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Lower Socioeconomic Backgrounds (lower + socioeconomic_background)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	50%

Selected Abstracts

Stress, debt and undergraduate medical student performance

MEDICAL EDUCATION, Issue 6 2006
Sarah Ross
Introduction, Against the background of current debate over university funding and widening access, we aimed to examine the relationships between student debt, mental health and academic performance. Methods, We carried out an electronic survey of all medical undergraduate students at the University of Aberdeen during May,June 2004. The questionnaire contained items about demographics, debt, income and stress. Students were also asked for consent to access their examination results, which were correlated with their answers. Statistical analyses of the relationships between debt, performance and stress were performed. Results, The median total outstanding debt was £7300 (interquartile range 2000,14 762.50). Students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and postgraduate students had higher debts. There was no direct correlation between debt, class ranking or General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) score; however, a subgroup of 125 students (37.7%), who said that worrying about money affected their studies, did have higher debt and were ranked lower in their classes. Some of these students were also cases on the GHQ-12. Overall, however, cases on the GHQ had lower levels of debt and lower class ranking, suggesting that financial worries are only 1 cause of mental health difficulties. Discussion, Students' perceptions of their own levels of debt rather than level of debt per se relates to performance. Students who worry about money have higher debts and perform less well than their peers in degree examinations. Some students in this subgroup were also identified by the GHQ and may have mental health problems. The relationships between debt, mental health and performance in undergraduate medical students are complex but need to be appreciated by medical education policy makers. [source]

Social class background and the school-to-work transition

NEW DIRECTIONS FOR CHILD & ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT, Issue 119 2008
Jeremy Staff
Whereas in years past, young people typically made a discrete transition from school to work, two ideal typical routes now characterize the sharing of school and work roles during adolescence and the transition to adulthood. Longitudinal data from the Youth Development Study show that one route involves less intensive employment during high school, followed by continued part-time employment and postsecondary educational investment. This pathway, more common for youth of higher-class origins, is especially beneficial for young people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. A second route is early intensive work experience during high school that is less conducive to longer-term educational and wage attainments. [source]

The effects of socioeconomic status on endochondral and appositional bone growth, and acquisition of cortical bone in children from 19th century Birmingham, England

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY, Issue 3 2009
Simon Mays
Abstract Endochondral growth, appositional growth, and acquisition of cortical bone thickness in the femur are investigated in subadult skeletons (N = 43, dental age range birth to 12 years) from the 19th -century AD burial site of St. Martin's churchyard, Birmingham, England. Endochondral growth is monitored using diaphyseal femoral length. Appositional growth is monitored using radiographic midshaft mediolateral width and acquisition of cortical bone using combined mediolateral cortical thickness measured at the midshaft from radiographs. The methodology involves plotting these variables against dental age. Growth is compared in children of differing socioeconomic status. Higher and lower status individuals are identified in the assemblage by their burial in brick vaults in the case of the former and in earth-cut graves in the case of the latter. The relationships between bone dimensions and dental age are described using a polynomial regression procedure, and analysis of regression residuals is used to evaluate differences in bone dimension-for-dental age between the two status groups. Results show that lower socioeconomic status individuals had lower cortical thickness-for-dental age than those of higher status. This was interpreted as likely reflecting poorer nutrition in the children of lower socioeconomic backgrounds. There was no patterning with respect to socioeconomic status in femur diaphyseal length or midshaft width. The results support the idea that, for skeletal populations, growth in cortical thickness may be a more sensitive indicator of adverse conditions in childhood than growth in bone length or width. Am J Phys Anthropol, 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]

Treatment of Breast Cancer in Medically Underserved Women: A Review

THE BREAST JOURNAL, Issue 1 2004
Lisa C. Richardson MD
Abstract: Women at risk of being undertreated for breast cancer include women who are older, from minority groups, from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, and those without health insurance or insured by Medicaid. Recent reviews of the cancer care experience of medically underserved populations indicate that breast cancer care may be even less optimal for these populations than the majority of women. These are the same women who may experience difficulty obtaining access to medical care once they are diagnosed with breast cancer. Indirect proof of problems with access is manifested as higher recurrence rates of breast cancer and differences in breast cancer-specific survival among medically underserved women. Multiple factors have been shown to affect access to medical care, and therefore quality of care, including patient-level factors, provider-level factors, and health system factors. This article reviews the current state of these factors in explaining breast cancer care in medically underserved women. [source]