Women, Work, and Illness: A Longitudinal Analysis of Workforce Participation Patterns for Women Beyond Middle Age

Women's Health and Working Life: A Scoping Review

Women's health matters for participation in working life. The objective of this study was to explore female physiology in a work-life context and to investigate possible associations between women's health, sickness absence and work ability. A scoping review was conducted to develop a systematic overview of the current research and to identify knowledge gaps. The search strategy was developed through a population, concept and context (PCC) model, and three areas of women's health were identified for investigation in the context of work. A total of 5798 articles were screened by title and abstract and 274 articles were screened by full text; 130 articles were included in the review. The material included research from 19 countries; the majority of the studies used quantitative methods. The results showed an impact on the occupational setting and an association between sickness absence, work ability and all three areas of women's health, but a holistic and overall perspective on female biology in the work context is missing. This review calls for more knowledge on health and work and possible gender differences in this regard. Women's health and working life involve a complex connection that has the potential to develop new knowledge.

Self-Rated Health and Socioeconomic Status in Old Age: The Role of Gender and the Moderating Effect of Time and Welfare Regime in Europe

Research has shown that health status and self-rated health (SRH) are correlated not only with age and gender but also with socioeconomic determinants, such as income, education, and employment status, in the course of life and in late life. Much less investigated, however, are gender differences in the association between socioeconomic factors and SRH and how the connection differs among the European welfare state regimes. This study examines the association between SRH and socioeconomic status in later life and in relation to gender and welfare state regime characteristics. Using SHARE data, it builds an analytical sample of respondents aged 60–70 (1275 men, 1544 women) who participated in Wave 1 and, ten years later, in Wave 6. The analysis regresses SRH by gender on socioeconomic status, controlling for various sociodemographic, health, and socioeconomic variables, as well as welfare regime indicators, at two points in time. Past health variables are also controlled for in order to evaluate their effect on SRH at the time of the investigation. A significant gender gap in SRH is found from childhood to late life. The association of socioeconomic status with poorer SRH is significant over time and within welfare state regimes. Consequently, the relationship between gender and SRH, and the extent to which it varies by socioeconomic position, does appear to differ across welfare state regimes. In all regimes and all points in time, including retrospective childhood SRH, women report poorer health than men. The analysis underscores the association between SRH and socioeconomic status in relation to gender in late life and finds that it correlates differently for men and women. The odds of women experiencing poorer SRH are higher, although they become more moderate over time. Even under the most egalitarian welfare regimes, gender differences in the nexus of SRH and socioeconomic status do not favor women.

Occupations Associated With Poor Cardiovascular Health in Women: The Women's Health Initiative Observational Study

INTRODUCTION

Research on the effect of occupation on cardiovascular health (CVH) among older women is limited.

METHODS

Each of the seven American Heart Association's CVH metrics was scored as ideal (1) or non-ideal (0) and summed. Multivariable logistic regression was used to estimate the odds of poor overall CVH (CVH score of 0 to 2) comparing women employed in each of the top 20 occupational categories to those not employed in that category, adjusting for age, marital status, and race/ethnicity.

RESULTS

(1) Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks; (2) first-line supervisors of sales workers; (3) first-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers; and (4) nursing, psychiatric, and home health aides were more likely to have poor overall CVH compared to women who did not work in these occupations.

CONCLUSIONS

Several commonly held occupations among women were associated with poor CVH.

Workforce participation of Australian women with breast cancer

OBJECTIVE

International research suggests that many women do not return to their previous work after breast cancer. This study aimed to identify workforce participation patterns for Australian women with breast cancer and compare these to healthy aged matched women.

METHODS

Using the 1946-1951 birth cohort of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health, the work status of women was compared three years before and three years after their first reported breast cancer diagnosis. Latent class analysis was used to identify workforce participation patterns of women with breast cancer and healthy aged matched women. Multinomial logistic regression examined associations between work patterns and other risk factors.

RESULTS

Pre and post breast cancer diagnosis work status data were available for 448 women with breast cancer between 1998 and 2010. Three years after diagnosis, 48% of full-time workers returned to full-time work but 52% returned to part time work or were not in paid work. Latent class analysis identified five classes. Women with breast cancer were more likely to be in the 'mostly full-time work' and 'mostly not in paid work' classes compared to healthy women. Odds ratios showed that women in remote areas, partnered, with less education or with chronic health condition were more likely to be 'not in paid work'.

CONCLUSION

Breast cancer has a negative impact on the workforce participation of Australian women. Women with breast cancer need support to return to work.

