How does unemployment affect self-assessed health? A systematic review focusing on subgroup effects

Norström, Fredrik; Virtanen, Pekka; Hammarström, Anne; Gustafsson, Per E; Janlert, Urban

doi:10.1186/1471-2458-14-1310

BMC Public Health

Table 3 The effect on health from unemployment within different age groups

From: How does unemployment affect self-assessed health? A systematic review focusing on subgroup effects

Country	Health measure	Results for age analysis in paper^a
Belgium [12]	Health Daily Living Form Global Depression Scale	20–29	OR: 3.2*
		30–39	OR: 4.5*
		40–49	OR: 2.4*
		50–65	OR: 0.8 NS
Canada [9]	Distress Scale	18–30	Difference: −0.05 NS
Canada [9]	Distress Scale	31–55	Difference: +0.20*
China [25]	Health Compared To Peers	20–29	OR: 1.4*
		30–39	OR: 1.2 NS
		40–49	OR: 1.6*
Spain [30]	General Health Questionnaire	25–34	Males	PR: 1.9 NS
		25–34	Females	PR: 1.4 NS
		35–44	Males	PR: 2.7*
		35–44	Females	PR: 0.6 NS
		45–54	Males	PR: 3.6*
		45–54	Females	PR: 1.5 NS
		55–64	Males	PR: 2.4*
		55–64	Females	PR: 1.5 NS
Great Britain [15]	General Health Questionnaire	16–29	Difference: +0.6^b
		30–39	Difference: +0.87^b
		40–49	Difference: +0.82^b
		50–64	Reference
Germany [35]	Mental Component Summary Scale	50–58	Unemployed due to plant closure	Difference^c: +1.629^d
		50–58	Unemployed due to other reasons	Difference^c: −0.21^d
		All	Unemployed due to plant closure	Difference^c: +0.492
		All	Unemployed due to other reasons	Difference^c: −0.11
Sweden [1]	Self-rated health, 5 levels	16–25	Years: 1983–1989	OR: 3.8*
		16–25	Years: 1992–1997	OR: 2.6*
		26–45	Years: 1983–1989	OR: 1.6 NS
		26–45	Years: 1992–1997	OR: 3.4*
		46–64	Years: 1983–1989	OR: 1.3 NS
		46–64	Years: 1992–1997	OR: 2.8*
Sweden [5]	General Health Questionnaire	20–39	1–130 days of unemployment	OR: 1.1 NS
		20–39	More than 130 days of unemployment	OR: 1.2*
		40–59	1–130 days of unemployment	OR: 1.2 NS
		40–59	More than 130 days of unemployment	OR: 1.6*
Sweden [20]	Quality of life instrument	Comparisons are only made between age groups for unemployed and employed separately. Differences between age groups show no obvious age-related pattern.
Sweden [19]	Quality of life instrument	Similar analysis performed as for study above
European collaboration [13]	”Do you have any chronic physical or mental health problem, illness or disability?”	20–45	Odds ratio 1.31*
European collaboration [13]		46–65	Odds ratio: 1.26*

*Significant difference in health between unemployed and employed individuals in age group at the 5% level.
OR = odds ratio, PR = prevalence ratio, NS = no significant difference in health between unemployed and employed individuals in age group at 5% level.
^aFor all odds ratios and prevalence ratios, a ratio above 1 indicates a worse health effect for unemployed than employed individuals. The model with the most variables in it is chosen for all presentations in the table.
^bComparisons are not presented for health differences between employed and unemployed individuals.
^cA positive difference means that the unemployed person tends to have better health.
^dResults for age are presented as part of the tests for robustness of the analytical model.

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