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Spontaneous abortions by occupation and social class in Finland.

A hospital discharge registry covering all general hospitals in Finland was used in the study of spontaneous abortions. Spontaneous abortions were analysed by the women's occupation and socio-economic class for 1973-75 inclusive. The risk of spontaneous abortion increased from social class 1 to 4 by about 50%. The occupational groups with an increased frequency of spontaneous abortions included industrial and construction work, agriculture, forestry and fishing, sales, transport and communication, services, and students and trainees. Decreased frequency of spontaneous abortions was noted among housewives, and in managerial and clerical occupations. The results suggest that socio-economic factors contribute to the rate of spontaneous abortions analogous to their known adverse effects on pre-term birth, birth weight and perinatal mortality.

Abortion, Spontaneous↗

Puppy socialization classes.

Setting up a puppy training program is one of the most important services veterinarians can offer. Puppy socialization classes aim not only to socialize the puppies so that they learn to interact well with children, adults, and other dogs, but also to teach basic obedience exercises. The classes build a strong bond between puppy, owner, and veterinary clinic. This article covers the techniques used, the structure of the classes, and outlines benefits for the dog, owner, veterinarian, and community.

Aging↗

Phenotypical characteristics, lifestyle, social class and uveal melanoma.

PURPOSE: To investigate potential risk factors of uveal melanoma, including phenotypical characteristics, eye burns, social class, smoking and alcohol consumption. METHODS: A hospital-based and population-based case-control study of uveal melanoma was carried out from 1995 through 1998 and the results pooled. A total of 118 patients (59 men and 59 women) with uveal melanoma and 475 controls matching on sex, age and study regions were interviewed. Conditional logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). RESULTS: There was an elevated risk for blue or grey iris color (OR = 3.0, 95% CI 1.5-6.0). Red or blond hair color at age 20 was slightly associated with an increased risk for uveal melanoma (OR = 1.5, 95% CI 0.9-2.4). There was no elevated risk for a history of eye burns (OR = 1.1, 95% CI 0.5-2.4). CONCLUSIONS: Among the potential risk factors studied, only the phenotypical characteristics showed an association with the risk of uveal melanoma.

Adult↗

Social class and health: the puzzling counter-example of British South Asians.

British South Asians (with ancestry from the Indian subcontinent) provided a puzzling exception to the British class gradient in mortality during the 1970s. On the assumption that class gradients in health are produced mainly by gradients in standard of living, this might be due to a break in the relation of class to standard of living (change in class structure), or by a break in the relation of standard of living to patterns of health behaviour and health risk (change in class lifestyles). Data on these characteristics are available from the West of Scotland Twenty-07 Study, where 159 South Asians aged 30-40 (mean age 35) were sampled alongside 319 of the general population in Glasgow. As regards changes in class structure, results indicate that the underclass thesis, which suggests that ethnic minorities are forced into less eligible jobs or into a separate labour market or into unemployment, resulting in a standard of living below that of the general population, still holds good for British South Asians in categories from social class III non-manual downwards. It does not hold good for owners of small businesses, where Sikhs and Hindus in particular have a standard of living equivalent to general population counterparts. However, prosperity is not predictable from levels of education in the subcontinent and from this and other signs it appears that a wholesale redistribution of class chances is occurring among British South Asians, disrupting inter-and intra-generational continuities in the relation between class and standard of living. There is little sign of change in class lifestyles, i.e. in the relation between standard of living and health behaviour or health risk. As yet, though, the new distribution of standard of living is affecting patterns of health behaviour and health risk more strongly than symptom experience or chronic illness, suggesting that a class gradient in health will re-emerge.

Adult↗

The importance of low control at work and home on depression and anxiety: do these effects vary by gender and social class?

In this study we consider both a gender model, a model that focuses on the stress associated with social roles and conditions in the home environment, and a job model, which addresses the stressful characteristics of the work environment, to investigate patterns of women's and men's psychological morbidity across different social positions. Using data from the Whitehall II Study, a longitudinal study of British civil servants, we hypothesise that a lack of control in the home and work environments affects depression and anxiety differently for women and men and across three social class groups. Both women and men with low control either at work or at home had an increased risk of developing depression and anxiety. We did not find an interaction between low control at home and work. We did, however, find that the risks associated with low control either at home or work were not evenly distributed across different social positions, measured by employment grade. Women in the lowest or middle employment grades who also reported low control at work or home were at most risk for depression and anxiety. Men in the middle grade with low work control were at risk for depression while those in the lowest grade were at risk for anxiety. Men in the middle and highest grades, however, were at greatest risk for both outcomes if they reported low control at home. We conclude that, in addition to social roles and characteristics of the work environment, future investigations of gender inequalities in health incorporate variables associated with control at home and social position.

