%0 Journal Article %J Global Health %D 2012 %T Depressive symptoms and psychosocial stress at work among older employees in three continents. %A Johannes Siegrist %A Lunau, T. %A Morten Wahrendorf %A Dragano, N. %K Asia %K Cross-Sectional Studies %K Data collection %K depression %K Europe %K Female %K Humans %K Longitudinal Studies %K Male %K Middle Aged %K North America %K Prevalence %K Regression Analysis %K Risk Factors %K Stress, Psychological %K Work %X

BACKGROUND: To assess whether an association of psychosocial stress at work with depressive symptoms among older employees is evident in a set of comparable empirical studies from Europe, North America and Asia.

METHODS: Cross-sectional and longitudinal multivariate regression analyses of data from 4 cohort studies with elder workers (2004 and 2006) testing associations of psychosocial stress at work ('effort-reward imbalance'; 'low control') with depressive symptoms.

RESULTS: Cross-sectional analyses from 17 countries with 14.236 participants reveal elevated odds ratios of depressive symptoms among people experiencing high work stress compared to those with low or no work stress. Adjusted odds ratios vary from 1.64 (95% CI 1.02-2.63) in Japan to 1.97 (95% CI 1.75-2.23) in Europe and 2.28 (95% CI 1.59-3.28) in the USA. Odds ratios from additional longitudinal analyses (in 13 countries) controlling for baseline depression are smaller, but remain in part significant.

CONCLUSION: Findings indicate that psychosocial stress at work might be a relevant risk factor for depressive symptoms among older employees across countries and continents. This observation may call for global policy efforts to improve quality of work in view of a rapidly aging workforce, in particular in times of economic globalization.

%B Global Health %I 8 %V 8 %P 27 %8 2012 Jul 20 %G eng %1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22818354?dopt=Abstract %4 psychosocial/Depression/cross-national/labor Force Participation/Older Workers/Stress/workplace %$ 69706 %R 10.1186/1744-8603-8-27 %0 Journal Article %J Health Serv Res %D 2006 %T The effect of private insurance on the health of older, working age adults: evidence from the health and retirement study. %A Avi Dor %A Joseph J Sudano %A David W. Baker %K Chronic disease %K Data collection %K Female %K Health Status %K Humans %K Insurance, Health %K Male %K Medically Uninsured %K Middle Aged %K Private Sector %K United States %X

OBJECTIVE: Primarily, to determine if the presence of private insurance leads to improved health status, as measured by a survey-based health score. Secondarily, to explore sensitivity of estimates to adjustments for endogeneity. The study focuses on adults in late middle age who are nearing entry into Medicare.

DATA SOURCES: The analysis file is drawn from the Health and Retirement Study, a national survey of relatively older adults in the labor force. The dependent variable, an index of 5 health outcome items, was obtained from the 1996 survey. Independent variables were obtained from the 1992 survey. State-level instrumental variables were obtained from the Area Resources File and the TAXSIM file. The final sample consists of 9,034 individuals of which 1,540 were uninsured.

STUDY DESIGN: Estimation addresses endogeneity of the insurance participation decision in health score regressions. In addition to ordinary least squares (OLS), two models are tested: an instrumental variables (IV) model, and a model with endogenous treatment effects due to Heckman (1978). Insurance participation and health behaviors enter with a lag to allow their effects to dissipate over time. Separate regressions were run for groupings of chronic conditions.

PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The OLS model results in statistically significant albeit small effects of insurance on the computed health score, but the results may be downward biased. Adjusting for endogeneity using state-level instrumental variables yields up to a six-fold increase in the insurance effect. Results are consistent across IV and treatment effects models, and for major groupings of medical conditions. The insurance effect appears to be in the range of about 2-11 percent. There appear to be no significant differences in the insurance effect for subgroups with and without major chronic conditions.

CONCLUSIONS: Extending insurance coverage to working age adults may result in improved health. By conjecture, policies aimed at expanding coverage to this population may lead to improved health at retirement and entry to Medicare, potentially leading to savings. However, further research is needed to determine whether similar results are found when alternative measures of overall health or health scores are used. Future research should also explore the use of alternative instrumental variables. Preliminary results provide no justification for targeting certain subgroups with susceptibility to certain chronic conditions rather than broad policy interventions.

%B Health Serv Res %I 41 %V 41 %P 759-87 %8 2006 Jun %G eng %N 3 Pt 1 %L pubs_2006_Dor_etal.pdf %1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16704511?dopt=Abstract %4 aging/Health Insurance/health status %$ 16810 %R 10.1111/j.1475-6773.2006.00513.x %0 Journal Article %J J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci %D 2004 %T Honeymoons and joint lunches: effects of retirement and spouse's employment on depressive symptoms. %A Maximiliane E Szinovacz %A Adam Davey %K Adaptation, Psychological %K Aged %K Aging %K Data collection %K depression %K Employment %K Female %K Humans %K Life Change Events %K Longitudinal Studies %K Male %K Mental Health %K Middle Aged %K Retirement %K Sex Factors %K Spouses %X

With hypotheses derived from a life course perspective in conjunction with life event stress and role theories, we examine whether a spouse's employment and length of retirement affect a person's postretirement depressive symptoms and whether such effects differ by gender. Analyses use pooled data from Waves 1-4 of the Health and Retirement Survey, using a subsample of married individuals who either remained continuously employed over time or completely retired since the Wave 1 interviews (N = 2,695). Recently retired men seem to be negatively affected by their spouses' continuous employment when compared with men whose wives were continuously not employed. In contrast, spouses' joint retirement has a beneficial influence on both recently retired and longer-retired men. However, for recently retired men, the positive effect of wives' retirement seems to be contingent on spouses' enjoyment of joint activities. Among women, effects of spouses' employment occur only among very recently retired wives (0-6 months). These wives report more depressive symptoms if their spouses were already nonemployed prior to wives' retirement. These results demonstrate the complexity of retirement adaptation processes and suggest that marital context plays an important role in retirement well-being.

