions, with refraining from seeking medical care (RSMC) among Japanese employees.DesignOne-year prospective cohort study.Setting and participantsWe surveyed 8770 employees (6881 men and 1889 women) aged 18–70 years from 12 firms in Japan using a self-administered questionnaire comprising the WSC scale and the items on potential confounders (ie, age, educational attainment and equivalent annual household income) at baseline (from April 2011 to March 2013).Outcome measuresAt a 1-year follow-up, we measured RSMC using a single-item question ‘In the past year, have you ever refrained from visiting a hospital, clinic, acupuncturist or dentist despite your sickness (including a slight cold or cavity) or injury?’ResultsThe results of Cox regression with robust variance showed that, after adjusting for potential confounders, the low WSC group (ie, the lowest tertile group) had a significantly higher relative risk (RR) of RSMC compared with the high WSC group (ie, the highest tertile group) among both men and women (overall WSC: RR 1.09 (95% CI 1.01 to 1.17) and 1.20 (95% CI 1.06 to 1.37); structural dimension: RR 1.13 (95% CI 1.04 to 1.22) and 1.25 (95% CI 1.07 to 1.45); and cognitive dimension: RR 1.11 (95% CI 1.03 to 1.20) and 1.21 (95% CI 1.06 to 1.38), respectively). Trend analysis using a continuous score of the WSC scale also showed a significant association of low WSC with a higher risk of RSMC among both men and women.ConclusionsOur findings suggest that the lack of social capital in the workplace is associated with RSMC among Japanese employees.


2019 ◽  
Vol 69 (681) ◽  
pp. e236-e245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Esther T van der Werf ◽  
Niamh M Redmond ◽  
Sophie Turnbull ◽  
Hannah Thornton ◽  
Matthew Thompson ◽  
...  

BackgroundSeverity assessments of respiratory tract infection (RTI) in children are known to differ between parents and clinicians, but determinants of perceived severity are unknown.AimTo investigate the (dis)agreement between, and compare the determinants of, parent and clinician severity scores.Design and settingSecondary analysis of data from a prospective cohort study of 8394 children presenting to primary care with acute (≤28 days) cough and RTI.MethodData on sociodemographic factors, parent-reported symptoms, clinician-reported findings, and severity assessments were used. Kappa (κ)-statistics were used to investigate (dis) agreement, whereas multivariable logistic regression was used to identify the factors associated with illness severity.ResultsParents reported higher illness severity (mean 5.2 [standard deviation (SD) 1.8], median 5 [interquartile range (IQR) 4–7]), than clinicians (mean 3.1 [SD 1.7], median 3 [IQR 2–4], P<0.0001). There was low positive correlation between these scores (+0.43) and poor inter-rater agreement between parents and clinicians (κ 0.049). The number of clinical signs was highly correlated with clinician scores (+0.71). Parent-reported symptoms (in the previous 24 hours) that were independently associated with higher illness severity scores, in order of importance, were: severe fever, severe cough, rapid breathing, severe reduced eating, moderate-to-severe reduced fluid intake, severe disturbed sleep, and change in cry. Three of these symptoms (severe fever, rapid breathing, and change in cry) along with inter/subcostal recession, crackles/crepitations, nasal flaring, wheeze, and drowsiness/irritability were associated with higher clinician scores.ConclusionClinicians and parents use different factors and make different judgements about the severity of children’s RTI. Improved understanding of the factors that concern parents could improve parent–clinician communication and consultation outcomes.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 51-52
Author(s):  
Hui Chen ◽  
Tianjing Zhou ◽  
Yuan Ma ◽  
Changzheng Yuan

Abstract The prospective association of body weight variability with dementia remains unclear. We aimed to investigate whether long-term variability in body weight is associated with the risk of late-life dementia and to explore their potential temporal relationship using data from a nationwide prospective cohort study of the United States. A total of 5,556 participants free of dementia in 2008 (55.66% women; mean [SD] age, 71.1 [3.1] years) were followed up to 8 years for doctor-diagnosed dementia reported biennially. Body weight variability was assessed as the coefficient of variation utilizing the body weight information collected over 16 years before 2008. Cox proportion hazard model was applied to estimate hazard ratio (HR) of dementia associated with body weight variability. Higher body weight variability was associated with an increased incidence of dementia after controlling for sociodemographic factors, lifestyle, mean body weight, and body weight change. The multi-variable adjusted HR of dementia of the highest quartile of body weight variability was 2.01 (95% CI 1.01-1.87) compared with the lowest. Every 1% increment in variability was associated with a 6.2% higher risk of dementia (HR=1.06, 95%CI 1.04,1.09, p-trend&lt;0.001). Such association was observed for both Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia, with stronger association observed when body weight variability was assessed closer to dementia assessment.


Author(s):  
Mika Kivimaki ◽  
Marko Elovainio ◽  
Jussi Vahtera ◽  
Marianna Virtanen ◽  
Jane E. Ferrie

2002 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. R. Aro ◽  
H. J. de Koning ◽  
K. Vehkalahti ◽  
P. Absetz ◽  
M. Schreck ◽  
...  

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document