Home About us Contact
|
Home About us Contact | ||
|
|
||
General Household Survey (general + household_survey)
Selected AbstractsPredicting the life-time benefit of school-based smoking prevention programmesADDICTION, Issue 6 2010Mark Jit ABSTRACT Aim School-based smoking prevention programmes may delay the age of smoking initiation, but do not appear to achieve lasting reductions in smoking prevalence beyond school-leaving age. We explored whether delaying the age at which someone initiates smoking may have life-time benefits by increasing the likelihood of quitting in later life. Design and setting Data from the General Household Survey of Great Britain were used in a logistic regression model to examine the association between age at which someone initiates regular smoking and the probability that the person will quit smoking later in life. The effect of confounding variables (sex, ethnicity, socio-economic class, education and geographical location) was taken into account. The predicted relationship was used in a cohort model to estimate the life-time reduction in smoking prevalence and all-cause mortality of a school-based smoking prevention programme. Results Age of regular smoking initiation was associated strongly with the probability of quitting later in life (coefficient ,0.103, P < 0.001). The strength of the association was slightly reduced but still significant when confounding variables were included (coefficient ,0.075, P < 0.001). An intervention that delays smoking initiation without decreasing smoking prevalence at age 18 may reduce adult smoking prevalence by 0.13,0.32% (depending on age) and all-cause mortality by 0.09% over the life-time of the sample. Conclusion School-based smoking prevention programmes have potential for a beneficial effect over the life-time of the participants even if they have no apparent effect at school-leaving age. [source] A prevalence study of suicide ideation among older adults in Hong Kong SARINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GERIATRIC PSYCHIATRY, Issue 11 2003Paul S. F. Yip Abstract Objective The objective of this paper is to ascertain estimates of the prevalence, and associated risk factors for, suicidal ideation among community-dwelling older adults in Hong Kong. Method The study was conducted as part of the General Household Survey (GHS), using face to face interviews of ethnic Chinese people aged 60 or above living in the community. Elders living in institutions or elderly homes were excluded from the study. Results Six percent of the sample was found to have ever had suicide ideation. The results showed that poor physical health, including poor vision, hearing problems, and a greater number of diseases; and poor mental health, especially in the form of depression, are predictors of suicidal ideation in the elderly population. Also, statistical analysis by linking individual factors to depression showed that financial and relationship problems are significant risk factors as well. Older adults who engaged in active coping, that is, those who actively seek to manage or control the negative events in their lives, fare better with lower levels of suicidal ideation than those who use passive coping styles. Conclusions The prevalence of suicidal ideation is similar among elders in Hong Kong and western countries. Factors that contribute to risk for suicidal ideation span physical and mental health, social, and psychological domains. Although the association of suicidal ideation to self-destructive acts remains to be determined, these findings indicate a variety of potential foci for late life suicide prevention efforts. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Social capital, age and religiosity in people who are lonelyJOURNAL OF CLINICAL NURSING, Issue 3 2006William Lauder PhD Aims and objectives., The aims of the study were to (i) investigate age and loneliness, (ii) investigate the association between religiosity and loneliness, and (iii) and explore the relationship between social capital and loneliness. Background., Loneliness is the subjective experience of social isolation and is a risk factor for a wide range of health problems including heart disease and depression. Poor self-rated health, domestic violence and poor economic conditions are associated with greater loneliness. Design., The study was a cross-sectional survey of a random sample of adults aged 18 years and over. Methods., A random sample of 1289 subjects was interviewed by computer-assisted telephone interviewing. This interview included the Loneliness Scale and items from the Social Capital Module of the General Household Survey. Findings., Loneliness is more common in men and people without strong religious beliefs. An income-loneliness gradient is evident. Little support was found for the association between social capital and loneliness. Conclusion., The prevalence of loneliness is relatively stable in this population. Loneliness is linked to income and unemployment and as such pathways between socio-economic factors, loneliness and health need to guide interventions and future research. Relevance to clinical practice., Loneliness is linked to a range of social and economic factors. Current Health Visiting practice recognizes the importance of tackling the effects of poverty and social deprivation