%B J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci %I 59B %V 59 %P P233-45 %8 2004 Sep %G eng %N 5 %L pubs_2004_szinovacz-Davey_Honeymoons.pdf %1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15358796?dopt=Abstract %4 Spouses/Retirement Behavior/Depressive Symptoms/Gender Differences %$ 12522 %R 10.1093/geronb/59.5.p233 %0 Journal Article %J Arthritis Rheum %D 2001 %T Arthritis prevalence and activity limitations in older adults. %A Dorothy D Dunlop %A Larry M Manheim %A Song, Jing %A Rowland W Chang %K Activities of Daily Living %K Aged %K Aged, 80 and over %K Arthritis %K Data collection %K Humans %K Prevalence %K Racial Groups %K Socioeconomic factors %K Surveys and Questionnaires %X

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the prevalence of arthritis and activity limitations among older Americans by assessing their demographic, ethnic, and economic characteristics.

METHODS: Data from the Asset and Health Dynamic Survey Among the Oldest Old (AHEAD), a national probability sample of community-dwelling adults born before 1924, were analyzed cross-sectionally. Arthritis that resulted in a physician's visit or a joint replacement not associated with a hip fracture was ascertained by self-report.

RESULTS: The prevalence of arthritis in older adults ranged from 25% in non-Hispanic whites to 40% in non-Hispanic blacks to 44% in Hispanics. A higher prevalence of arthritis was associated with less education as well as lower income and less wealth. The prevalence of limitations in activities of daily living (ADL) among non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic black, and Hispanic adults who reported arthritis only was 29%, 30%, and 37%, respectively, and increased to 48%, 57%, and 56%, respectively, among those reporting arthritis plus other chronic conditions, after adjustment for age and sex.

CONCLUSION: Non-Hispanic black and Hispanic older adults reported having arthritis at a substantially higher frequency than did non-Hispanic whites. In addition, Hispanics reported higher rates of ADL limitations than did non-Hispanic whites with comparable disease burden. Further study is needed to confirm and elucidate the reasons for these racial and economic disparities in older populations.

%B Arthritis Rheum %I 44 %V 44 %P 212-21 %8 2001 Jan %G eng %N 1 %L pubs_2001_Dunlop_DArth.pdf %1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11212163?dopt=Abstract %4 Activities of Daily Living/Aged, 80 and Over/Arthritis/Epidemiology/Ethnology/Data Collection/Human/Prevalence/Questionnaires/Racial Stocks/Socioeconomic Factors/Support, Non U.S. Government/Support, U.S. Government--PHS %$ 4435 %R 10.1002/1529-0131(200101)44:1<212::AID-ANR28>3.0.CO;2-Q %0 Journal Article %J Am J Ind Med %D 1995 %T Effect of recall period on the reporting of occupational injuries among older workers in the Health and Retirement Study. %A Zwerling, Craig %A Nancy L. Sprince %A Robert B Wallace %A Charles S. Davis %A Paul S. Whitten %A Steven G Heeringa %K Accidents, Occupational %K Adult %K Aged %K Bias %K Cross-Sectional Studies %K Data collection %K Female %K Humans %K Incidence %K Linear Models %K Male %K Mental Recall %K Middle Aged %K Models, Statistical %K Reproducibility of Results %K Retirement %K Risk Factors %K Time Factors %K United States %X

Studies of injury morbidity often rely on self-reported survey data. In designing these surveys, researchers must chose between a shorter recall period to minimize recall bias and a longer period to maximize the precision of rate estimates. Using data from the Health and Retirement Study, which employed a recall period of 1 year, we examined the effect of the recall period on rates of occupational injuries among older workers as well as upon rate ratios of these injuries for nine risk factors. We fit a stochastic model to the occupational injury rates as a function of time before the interview and used this model to estimate what the injury rates would have been had we used a 4-week recall period. The adjusted occupational injury rate of 5.9 injuries per 100 workers per year was 36% higher than the rate based on a 1-year recall period. Adjustment for recall period had much less effect on rate ratios, which typically varied by < 10%. Our work suggests that self-reported surveys with longer recall periods may be used to estimate occupational injury rates and also may be useful in studying the associations between occupational injuries and a variety of risk factors.

%B Am J Ind Med %I 28 %V 28 %P 583-90 %8 1995 Nov %G eng %N 5 %1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8561168?dopt=Abstract %4 Accidents, Occupational/Adult/Bias (Epidemiology)/Morbidity/Gender/Incidence/Middle Age/Models, Statistical/Recall/Reproducibility of Results/Retirement/Risk Factors/Support, U.S. Government--PHS/Time Factors %$ 4425 %R 10.1002/ajim.4700280503