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Cited by 83Workplace Health and Well-beingEmployment and Welfare StudiesGender, Health, and Social Inequality

Common symptoms in middle aged women: their relation to employment status, psychosocial work conditions and social support in a Swedish setting

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Krantz, Gunilla, Östergren, Per-Olof·2000·Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health
DOI 10.1136/jech.54.3.192PMC PMC1731640
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Abstract

STUDY OBJECTIVE: Over the past few decades there has been a growing interest among researchers, in women's overall life circumstances and their relation to women's health status. For example, paid employment has been considered an important part of women's living conditions in Western societies as the number of women entering the labour market has grown constantly over the past decades. When comparing men's and women's health, one of the most consistent findings is a higher rate of symptoms among women. The most commonly reported symptoms in women are depressive symptoms, symptoms of bodily tension and chronic pain from muscles and joints. The aim of this study was to investigate whether socioeconomic factors, employment status, psychosocial work conditions and social network/support are associated with middle aged women's health status in terms of common symptoms. DESIGN: A mailed questionnaire was used in a cross sectional design assessing socioeconomic factors, employment status, psychosocial work conditions according to the demand/control model, social network/support and an index based on the 15 most frequent symptoms presented by middle aged women when seeking health care. SETTING: A rural community with 13 200 inhabitants in the western part of Sweden. PARTICIPANTS: Women were randomly selected from the general population in the study area, 40 to 50 years of age. The response rate was 81.7 per cent. MAIN RESULTS: Women who were non-employed had a significantly increased odds of a high level of common symptoms (OR=2.82; 95% confidence intervals 1.69, 4.70), as well as women exposed to job strain (OR=3.27; 1.92, 5.57), independently of the level of social network/support. Furthermore, exposure to low social support, low social anchorage or low social participation independently showed significantly increased odds of a high level of common symptoms (OR=2.75; 1.71, 4.42; OR=2.91; 1.81, 4.69 and OR=1.69; 1.10, 2.61, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Work related factors, such as non-employment and job strain, and circumstances within the private sphere, such as social network/support, seem equally important for middle aged women's health status. These findings ought to have important policy implications and also to be of major importance in a primary health care setting when meeting women who seek health care because of common symptoms.

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Research works printed but not linked: 6

  1. Tibblin G. Bengtsson C, Furunes B et al. Symptoms by age and sex. Scand J Prim Health Care 1990;8:9-17.
  2. Theorell T. On cardiovascular health in women: results from epidemiological and psychosocial studies in Sweden. In: Frankenhaeuser M, Lundberg U, Chesney M, eds. Women, work and health: stress and opportunities. NewYork: Plenum Press, 1991. 13 Statistics Sweden. The equality programme. Örebro: SCB- tryck, 1993.
  3. Kristensen TS. Arbejdsmiljö, stress og helbred i den danske slag- teribranche (Work environment, stress and health among Danish slaughterhouse workers). [PhD thesis.] Copenhagen: University of Copenhagen, 1994.
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  6. Ross CE, Mirowsky J. Does employment aVect health? J Health Soc Behav 1995;36:230-43. 198

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Authors
Krantz, G., & Östergren, P.-O.
Affiliations
Lund University (SE)
Corresponding author
Krantz, Gunilla
ORCID
Krantz, Gunilla
Venue
Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health
Publisher
BMJ
Published
2000-03-01
Volume
54
Issue
3
Pages
192-199
ISSN
  • 0141-7681 (ISSN-L)
  • 0143-005X
  • 1470-2738
DOI
10.1136/jech.54.3.192
PMC
PMC1731640
OpenAlex
W2168376163
Cited by
83
References
34
Citations by year
2024: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 1 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 6
FWCI
13.25
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
Socialstyrelsen
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Workplace Health and Well-being
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Employment and Welfare Studies
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Gender, Health, and Social Inequality
Keywords
middle-aged women, common symptoms, employment status, job strain, psychosocial work environment, demand-control model, social support, social networks, social participation, socioeconomic factors, women's health
MeSH terms
Adult, Cross-Sectional Studies, Depressive Disorder, Employment, Female, Health Status Indicators, Health Surveys, Humans, Middle Aged, Surveys and Questionnaires, Rural Population, Social Support, Socioeconomic Factors, Stress, Psychological, Sweden, Odds Ratio, Arthralgia

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