Adult↗

Stature, upward social mobility and the nature of statural differences between social classes.

Stature and educational level achieved were studied in 10 groups of 19-year-old Polish men born in 1967 and examined in 1986. Each group consisted of subjects equated for (1) parental education and occupation, (2) urban-rural residence and (3) number of children in family. It was found that within each group subjects who were secondary school students or graduates were on average taller than their age-mates who by the time of examination had never moved beyond the level of elementary or basic trade school. This result is consistent with the long-debated hypothesis that in industrial societies upward social mobility tends to be selective with regard to body height. Theoretically, such social selection could be expected to inflate the magnitude of social-class differences in stature by adding to them a genetic component. However, a mechanism can be envisaged by which preferential recruitment of taller individuals to upper social strata might indeed be at work and yet produce no differential distribution of genotypes along the social scale.

Adult↗

Social class differences in health and care in the year before death.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: The aim was to identify any social class differences in health and care in the year before death emerging from a wider study of life before death. DESIGN AND SETTING: Data were collected at interviews, mainly of close relatives, with those who knew most about the people's lives in the year before they died. The sample was a random sample of adult (15 and over) deaths in 10 areas of England in 1987. SUBJECTS: Information was obtained about 639 persons, 80% of the initial sample of 800 deaths. MAIN RESULTS: While middle class people die at an older age, the symptoms and physical restrictions reported for middle class and working class people were similar, and middle class people were reported to have a better quality of life before death. More working class people were felt to be in financial need. CONCLUSIONS: Money and class contribute to the quality of life before death as well as postponing death.

Adult↗

Residential area deprivation predicts fruit and vegetable consumption independently of individual educational level and occupational social class: a cross sectional population study in the Norfolk cohort of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer (EPIC-Norfolk).

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To investigate the independent association between individual and area based socioeconomic measures and fruit and vegetable consumption. DESIGN: Cross sectional population based study. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: 22,562 men and women aged 39-79 years living in the general community in Norfolk, United Kingdom, recruited using general practice age-sex registers. OUTCOME MEASURES: Fruit and vegetable intake assessed using a food frequency questionnaire. MAIN RESULTS: Being in a manual occupational social class, having no educational qualifications, and living in a deprived area all independently predicted significantly lower consumption of fruit and vegetables. The effect of residential area deprivation was predominantly in those in manual occupational social class and no educational qualifications. CONCLUSIONS: Understanding some of the community level barriers to changing health related behaviours may lead to more effective interventions to improving health in the whole community, particularly those who are most vulnerable.

Adult↗

Social class, psychological wellbeing and minority status in Northern Ireland.

The present study sought to evaluate the completing claims of the social stress hypothesis and the social selection hypothesis which both claim to explain the relationship between social class and psychopathology. Scores on a self-report measure of psychological wellbeing, the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) were obtained from a random sample of 581 respondents in Northern Ireland. An analysis of variance comparing majority (Protestant) and minority (Catholic) group males and females at three socioeconomic levels produced a Religion X Social Status interaction. This was due to a trend of increasing symptoms with decreasing social status among Protestants and the reverse phenomenon among Catholics. It was concluded that the results while similar to those reported earlier by Cochrane and Stopes-Roe, provided no clear support for either the social selection hypothesis or the social stress hypothesis but were possibly related to local factors connected with emigration or the ongoing political violence in Northern Ireland.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

Ties to influential adults among black and white adolescents: culture, social class, and family networks.

Although prior research suggests the importance of nonparental adults to adolescents, the ecological context of those relationships has received little attention. This study examined ties to influential adults among 122 adolescents who varied by race, family structure, and gender The strongest effects were for race. Blacks reported stronger ties than Whites to the maternal grandmother as well as more supportive interactions with adult males. While race differences in grandparental ties were robust across social class (SES), ties to an influential adult male became nonsignificant upon controlling for SES. African American girls from divorced families consistently reported the strongest ties. Discussion considers the role of culture versus SES in explaining race differences. Implications for mentoring interventions are proposed, with special attention to the role of actualizing latent ties to already existing network members.

Adolescent↗

Social class effects on northeastern Brazilian children's conceptions of areas of personal choice and social regulation.

2 studies examined middle- and lower-class Brazilian children's concepts of personal choice and social regulation. In Study 1, interviews of 40 middle- and lower-class children (9 and 15 years old) revealed that children across classes distinguished moral from conventional issues on the bases of rule contingency and act generalizability criteria. Lower-class children, however, were less likely to view conventions as rule contingent and more likely to generalize conventional acts. In Study 2, interviews of 240 middle- and lower-class children (ages 8, 12, 16 years) found that across classes, children distinguished prudential issues from matters they treated as personal. Prudential issues were seen as subject to parental authority. Middle-class children were more likely to treat personal issues as matters of choice. With age, lower-class children increasingly tended to treat personal items as matters of choice, and by adolescence there were no class differences. Findings show that Brazilian children maintain a heterogeneous orientation to rules and authority which includes a domain of personal choice. Class differences indicate that hierarchical social structures affect children's sense of autonomy. However, developmental effects indicate that a domain of personal choice emerges among children across social classes.

