The study aimed at exploring health-related behaviour patterns among young people. The approach was cross-cultural and the study was focused on identifying culturally valid behaviour patterns in two countries, Finland (F) and Switzerland (CH). Data came from two surveys and included 16- and 18-year-old respondents (F: study year 1993, n = 280, CH: study year 1992/3, n = 272). Three intake behaviours--eating, drinking and smoking--were analysed by means of cluster and logistic regression analyses. Three cross-culturally valid behaviour clusters emerged: a healthy, an unhealthy and a mixed pattern where unhealthy eating behaviours were combined with non-smoking and low alcohol use. The determinants of the patterns were tested by comparing the two countries in relation to the socio-demographic characteristics of the young people that belonged in the same cluster. In both countries the structure of the determinants was almost identically indicating high cross-cultural stability. The study suggests that among young people of this age there is clear and cross-culturally consistent patterning of health-related behaviours.
In Switzerland as well as in many other industrialized countries, sleep disturbances are among the most prevalent health problems. Reliable knowledge about the social and personal conditions of sleep disturbances and especially about their association with conditions is however limited. Using data from the Bern workplace Health Project ("Härz-AsProjekt", n = 774) a logistic regression model was applied to study the association between an indicator of sleep disturbances composed both of problems falling asleep and problems waking-up during the night and several work-related factors. Sleep disturbances were found to be directly associated with perceived work load, time pressure and physical work demands and inversely associated with social acceptance at workplace, work satisfaction and the ability not to become immersed into work. Under comparable working conditions these associations did not differ for men and women. It was concluded that psychosocial demands and resources of the workplace do affect the quality of sleep.
Based on a sample of 623 employed men from the Berne Workplace Health Project ("Härz-As-Project") we studied the relationship between the occupational status and prevalence of cardiovascular risk indicators. Besides "biological" risk indicators, like high total cholesterol, low HDL-cholesterol, hypertension, and overweight, we also studied two behavioral risk indicators (current smoking, physical inactivity in leisure time) and a summary risk score. Odds ratios for several risk indicators controlled for age, were markedly different among different occupational status groups. High cholesterol/HDL-cholesterol ratios were more common in lower occupational status groups, while the likelihood for hypertension and high total cholesterol was highest among qualified workers. There was a strong association between occupational status and the behavioral risk indicators smoking and physical inactivity in leasure time. Similarly, 1 or more risk indicators, and more than 2 risk indicators, respectively, were also found to be strongly related to occupational status. Our results confirm former findings of unequal distribution of cardiovascular disease risk indicators among groups of different occupational status. Future studies will have to focus upon the underlying causes for these inequities.
In Switzerland, and in many other countries as well, the distribution of morbidity and perceived health in the general population and their determining factors have not been systematically studied so far. This article reports on exploratory study of prevalence of two complex health indicators, long-standing disease (Disease) and psychological well-being (Well-being) and of their environmental, person-specific and behavioural determinants. Data from a health survey conducted in five cantons and three language regions as part of the Swiss Intercantonal Health Indicators Project were used. Whereas distributions of prevalence of Disease according to gender, age, level of education and place of living confirm results of other studies, unexpected prevalence patterns were found for Well-being, especially with regard to gender differences. Multivariate analyses by general linear models (independent sub-samples of the study population were used to develop and validate models) showed different sets of environmental, person-specific and behavioural factors to explain inter-individual differences of Disease and Well-being, both in the total validation sample and in sub-samples of women and men. The results are discussed with regard to implications for socioepidemiological health research.
Based on data collected in a survey as part of the Swiss Intercantonal Health Indicators Project (random sample stratified by age of 20-75 year old persons, n = 2106) relationships between level of employment (full, part-time, none) and health/disease as well as health behaviour were studied. Employed men and to some extent employed women as well were found to be less frequently sick and to feel more frequently well than non-employed men and women. Overall employment appears to affect health/disease in men more strongly than in women, whereas influence on health behaviour appears to be similar in both gender groups. The results of the study are discussed both with regard to further hypotheses of health research and opportunities of health promotion.
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