ABSTRACT
Objective: This study investigated the relationship between occupations and health status to obtain an overall understanding of a cohort of Japanese middle-aged women, including unemployed women, who comprised approximately 30% of the sample.Participants and Methods: Participants of this study were 4,454 women aged 40–69 years, classified into the following five groups based on their occupation: unemployed, 1,432; agriculture, 439; self-employed, 1,596; white collared, 793; and blue collared, 194. Participants’ perceived health was assessed using a symptoms checklist called the Todai Health Index (THI, later renamed as the Total Health Index) in a baseline survey conducted in 1993. The mortality risk of the participants was assessed using the Cox’s Proportional Hazards Model.Results: The means of the percentile values on the Total Scale 1 in the THI were as follows: agriculture, 43.7; unemployed, 50.8; self-employed, 52.5; white collared, 53.0; and blue collared, 56.1, with lower percentile values indicating better perceived health. The results showed that women engaged in agriculture were in significantly better health than were those in the other four occupations. The hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals of the occupational groups adjusted for age, area of residence, and Total Scale 1 scores were as follows: agriculture (reference group), 1; white collared, 1.16 (0.77–1.74); self-employed, 1.25 (0.87–1.78); unemployed, 1.27 (0.91–1.77); and blue collared, 1.50 (0.86–2.60).Conclusions: Women engaged in agriculture had a significantly higher tendency to have a better health status on the THI as compared to those from the other four occupational groups, and they exhibited the lowest HR as compared to their counterparts, though not statistically significant. We concluded that the perceived health status of unemployed women was similar to that of women engaged in agriculture.
ABSTRACT
<p><b>Objectives</b></p><p> To obtain information regarding the current state of obesity and its underlying lifestyle habits and environment in Bangkok.</p><p><b>Methods</b></p><p> A cross-sectional study was conducted in two study sites, a university and a community health center in Pyatai district in Bangkok. By opportunity sampling, a total of 45 adults (10 males and 35 females, aged 20 to 84 years) participated. </p><p> Anthropometric measurements were taken, and a one to one interview was conducted with a questionnaire to obtain lifestyle behavior data, and 11-item Food Diversity Score Kyoto (FDSK-11) was used to obtain dietary diversity.</p><p><b>Results</b></p><p> The present study showed a high mean BMI (26.98) among participants in both study sites, and the prevalence of overweight and obesity were higher than the results seen in previous studies. Higher food diversity was significantly related to the frequency of eating out, and that of exercise. Moreover, participants who had higher food diversity tended to have higher BMI. </p><p><b>Conclusion</b></p><p> The present study indicated that high prevalence of overweight and obesity in both sexes in both study sites. According to the previous study, the more variety of food they took, the less BMI they had. However, the present study showed the opposite. Generally having a variety of food is recommended as healthy dietary habit, however unless we care about the balance and the amount, having too much energy-dense food may contribute to overweight and obesity. Rapid economic growth and urbanization changed people’s lifestyles and eating habits. Current typical diet consists of animal meat and rice rather than the vegetables and rice which Thai people took past. Strategies to give people nutritional education seem to be needed.</p>
ABSTRACT
<b>Objective</b><br>The purpose of this study was to assess the psychological impact and associated factors in adolescents 5 years after the ethnic tension in the Solomon Islands. <br><b>Methods</b><br>In total, 199 high school students and villagers from Guadalcanal province and Malaita province participated in this study. To examine the psychological impact of the ethnic tension, a semi-structured interview was performed using a questionnaire and the Impact of Event Scale Revised (IES-R) for posttraumatic stress disorders (PTSD) symptoms. The participants were divided into three groups according to the places (A, B, C) where the participants lived at the beginning of the ethnic tension. <br><b>Results</b><br>Recalled emotions of traumatic experiences were significantly more severe in the most affected areas (group A, B). Although previous studies showed females are more emotionally impacted than males in disaster, the emotional impact was significantly more frequent in males than females in this study. Especially, the IES-R score was significantly higher in males of group A. No differences were found in the IES-R scores among the three groups; A: 33.4, B: 30.0, C: 34.5. The adolescents in this study had higher IES-R scores.<br><b>Conclusions</b><br>This study indicates that the PTSD symptoms of the adolescents have persisted for 5 years after the ethnic tension in the Solomon Islands.