Further decoding the mystery of American pain: The importance of work

A recent paper showed that, whereas we expect pain to rise with age due to accumulated injury, physical wear and tear, and disease, the elderly in America report less pain than those in midlife. Further exploration revealed this pattern was confined to the less educated. The authors called this the ‘mystery of American pain’ since pain appears to rise with age in other countries irrespective of education. Revisiting this issue with the same cross-sectional data we show that what matters in explaining pain through to age 65 is whether one is working or not. The incidence of pain across the life-course is nearly identical for workers in America and elsewhere, but it is greater for non-working Americans than it is for non-workers elsewhere. As in other countries, pain is hump-shaped in age among those Americans out of work but rises a little over the life-course for those in work. Furthermore, these patterns are apparent within educational groups. We show that, if one ascribes age-specific employment rates from other OECD countries to Americans, the age profile of pain in the United States is more similar to that found elsewhere in the OECD. This is because employment rates are lower in the United States than elsewhere between ages 30 and 60: the simulation reduces the pain contribution of these non-workers to overall pain in America, so it looks somewhat similar to pain elsewhere. We conclude that what matters in explaining pain over the life-course is whether one is working or not and once that is accounted for, the patterns are consistent across the United States and the rest of the OECD.

Mate Selection Behavior of GED Recipients

The General Educational Development (GED) degree is designed to be a credential equivalent to the high school diploma. However, growing evidence indicates that GED recipients have worse outcomes than high school graduates. Such findings raise the question: is the GED socially equivalent to the high school diploma? Although educational assortative mating patterns have long been used as a barometer of the social distance across educational groups, there has not been a study that has addressed this question by examining the marital sorting patterns of GED recipients. Using log-linear models, our study shows that the odds of intermarriage between GED recipients and high school graduates resemble those between GED recipients and those without a secondary degree. Racial/ethnic minorities had greater difficulty crossing the GED/high school graduate boundary when they married. Our findings detract from the purported view that the GED degree is equivalent to a traditional high school diploma.

Political Participation and Request for Change: The Role of Education

The article tests the hypothesis, based on the concept of post-industrial society that people with higher education will be more politically active, especially in the manifestation of the demand for change. For this purpose, the materials of the All-Russian poll, organized in March 2021 by the Institute of Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, are used to analyze the sociopolitical characteristics associated with political activism and the formation of a demand for change among different educational groups of Russians. The conclusion is made that, first, education in modern Russia does directly affect an individual's preparedness for political action: more educated Russians are more interested in the political life of the country and are more aware of their ability to influence the "rules of the game". Second, education does directly affect actual involvement in social and political activism. However, concerning conscious political participation, this effect relates not so much to everyday, regular, as to its extreme protest forms. Third, the education of Russians has no discernible correlation with the presence/absence of a liberal demand for change. In terms of meeting the minimum requirements for political participation, Russian educational groups currently correspond to the Western political science mainstream theory and the practices of developed countries. Nevertheless, the highlighted features of the political characteristics of Russians with higher and post-higher education (not all of the examined indicators are stable in dynamics, not all differences between educational groups are clearly expressed, and, in general, the participation of highly educated Russians in the political life of the country is rather formal) lead to the need for a more careful study of the findings not only of the Western scientific mainstream but also of alternative concepts of Third World researchers. In addition, it has been suggested that the emancipation of a group of highly educated Russians from the state is incomplete. Consequently, they are aware of their objectively central place and leading role in political life.

THE IMPACT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN TEACHING AND LEARNING ACTIVITY

The emergence of Covid-19 some time ago had a huge impact on the world of education. Currently, the pandemic is still not over, but these difficulties cannot stop the nation's obligation to study and attend school. There have been many ways that have been done by the government, educators, and participants in getting around the best way to study during a pandemic. The government also decided that teaching and learning activities be carried out online so that students and teachers can avoid Covid-19. However, studying online is not as easy as it seems. Covid-19 has an effect that is felt by all educational groups, especially students. This study discusses the effects of Covid-19 on all students and learning personnel in teaching and learning activities. In addition, this article also provides an overview of how the proper teaching and learning process should be carried out so that the benefits of the process can be received equally from both parties.

