Science Journal of Public Health

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Employment Status and Health Care Utilization in a Context of Economic Recession: Results of a Population Based Survey in East Central Sweden

Received: 17 November 2014    Accepted: 21 November 2014    Published: 24 November 2014
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Abstract

Introduction: The most recent economic recession left many people outside the labour market world-wide, causing widespread poverty and social exclusion. Gävleborg County in East Central Sweden experienced massive layoffs caused by closure of various industries. Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate differences in health-care use according to employment status at the pick of the recent economic recession. Methods: The study used data from a cross-sectional survey “Health in Equal Terms” carried out in Gävleborg County in 2010. The sample included 4245 persons aged 16-65 years. Descriptive and logistic regression analyses were used to assess differences in health-care seeking behaviour by employment status. Results: Employment status was statistically significantly associated with health-care use in Gävleborg County. In the bivariate analysis people who were not employed had odds ratio of 1.62 (CI 1.18-1.72) for health care use as compared to their employed counterparts. Controlling for other variables in Model II to IV removed the statistical significance and reduced the odds to 0.44(CI 0.20-1.00). Conclusions: This study found that at the pick of the most recent economic recession, people who were out of work used more often health services as compared with their employed counterparts. The observed differences in health-care use were explained by demographic, socio-economic and health-related variables. Further studies are needed to analyze trends of healthcare utilization according to employment nationally, particularly at the county level.

DOI 10.11648/j.sjph.20140206.28
Published in Science Journal of Public Health (Volume 2, Issue 6, November 2014)
Page(s) 610-616
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Health-Care Use, Employment Status, Economic Recession

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Author Information
  • Department of Occupational and Public Health Science, University of G?vle, G?vle, Sweden; Department of Health Science, Section of Public Science, Mid-Sweden University, Sundsvall, Sweden; Department of Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden

  • Department of Social Work and Psychology, University of G?vle, G?vle, Sweden

  • Department of Community Medicine, G?vleborg County Council, G?vle, Sweden

  • Department of Health Science, Section of Public Science, Mid-Sweden University, Sundsvall, Sweden

  • Department of Health Management, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania

Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Gloria Macassa, Anne-Sofie Hiswåls, Nader Ahmadi, Johana Alfredsson, Joaquim Soares, et al. (2014). Employment Status and Health Care Utilization in a Context of Economic Recession: Results of a Population Based Survey in East Central Sweden. Science Journal of Public Health, 2(6), 610-616. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20140206.28

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    ACS Style

    Gloria Macassa; Anne-Sofie Hiswåls; Nader Ahmadi; Johana Alfredsson; Joaquim Soares, et al. Employment Status and Health Care Utilization in a Context of Economic Recession: Results of a Population Based Survey in East Central Sweden. Sci. J. Public Health 2014, 2(6), 610-616. doi: 10.11648/j.sjph.20140206.28

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    AMA Style

    Gloria Macassa, Anne-Sofie Hiswåls, Nader Ahmadi, Johana Alfredsson, Joaquim Soares, et al. Employment Status and Health Care Utilization in a Context of Economic Recession: Results of a Population Based Survey in East Central Sweden. Sci J Public Health. 2014;2(6):610-616. doi: 10.11648/j.sjph.20140206.28

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  • @article{10.11648/j.sjph.20140206.28,
      author = {Gloria Macassa and Anne-Sofie Hiswåls and Nader Ahmadi and Johana Alfredsson and Joaquim Soares and Mindaugas Stankunas},
      title = {Employment Status and Health Care Utilization in a Context of Economic Recession: Results of a Population Based Survey in East Central Sweden},
      journal = {Science Journal of Public Health},
      volume = {2},
      number = {6},
      pages = {610-616},
      doi = {10.11648/j.sjph.20140206.28},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20140206.28},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.sjph.20140206.28},
      abstract = {Introduction: The most recent economic recession left many people outside the labour market world-wide, causing widespread poverty and social exclusion. Gävleborg County in East Central Sweden experienced massive layoffs caused by closure of various industries. Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate differences in health-care use according to employment status at the pick of the recent economic recession. Methods: The study used data from a cross-sectional survey “Health in Equal Terms” carried out in Gävleborg County in 2010. The sample included 4245 persons aged 16-65 years. Descriptive and logistic regression analyses were used to assess differences in health-care seeking behaviour by employment status. Results: Employment status was statistically significantly associated with health-care use in Gävleborg County. In the bivariate analysis people who were not employed had odds ratio of 1.62 (CI 1.18-1.72) for health care use as compared to their employed counterparts. Controlling for other variables in Model II to IV removed the statistical significance and reduced the odds to 0.44(CI 0.20-1.00). Conclusions: This study found that at the pick of the most recent economic recession, people who were out of work used more often health services as compared with their employed counterparts. The observed differences in health-care use were explained by demographic, socio-economic and health-related variables. Further studies are needed to analyze trends of healthcare utilization according to employment nationally, particularly at the county level.},
     year = {2014}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Employment Status and Health Care Utilization in a Context of Economic Recession: Results of a Population Based Survey in East Central Sweden
    AU  - Gloria Macassa
    AU  - Anne-Sofie Hiswåls
    AU  - Nader Ahmadi
    AU  - Johana Alfredsson
    AU  - Joaquim Soares
    AU  - Mindaugas Stankunas
    Y1  - 2014/11/24
    PY  - 2014
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20140206.28
    DO  - 10.11648/j.sjph.20140206.28
    T2  - Science Journal of Public Health
    JF  - Science Journal of Public Health
    JO  - Science Journal of Public Health
    SP  - 610
    EP  - 616
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2328-7950
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20140206.28
    AB  - Introduction: The most recent economic recession left many people outside the labour market world-wide, causing widespread poverty and social exclusion. Gävleborg County in East Central Sweden experienced massive layoffs caused by closure of various industries. Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate differences in health-care use according to employment status at the pick of the recent economic recession. Methods: The study used data from a cross-sectional survey “Health in Equal Terms” carried out in Gävleborg County in 2010. The sample included 4245 persons aged 16-65 years. Descriptive and logistic regression analyses were used to assess differences in health-care seeking behaviour by employment status. Results: Employment status was statistically significantly associated with health-care use in Gävleborg County. In the bivariate analysis people who were not employed had odds ratio of 1.62 (CI 1.18-1.72) for health care use as compared to their employed counterparts. Controlling for other variables in Model II to IV removed the statistical significance and reduced the odds to 0.44(CI 0.20-1.00). Conclusions: This study found that at the pick of the most recent economic recession, people who were out of work used more often health services as compared with their employed counterparts. The observed differences in health-care use were explained by demographic, socio-economic and health-related variables. Further studies are needed to analyze trends of healthcare utilization according to employment nationally, particularly at the county level.
    VL  - 2
    IS  - 6
    ER  - 

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