Childhood socioeconomic position and disability in later life: results of the health and retirement study.

OBJECTIVES: We used a life course approach to assess the ways in which childhood socioeconomic position may be associated with disability in later life. METHODS: We used longitudinal data from the nationally representative Health and Retirement Study (1998-2006) to examine associations between parental education, paternal occupation, and disabilities relating to activities of daily living (ADLs) […]

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Sex differences in the relative contribution of social and clinical factors to the Health Utilities Index Mark 2 measure of health-related quality of life in older home care clients.

BACKGROUND: The heterogeneity evident among home care clients highlights the need for greater understanding of the clinical and social determinants of multi-dimensional health-related quality of life (HRQL) indices and of potential sex-differences in these determinants. We examined the relative contribution of social and clinical factors to HRQL among older home care clients and explored whether […]

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Visual function in working-age adults: early life influences and associations with health and social outcomes.

PURPOSE: To investigate how visual function in mid-adult life is associated with health and social outcomes and, using life-course epidemiology, whether it is influenced by early life biological and social factors. DESIGN: Population-based cohort study. PARTICIPANTS: Nine thousand three hundred thirty members of the 1958 British birth cohort at age 44 or 45 years. METHODS: […]

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Stuck at the bottom rung: occupational characteristics of workers with disabilities.

INTRODUCTION: The proportion of workers reporting disabilities varies tremendously across occupations. Although differences in the occupational distributions may partly explain the large disparities in earnings and job security between workers with and without disabilities, little is known about the reasons that workers with disabilities are underrepresented in certain occupations and overrepresented in others. METHODS: Using […]

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Social determinants: taking the social context of asthma seriously.

Although asthma has emerged as a major contributor to disease and disability among US children, the burden of this disease is unevenly distributed within the population. This article provides a brief overview of social-status variables that predict variations in asthma risks and social exposures, such as stress and violence, that are emerging as important risk […]

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Intersectoral action to employ individuals with mental illness: lessons learned from a local development initiative.

BACKGROUND: Intersectoral action is now widely recognized as an effective approach to addressing the social determinants of health. In particular, collaboration between different sectors of the community has been recommended as a strategy for developing employment opportunities for persons diagnosed with mental illness. However, there is limited evidence on the actual implementation of intersectoral action […]

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Socio-economic status and problem alcohol use: the positive relationship between income and the DSM-IV alcohol abuse diagnosis.

AIMS: Epidemiological evidence indicates a positive relationship between income and the prevalence of alcohol abuse in the general population, but an inverse relationship between income and alcohol dependence. Among those with a diagnosis of alcohol abuse, the most prevalent criterion is hazardous use, which commonly requires sufficient resources to own or access a car. The […]

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Contextualizing the effects of yoga therapy on diabetes management: a review of the social determinants of physical activity.

This article provides a review of literature both to identify the effects of yoga-based therapy on the management of type 2 diabetes mellitus and to examine the social context of physical activity. Findings from the review indicate that yoga has a positive short-term effect on multiple diabetes-related outcomes; however, long-term effects of yoga therapy on […]

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