[Ongoing employment and chronic conditions among community-dwelling elderly people: evidence from Rede Fibra in Belo Horizonte]

This cross-sectional study was based on a probabilistic sample of 597 community-dwelling elderly people living in Belo Horizonte. Theaim was to assess which chronic conditions are independently associated with ongoing employment among elderly people. It was conducted to assess the isolated effect of each one. The multivariate analysis was based on Poisson regression models with robust variance, adjusted by sex, age, schooling, retirement and chronic conditions. Arthritis (or rheumatism) was the only chronic condition with independent and statistic significant association with ongoing employment, even after adjustment for other chronic conditions: older people with medical diagnosis of arthritis have lower odds of being in the labor market (Fully adjusted Prevalence ratio [PR] = 0.54; CI 95%: 0.35-0.85). Moreover, our results showed that gender modifies this association, with a lower propensity among females (PR=0.45; CI 95%: 0.25-0.84). Our results highlight the importance of health promotion among workers, mostly arthritis prevention and management among women.

Women’s Occupational Patterns and Later Life Physical Functioning

Objective: Timing and accumulation of work-related exposures may influence later life health. This study evaluates the association between women’s work patterns and physical functioning. Method: Work history and physical functioning information was collected at baseline for U.S. women ages 50 to 79 years in the Women’s Health Initiative Observational Study ( N = 75,507). We estimated life course workforce participation patterns using latent class analysis. Associations between work patterns and physical limitations were explored using modified Poisson regression. Results: Compared with working continuously, women who left the workforce early had 8% increased risk and women who worked intermittently had 5% reduced risk of physical limitations later in life. The negative association with intermittent workforce participation was stronger for women with substantively complex work (9% reduced risk) than for women with nonsubstantively complex work (2% reduced risk). Discussion: Life course work patterns and characteristics may contribute to physical functioning later in life among women.

The impact of diabetes on labour market participation: a systematic review of results and methods

Background

Diabetes mellitus is a major chronic disease, which is connected to direct and indirect costs and productivity losses. However, its effects on labour market participation are not straightforward to identify, nor are they consistently included in cost-of-illness studies. First, this study aims to synthesise existing evidence regarding the impact of diabetes on labour market outcomes that imply a complete absence of work. Second, the analysis takes a particular look at relevant methodological choices and the resulting quality of the studies included.

Methods

We conducted a systematic literature research (PubMed, Embase, PsychINFO), by applying a standard screening, selection and results extraction process, which considered all types of studies including cross-sectional and longitudinal approaches. Risk-of-bias and quality within the studies were assessed and results were compared. We dedicated special attention to the modelling of potential reverse causality between diabetes and labour market outcomes and the consideration of comorbidities and complications.

Results

Overall, 30 studies satisfied our inclusion criteria. We identified four main labour participation outcomes: absence of employment, unemployment, early retirement, and disability pension. The studies reviewed show a negative impact of diabetes on the labour market participation outcomes considered. However, only a few studies controlled for endogeneity, differentiated between type 1 and type 2 diabetes or modelled the impact of comorbidities. We report how modelling choices affect the directions and interpretations of the effects.

Conclusions

The available evidence mainly suggests a negative impact of diabetes on several outcomes indicating labour market participation. The methodological limitations identified can guide future research with respect to both outcomes and methods. This study provides therefore an empirical contribution to the discussion on how to model the economic impact of diabetes.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s12889-018-6324-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Exploring Workforce Participation Patterns and Chronic Diseases Among Middle-Aged Australian Men and Women Over the Life Course

OBJECTIVE

This study identified associations between chronic diseases (diabetes, asthma, depression, and arthritis) and workforce participation patterns with a gendered perspective.

METHOD

We used data from 1,261 middle-aged participants of the Australian Life Histories and Health (LHH) Survey, aged 60 to 64 years in 2011. Latent class analysis identified dominant workforce patterns and associations between chronic diseases and these patterns were explored by multinomial regression models.

RESULTS

Diabetes, asthma, depression, and arthritis were less prevalent in men and women in class "mostly full-time work," compared with other workforce patterns. The odds of "mostly full-time work" were lower for men reporting depression or arthritis, whereas among women, depression was associated with "increasing part-time work" after adjusting early and adult life factors.

DISCUSSION

The results strengthen the importance of gender focused policies aimed to promote and preserve health of young and middle-aged workers, and creating supportive environment for those with chronic health issues over the life course.