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O Rahkonen

Publications and source records attributed to O Rahkonen.

35 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1997

Health-related social mobility: a comparison of currently employed men and women in Britain and Finland.

Selective health-related social mobility has been suggested as one possible explanation for health inequalities. The aim of this paper is to examine the size and significance of the contribution which health-related social mobility makes to social class differences in health. We do this by examining the association between intergenerational social mobility and health among currently employed men and women in Britain and Finland. We used comparable nationally representative interview surveys from Britain and Finland. The British data is derived from the General Household Survey for 1988 and 1989, and the Finnish data from the 1986 Survey on Living Conditions. Health measures included limiting long-standing illness and self-assessed health as below good. Social mobility was measured comparing the respondent's class of origin (father's occupation) with his/her class of destination (own current occupation). Social structural changes and related social mobility have been more dramatic in Finland than in Britain during the last few decades. Downward mobility has been relatively rare, and mobility has taken place predominantly upwards. In Finland downward mobility from upper non-manual to manual worker was associated with a somewhat higher risk of limiting long-standing illness than expected among men as well as women. However, there was no statistically significant interaction effect on health between the respondent's father's occupational class and his/her own current class. In Britain, neither self-assessed health nor limiting long-standing illness were related to social mobility. Some weak evidence for health-related downward social mobility was found for currently employed Finnish men and women, but not for their British counterparts. Moreover, the evidence is weaker for self-assessed health than for limiting long-standing illness. Where social mobility may have been health-related, it concerns very rare and small groups; therefore health inequalities among the currently employed cannot be explained by intergenerational health-related social mobility.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Changes in health status and health behavior among Finnish adults 1978-1993.

The patterning of trends in self-assessed health, and in the "Holy Four" of health-related behaviors, that is, smoking, drinking, the use of high-fat milk and butter, and physical exercise, was examined in the Finnish general population aged 25-64 years. There were considerable differences in the health status and health behavior by study year, gender, and educational attainment. The longer the education, the better the health and the more favorable the health behavior, except for the use of alcohol. From the late 1970s to the early 1990s smoking increased slightly among women but decreased among men. The use of alcohol increased, whereas the use of butter and high-fat milk decreased dramatically. Physical exercise during leisure time increased, especially among women. Unemployed men and women were more often smokers than employed persons.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Health inequalities in early adulthood: a comparison of young men and women in Britain and Finland.

Several studies have recently reported that social class differences in ill-health during adolescence are almost non-existent or invisible. The aims of this comparative study of two different welfare states are first, to compare whether the relationship between social class and health is similar among young men and women at different age groups in these two welfare states; second, to examine at what age social class differences in self-reported health and illness among young adults emerge in these two countries; and third, to find out whether class of origin (i.e. parental social class) or class of destination (i.e. individual's achieved social class) have greater explanatory power in studies of health among young adults. We used comparable nationally representative interview surveys from Britain and Finland. The British data is derived from the General Household Survey for 1988 and 1989, and the Finnish data from the 1986 Level of Living Survey. We analysed five year age groups between 16 and 39 years in Britain (N = 16,626) and 15 and 39 years in Finland (N = 5950). Two health indicators (limiting long-standing illness and self-assessed health), and several indicators for social class were compared. The best discriminator of differences in ill-health among young adults both in Finland and Britain was education. Social class differences by own occupation (achieved class) emerged soon after the age of 20 among men and women in both countries and strengthened with increasing age. There was a weaker but consistent association with class of origin in both countries. Housing tenure is strongly associated with young adults' health in Britain but not Finland.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

Comparisons of inequalities in health: evidence from national surveys in Finland, Norway and Sweden.

Nationwide surveys from Finland, Norway and Sweden were analysed to examine socioeconomic inequalities in illness. This article first describes differentials in self-reported limiting long-standing illness and its distribution according to educational level. Age-standardized prevalence rates according to education are examined, and top and bottom prevalence ratios are compared between countries and genders. Secondly, the article attempts to assess the 'global' extent of inequalities in illness. This is made by calculating concentration indices for each country and gender. The description shows large illness differentials according to educational level in each country. A similar socio-economic pattern emerges from all three countries and both genders; i.e. lower socio-economic positions are associated with higher illness levels. This pattern is more distinct for men than for women. The gap in illness between top and bottom educational groups is widest for Norwegian men and smallest for Finnish women. However, top and bottom comparisons overlook other than the extreme groups, and give no information on the sizes of the groups. To avoid these problems concentration indices were calculated to assess the extent of inequalities in illness. According to these indices Norwegian men also show the highest extent of inequality, but differences to Swedish and Finnish men are small. The extent of inequality among women is smaller than among men; among Finnish and Norwegian women it is smaller than among their Swedish counterparts. Measures of inequalities such as the concentration index are useful tools, although complex inequalities cannot be captured by single measures. In the assessment of health inequalities not only relative but also absolute differentials need to be considered.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Persisting health inequalities: social class differentials in illness in the Scandinavian countries.