Adolescent↗

Ethnic, racial, and social class factors in mental health.

A review of the literature reveals that minorities have generally tended to be excluded from the scholarly evaluation of social class factors in alcoholism, drug abuse, and mental illness. When minorities were considered, they were too often misunderstood in terms of the negative stereotypes that not only prevail in society, but also influence professionals. When scholarly studies have been done to see what happens to minority patients in treatment, the findings usually indicate unequal treatment which has not considered the specific subcultural backgrounds and needs of this group. The authors emphasize the need for better studies of epidemiology, diagnosis, prevention, treatment, and utilization relating to the minorities and lower classes.

Alcoholism↗

Aggressive conduct disorder: the influence of social class, sex and age on the clinical picture.

Past studies have shown that aggressive conduct disorder is more common in boys and in families of low socioeconomic status, and that affected children are usually seen in child psychiatry clinics before the age of 10. In this work we aimed to find how socioeconomic status, sex and age at admission influence the clinical picture of this disorder. We divided a series of 58 affected children into two groups on each of the three factors and compared the groups on 175 variables. We found little evidence that the children's difficulties varied with social class, sex or age. This apparent constancy of the clinical picture reinforces the idea that aggressive conduct disorder is a valid, though broadly defined, psychiatric syndrome.

Age Factors↗

Persisting health inequalities: social class differentials in illness in the Scandinavian countries.

Finland, Norway and Sweden are highly developed welfare states with a long tradition of egalitarian health and welfare policies. This article analyzes social class differentials in self-reported limiting long-standing illness among men and women in these countries. The data consisted of nation-wide Level of Living Surveys made in 1986-87 in Finland (N = 11,783), Norway (N = 4,211) and Sweden (N = 4,699). Women reported both long-standing illness and limiting long-standing illness slightly more often than men. The prevalence of limiting long-standing illness was lower in Sweden than in Finland and Norway. In all countries blue-collar workers reported ill-health more often than white-collar employees. The prevalence of self-reported limiting long-standing illness among Swedish upper white-collar workers was very low and that among Finnish farmers very high. Skilled female workers showed the worst health whereas Swedish upper class men showed the best health. The reasons for these social inequalities, and their implications for social policy, are discussed.

Adolescent↗

Stillbirth risk with social class and deprivation: no evidence for increasing inequality.

The objective of this study was to determine whether inequality in stillbirth risk between social strata has changed over time. Subjects were all 288,869 births in Cumbria, northwest England, 1950-1993 and all 8,039,269 births in England and Wales, 1981-1992. Social class of Cumbrian babies was ascertained from birth registrations. Community deprivation scores were calculated from census data for (i) enumeration districts in Cumbria and (ii) county districts in England and Wales. The relative index of inequality was used to measure inequality of stillbirth risk between social strata. Results indicate inequality in stillbirth risk in Cumbria has fallen significantly since 1966 (P< or =0.02) and was not evident in more recent time periods. In England and Wales, there was significant inequality in stillbirth risk in all time periods and no evidence that this has changed over time. Inequality in stillbirth risk has not increased and in some areas has attenuated in recent years.

Adult↗

Social class inequalities in self-rated health and their gender and age group differences in Japan.

BACKGROUND: Few studies have examined social inequalities in self-rated health in Japan, and the issue of gender differences related to social inequalities in self-rated health remains inconclusive. METHODS: The data derived from interviews with 2987 randomly selected Japanese adults in four prefectures in Japan who completed the cross-national World Mental Health survey from 2002 through 2005. We calculated odds ratios (ORs) of having poor self-rated physical and mental health by two social class indicators independently with multivariate logistic regression models, adjusted for age, gender, marital status, and area. Stratified analyses by gender and age group were also conducted. RESULTS: The adjusted ORs of the lowest educational attainment category having poor self-rated physical and mental health were 1.42 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.15-1.76) and 1.37 (95% CI: 1.10-1.70), respectively. Among females, educational attainment had significant linear associations with self-rated physical and mental health. Adjusted household income was also significantly associated with self-rated physical health among female respondents. No associations were found among males. While educational attainment was associated with self-rated health among the young age group, adjusted household income was associated with self-rated physical health in the middle and old age group. CONCLUSION: These results indicated social inequalities in self-rated health and prominent social inequalities in self-rated health among females in Japan. Social inequalities in self-rated health seemed to exist across age groups. However, the mechanism of social inequalities in self-rated health could be different depending on the age group.

Adult↗