and places community building at the core of much Health Visiting practice. This broad community level approach can usefully transfer into all community nursing and health promotion activity. [source] Lifetime Earnings, Discount Rate, Ability and the Demand for Post,compulsory Education in Men in England and WalesBULLETIN OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH, Issue 3 2002Daniel JohnsonArticle first published online: 16 DEC 200 Human capital theory suggests educational investments are made based on expected returns over the lifetime. Most other work in this field, particularly using British data, is based on demand models estimated in reduced form, with no earnings measures, or crudely constructed earnings measures, based on one or two earnings observations per individual. We present a structural model of demand for educational investment which includes estimates of earnings paths for educational options as determinants of educational choice. This provides us with directly interpretable parameter estimates. The discount rate is also determined within our demand model. Ability controlled earnings profiles are estimated by matching individuals from the General Household Survey to individuals in similar occupations from the National Child Development Survey (NCDS). Our results show that expected earnings profiles vary according to observed ability and educational choice. Results from the demand model show that expected lifetime earnings have a significant impact on educational choice. Other socio,demographic factors, particularly social class, also exhibit significant influences on the education decision. We estimate the discount rate to be lower than reported in other studies. [source] The Adequacy of Household Survey Data for Evaluating the Nongroup Health Insurance MarketHEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH, Issue 4 2007Joel C. Cantor Objective. To evaluate the accuracy of household survey estimates of the size and composition of the nonelderly population covered by nongroup health insurance. Data Sources/Study Setting. Health insurance enrollment statistics reported to New Jersey insurance regulators. Household data from the following sources: the 2002 Current Population Survey (CPS)-March Demographic Supplement, the 1997 and 1999 National Surveys of America's Families (NSAF), the 2001 New Jersey Family Health Survey (NJFHS), a 2002 survey of known nongroup health insurance enrollees, a small 2004 survey testing alternative health insurance question wording. Study Design. To assess the extent of bias in estimates of the size of the nongroup health insurance market in New Jersey, enrollment trends are compared between official enrollment statistics reported by insurance carriers to state insurance regulators with estimates from three general population household surveys. Next, to evaluate possible bias in the demographic and socioeconomic composition of the New Jersey nongroup market, distributions of characteristics of the enrolled population are contrasted among general household surveys and a survey of known nongroup subscribers. Finally, based on inferences drawn from these comparisons, alternative health insurance question wording was developed and tested in a local survey to test the potential for misreporting enrollment in nongroup coverage in a low-income population. Data Collection/Extraction Methods. Data for nonelderly New Jersey residents from the 2002 CPS (n=5,028) and the 1997 and 1999 NSAF (n=6,467 and 7,272, respectively) were obtained from public sources. The 2001 NJFHS (n=5,580 nonelderly) was conducted for a sample drawn by random digit dialing and employed computer-assisted telephone interviews and trained, professional interviewers. Sampling weights are used to adjust for under-coverage of households without telephones and other factors. In addition, a modified version of the NJFHS was administered to a 2002 sample of known nongroup subscribers (n=1,398) using the same field methods. These lists were provided by four of the five largest New Jersey nongroup insurance carriers, which represented 95 percent of all nongroup enrollees in the state. Finally, a modified version of the NJFHS questionnaire was fielded using similar methods as part of a local health survey in New Brunswick, New Jersey, in 2004 (n=1,460 nonelderly). Principal Findings. General household sample surveys, including the widely used CPS, yield substantially higher estimates of nongroup enrollment compared with administrative totals and yield estimates of the characteristics of the nongroup population that vary greatly from a survey of known nongroup subscribers. A small survey testing a question about source of payment for direct-purchased coverage suggests than many public coverage enrollees report nongroup coverage. Conclusions. Nongroup health insurance has been subject to more than a decade of reform and is of continuing policy interest. Comparisons of unique data from a survey of known nongroup subscribers and administrative sources to household surveys strongly suggest that the latter overstates the number and misrepresent the composition of the nongroup population. Research on the nongroup market using available sources should be interpreted cautiously and survey methods should be reexamined. [source] | ||||||||||