Finland, Norway and Sweden are highly developed welfare states with a long tradition of egalitarian health and welfare policies. This article analyzes social class differentials in self-reported limiting long-standing illness among men and women in these countries. The data consisted of nation-wide Level of Living Surveys made in 1986-87 in Finland (N = 11,783), Norway (N = 4,211) and Sweden (N = 4,699). Women reported both long-standing illness and limiting long-standing illness slightly more often than men. The prevalence of limiting long-standing illness was lower in Sweden than in Finland and Norway. In all countries blue-collar workers reported ill-health more often than white-collar employees. The prevalence of self-reported limiting long-standing illness among Swedish upper white-collar workers was very low and that among Finnish farmers very high. Skilled female workers showed the worst health whereas Swedish upper class men showed the best health. The reasons for these social inequalities, and their implications for social policy, are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Gender, social class and illness among young people.

Gender and social class differences in illness among young people have been a neglected area in research on social inequities in health. It has been assumed that the illness differentials among adults persist throughout their lives. Only recently have social class health differentials among young people become a topic for research. The aim of this study is, first, to examine gender and social class differences in self-reported illness among young Finns; secondly, to determine whether the relationship between social class and limiting long-standing illness is similar among young men and women. In addition to the two main aims, we also examined whether several background variables have any impact on the relationship between class and illness or, directly, on illness. The data were derived from a nationwide Finnish 'Level of Living Survey', which was carried out by the Central Statistical Office of Finland in 1986. This interview material represents the noninstitutional Finnish population aged 15 years old or older. The number of respondents were 12,057, and the response rate was 87%. In the present study we only examined those who were 15-24-year-olds (N = 2238); i.e. 1101 men and 1137 women; the response rates were 91% and 92% respectively. Young women reported a limiting long-standing illness more often than young men. The prevalence of limiting long-standing illness increased with age. Cross-tabulation analyses showed virtually no relationship between social class and limiting long-standing illness. This held true irrespective of the various measures of social class that were used. Controlling the impact of several background variables in the logistic regression analyses did not alter this general result.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Mother's education and perinatal problems in Finland.

This study using nationwide data expands a previous study from one area in Finland. The purpose was to study how perinatal problems (mortality, short gestation, low birthweight and low Apgar scores) vary by mother's social class, which is measured by level of education. Outcomes of all births in the 1987 Medical Birth Register were linked to the 1988 National Education Register with gives the estimated number of years of completed education. In unadjusted analyses, the lowest educational groups (less than 9 years) had the worst results for outcomes other than neonatal mortality. Results in the two highest educational groups (greater than or equal to 13 and 12 years of education) were similar and if anything, better in the second highest group. Excluding twins and adjusting for confounding variables (age, parity, county, urbanization of residence) by logistic regression analysis did not alter the results much. Adjustment for possible mechanisms correlated with social class (marital status, smoking, time of first antenatal visit) decreased the higher occurrence of low birthweight infants in the low educational groups. Reported previous miscarriages were more common in the higher educational groups. Based on the available background characteristics one would expect to have found the usual social gradient in perinatal problems to have persisted between the two highest educational groups. Further studies on factors causing the plateau in the gradient between these groups might be useful.

Abortion, Spontaneous↗
PubMed1992

The development of smoking in Finland from 1978 to 1990.

The aim of this study was to analyse differences in smoking between men and women, and between different age groups of Finnish adults from 1978 to 1990. The data were collected by questionnaires from mail surveys of representative nationwide samples of 15-64-year-olds from 1978, annually. Response rates varied between 68% (1985) and 86% (1978), averaging 79%. Those who were less than 20 years old were excluded from this study because smoking as a habit is well-established in those aged 20 years and over. Male smoking decreased (from 37 to 33%) and female smoking increased (from 17 to 20%) during the study period. The proportion of smokers among the youngest men (20-29-year-olds) had decreased clearly, and after the mid-1980s the proportion of male smokers was highest in the middle-age group (30-49-year-olds). The proportion of smokers among the middle-aged women increased, but the proportion of smokers was highest in the youngest age group. Gender difference in smoking was largest in the oldest age group.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

[Morbidity and social class in Finland, Sweden and Norway].

Investigations of living standards in Norway, Sweden and Finland in 1986-1987 yielded new comparative data on public health and disease as related to social class. Long-term troublesome illness was less common in Sweden than in Finland and Norway. In all three countries the jobless category and skilled working women accounted for the highest morbidity. Among men, morbidity was greatest for agricultural workers in Finland and Norway, and lowest for Swedes of social class 1--i.e., highly placed and highly educated white collar workers.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Mother's social class and perinatal problems in a low-problem area.