Germany's low SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence confirms effective containment in 2020: Results of the nationwide RKI-SOEP study

Pre-vaccine SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence data from Germany are scarce outside hotspots, and socioeconomic disparities remained largely unexplored. The nationwide RKI-SOEP study with 15,122 adult participants investigated seroprevalence and testing in a supplementary wave of the Socio-Economic-Panel conducted predominantly in October-November 2020. Self-collected oral-nasal swabs were PCR-positive in 0.4% and Euroimmun anti-SARS-CoV-2-S1-IgG ELISA from dry capillary blood in 1.3% (95% CI 0.9-1.7%, population-weighted, corrected for sensitivity=0.811, specificity=0.997). Seroprevalence was 1.7% (95% CI 1.2-2.3%) when additionally adjusting for antibody decay. Overall infection prevalence including self-reports was 2.1%. We estimate 45% (95% CI 21-60%) undetected cases and analyses suggest lower detection in socioeconomically deprived districts. Prior SARS-CoV-2 testing was reported by 18% from the lower educational group compared to 25% and 26% from the medium and high educational group (p<0.0001). Symptom-triggered test frequency was similar across educational groups. However, routine testing was more common in low-educated adults, whereas travel-related testing and testing after contact with an infected person was more common in highly educated groups. In conclusion, pre-vaccine SARS-CoV-2-seroprevalence in Germany was very low. Notified cases appear to capture more than half of infections but may underestimate infections in lower socioeconomic groups. These data confirm the successful containment strategy of Germany until winter 2020.

Mating Market and Dynamics of Union Formation

The paper investigates the relationship between structural partner market constraints and the timing and educational sorting of unions in Germany (1985–2018). We integrate the literature on the effect of the reversed gender gap in education on educational assortative mating, with a focus on mating dynamics and the measurement of the partner market over the life course. We concentrate on two particular educational groups, low-educated men and highly educated women, those with worsening mating prospects and more subject to experience hypogamous unions. Our results show that the local education-specific mating squeeze influences union formation, its timing, and educational sorting. Indeed, for the two groups, the increasing supply of highly educated women in the partner market increases the likelihood of remaining single or establishing an hypogamous union, where she is higher educated than he. In line with search theory, we find the effects of the mating squeeze to become particularly visible after people turn 30 years of age. This is true for the risk of remaining single and forming an hypogamous union. We underline the necessity to study assortative mating and union formation from a dynamic perspective, taking into account changing structural conditions during the partner search process.

Health care utilization and health-related quality of life of injury patients: comparison of educational groups

Background Differences in health care utilization by educational level can contribute to inequalities in health. Understanding health care utilization and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of educational groups may provide important insights into the presence of these inequalities. Therefore, we assessed characteristics, health care utilization and HRQoL of injury patients by educational level. Method Data for this registry based cohort study were extracted from the Dutch Injury Surveillance System. At 6-month follow-up, a stratified sample of patients (≥25 years) with an unintentional injury reported their health care utilization since discharge and completed the EQ-5-Dimension, 5-Level (EQ-5D-5L) and visual analogue scale (EQ VAS). Logistic regression analyses, adjusting for patient and injury characteristics, were performed to investigate the association between educational level and health care utilization. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse HRQoL scores by educational level, for hospitalized and non-hospitalized patients. Results This study included 2606 patients; 47.9% had a low, 24.4% a middle level, and 27.7% a high level of education. Patients with low education were more often female, were older, had more comorbidities, and lived more often alone compared to patients with high education (p < 0.001). Patients with high education were more likely to visit a general practitioner (OR: 1.38; CI: 1.11–1.72) but less likely to be hospitalized (OR: 0.79; CI: 0.63–1.00) and to have nursing care at home (OR: 0.66; CI: 0.49–0.90) compared to their low educated counterparts. For both hospitalized an non-hospitalized persons, those with low educational level reported lower HRQoL and more problems on all dimensions than those with a higher educational level. Conclusion Post-discharge, level of education was associated with visiting the general practitioner and nursing care at home, but not significantly with use of other health care services in the 6 months post-injury. Additionally, patients with a low educational level had a poorer HRQoL. However, other factors including age and sex may also explain a part of these differences between educational groups. It is important that patients are aware of potential consequences of their trauma and when and why they should consult a specific health care service after ED or hospital discharge.