This study reports the variation in perinatal problems related to social class in one area in Finland. Data on length of gestation, birthweight, one-minute Apgar score, and need for special care in relation to social class were obtained from a large clinical trial (n = 2912) on iron prophylaxis during pregnancy. Social class was determined from the woman's own occupation and education. Occupation was obtained from the women themselves and classified as upper white collar, lower white collar I, lower white collar II, and workers; entrepreneurs, students and women with no information were excluded. Education was obtained by record linkage to the national education register, and all women were classified by the years normally required to attain a certain level: greater than or equal to 13, 12, 10-11, and less than or equal to 9 years of education. Adjusted for age and parity, a week U-shaped curve was found for gestation length and birthweight, best results being found for the women in the second highest social class. The lower the social class, the more infants with poor Apgar scores. As potential intervening variables we studied marital status, pre-pregnancy weight, smoking, and haematocrit in the 28th week of pregnancy. Their inclusion in multivariate analyses influenced only slightly the differences in perinatal problems between the groups. Our results suggest that in Finland there are still differences in perinatal problems between social classes, but that the relationship is not always linear.

Abortion, Spontaneous↗
PubMed1989

Clustering and consistency of use of medicines among mid-aged women.

This paper describes the use of drugs among middle-aged Massachusetts women from 1982 to 1986. Data were obtained from follow-up interviews of women (n = 2565) who were premenopausal in a baseline survey of a representative sample of women with an age range of 45-55. In the first follow-up interview, 92% of women had used nonprescribed drugs ("current use"), but most only sporadically, while 47% had used prescribed drugs. The use of different types of drugs was concentrated in the same women, and women who had used prescribed drugs had also used nonprescribed drugs more often than the other women. In the first follow-up, women were classified as nonusers (includes sporadic nonprescribed drug use), nonprescribed medicine users, prescribed drug users, and mixed users; 43% of the women were in a different class three years later. Comparison of individual drug groups also showed changes in the user status between the two surveys. With the exception of poorer health, users of nonprescribed and prescribed drugs were similar to nonusers. Because use of drugs is common, further research on both its determinants and appropriateness is needed.

Analgesics↗
PubMed1989

Trends in drinking habits among Finnish youth from 1973 to 1987.

The aim of this study has been to analyze the trends in drinking habits among Finnish youth from 1973 to 1987. The data were collected by questionnaires from representative nationwide samples of 14- to 18-year-olds in 1973, and from 1977, biennially. Response rates varied between 79% (1985) and 88% (1981). The use of alcohol was common among young people in the early 1970s, decreased until the beginning of the 1980s, and then increased again beginning in 1983. The use of alcohol had increased among young people in every sociodemographic group and school type in recent years. However, the increase, per capita, of alcohol consumption in Finland has grown in recent years after a long stable period due to an increase in the availability of alcoholic beverages and better economic conditions. The spending money available to young people for their leisure time activities, including alcohol consumption, increased markedly after 1983. The liberalization of alcohol policies in connection with fast economic development had a special effect on alcohol use among young people in the early 1970s and then again in the 1980s.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

Coffee drinking among Finnish youth.

The suggestion that coffee may have negative health effects has made coffee-drinking habits medically interesting. This paper reports upon coffee use among young people and describes how coffee-users differ from non-users. Data comes from questionnaires from representative nationwide samples of 12-18-year-old Finnish youth in 1977-1985. Their coffee use decreased from 1977 to 1985, and the decrease could be seen in all age and socio-demographic groups studied. In 1981, 35% of the girls and 45% of the 12-year-old boys drank coffee daily. For 18-year-olds the corresponding percentages were 67 and 75, and the mean number of cups consumed per day was 2.3 and 3.1. Compared to the non-users, the coffee-users were from lower social classes, lived more often in the countryside, and had poorer school achievement. Health-damaging habits such as smoking were more common among the coffee-users, their perceived health was somewhat poorer, and they seemed to mature earlier. The difference in regard to health disappeared after adjusting for differences in socio-demographic background and health habits. The heavy users (four cups or more a day) usually differed more from the non-users than did the moderate users (one to three cups daily).

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Smoking status and relative weight by educational level in Finland, 1978-1995.

BACKGROUND: The aim of the present study was to examine the association between smoking status and relative body weight at different educational levels in Finland during 1978-1995. METHODS: The data for the study were derived from separate cross-sectional health behavior surveys conducted annually by the National Public Health Institute (n = 3,418-5,037, response rate 68-84%). Relative weight was compared among current smokers, ex-smokers, and never smokers. Mean body mass index (BMI) was used as the measure of relative weight. Educational level was measured by the number of school years. RESULTS: During 1978-1995, relative weight increased in all smoking categories. Among men, ex-smokers weighed most, irrespective of study year or educational level, whereas among women ex-smokers showed a mean BMI comparable with that of never smokers. Among current and never smokers, both men and women, the association between smoking status and mean BMI varied according to educational level: current smokers weighed less than never smokers at the lowest educational level, whereas at the highest educational level they weighed more than never smokers. CONCLUSIONS: The association between smoking status and relative weight varied according to educational level. The finding suggests that the association between smoking status and relative weight is modified by social and behavioral factors.

Adolescent↗