CONFLICTS IN STUDENT GROUPS WITH DIFFERENT COMPOSITION BY SEX

The article is devoted to the study of the peculiarities of conflicts in mixed and same-sex student groups. The theoretical basis of the study was the position of the structural features of interpersonal interaction in the middle of the group, including the substructure of horizontal and vertical relationships in the instrumental and expressive spheres of group activity. The study of conflict in student groups was based on the analysis of the characteristics of interpersonal relationships between group members in certain areas. To study the peculiarities of conflict in groups of different sexes, a questionnaire was developed, which provided an opportunity to determine the overall assessment of conflict, conflict in the vertical and horizontal subsystems of group activity, as well as in its instrumental and expressive areas. 188 students from 10 academic groups of the higher educational institution took part in the survey. Of these, six were sexually homogeneous and four heterogeneous. According to the results of the survey, the gender composition of student educational groups is more related to the emotional component of group activity and the horizontal substructure of intragroup relationships. These trends were confirmed using the methods of mathematical statistics (Student’s t-test). The results suggest that gender-mixed academic groups are more resistant to conflict triggers than homogeneous ones. However the composition of the group on the basis of gender can not be considered a factor that directly determines the conflict in the field of solving business problems, as well as interaction with teachers, officials of the dean’s office and student government.

Method for reconstructing mortality by educational groups

Background The lack of classification by educational attainment in death and population exposure data at older ages is an important constraint for studying changes and patterns of mortality disparities by education in Denmark and Sweden. The missing educational distribution of population also restricts analyses aiming at estimating contributions of compositional change to the improvements in national longevity. This study proposes a transparent approach to solve the two methodological issues allowing to obtain robust education-specific mortality estimates and population weights. Methods Using nonparametric approach, we redistribute the unknown cases and extrapolate the mortality curves of these sub-populations with the help of population-level data on an aggregate level from the Human Mortality Database. Results We present reconstructed and harmonized education-specific abridged and complete life tables for Sweden and Denmark covering 5-year-long periods from 1991–1995 to 2011–2015. The newly estimated life tables are in good agreement with the national life tables and show plausible age- and education-specific patterns. The observed changes in life expectancy by education suggest about the widening longevity gap between the highest and lowest educated for males and females in both countries. Conclusions The proposed simple and transparent method can be applied in similar country-specific cases showing large proportions of missing education or other socio-economic characteristics at older ages.

Characteristics of the Internal Evaluations of the Educational Groups in Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Iran

Background: Intragroup evaluation is a process through which faculty members, students, and university officials examine the strengths and weaknesses of their department by assessing the educational unit to clarify the status of the department. Objectives: The present study aimed to investigate the internal evaluations (IEs) of the departments conducted at Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences (KUMS), Iran. Methods: In this descriptive study, IEs were performed at KUMS during 2012-2018. A summary of the documented information was collected by a checklist, and 22 IEs of the university departments during this period were reviewed. Data analysis was performed in SPSS version 21. Results: Most of the IEs were evaluated within six months. In 100% of the cases, the educational goals of a specific department, cases of the evaluation areas, and assessment criteria were determined and scored, and the lesson plans for the existing theory units were delivered to the students. In addition, documents of faculty members’ research activities, along with specific and codified programs for conferences, were reported. However, only 27.3% of the educational experts and 54.5% of the student representatives were involved in the group evaluation committee, and in 68.2% of the cases, there were lesson plans for skill units and clinical wards. On the other hand, 40% of the cases had a specific documentary program to assess the students’ academic decline/achievement in the groups. Conclusions: Formally, the IEs were performed correctly, and the obtained results briefly showed that they could achieve multiple academic goals. Due to the differences between the results and the observed state of the university, external evaluations are recommended as well.