| 1. |
- Barclay, Kieron J.
(author)
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SEX COMPOSITION OF THE WORKPLACE AND MORTALITY RISK
- 2013
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In: Journal of Biosocial Science. - 0021-9320 .- 1469-7599. ; 45:6, s. 807-821
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This study uses Swedish occupational register data to examine whether the proportion of men in administrative workplaces in the Swedish public service affects all-cause mortality risks amongst both males and females of working age. Using piecewise constant survival models to analyse occupational data from the Swedish administrative registers from 1995 to 2007, it was found that for males, a 1% increase in the proportion of males was associated with a 1.3% increase in mortality risk (hazard ratio, HR 1.013, 95% CI 1.007-1.020, p < 0.001), but no association was found for females (HR 1.004, 95% CI 0.996-1.012, p = 0.297). Adjustments were made for age, family status, education, occupational status, occupational segregation by sex, the total number of individuals in the workplace, level of government, region, period and variables reflecting the workplace structure by age, age by sex, occupation and education. A higher proportion of males may be related to (i) an increased exposure to risky health behaviours such as alcohol consumption and unhealthy dietary patterns, (ii) a tendency towards sickness presenteeism, and (iii) an increase in the levels of several well-established emotional stressors in the workplace, leading to an increased level of psychosocial stress. The findings and potential extensions of this research are discussed.
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| 2. |
- Chikovore, Jeremiah, et al.
(author)
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The hide and seek game : men’s perspectives on abortion and contraceptive use within marriage in a rural community in Zimbabwe
- 2002
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In: Journal of Biosocial Science. - 0021-9320 .- 1469-7599. ; 34:3, s. 317-332
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper is based on a study aimed at understanding the perceptions of men to induced abortion and contraceptive use within marriage in rural Zimbabwe. Two qualitative methods were combined. Men were found to view abortion not as a reproductive health problem for women. Instead, they described abortion as a sign of illicit sexual activity and contraceptive use as a strategy married women use to conceal their involvement in extramarital sexual activity. Men felt anxious and vulnerable for lack of control over women. In the absence of verbal communication on sexual matters, women and men resort to what are called here 'hide-and-seek' strategies, where women acquire and use contraceptives secretly while men search for evidence of such use. It is concluded that promoting women's sexual and reproductive health requires both short- and long-term strategies. The short-term strategy would entail providing women with reproductive technology they can use without risking violence. The long-term strategy would entail understanding men's concerns and the way these are manifested. In turn this requires the use of methodologies that encourage dialogue with research participants, in order to capture their deep meanings and experiences.
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| 3. |
- Chudnovskaya, Margarita, 1990-, et al.
(author)
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Understanding the sex inequality in childlessness : an approach using Swedish register data
- 2023
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In: Journal of Biosocial Science. - 0021-9320 .- 1469-7599. ; 55:1, s. 99-115
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In most countries, men are more likely to be childless than women. Understanding how this inequality arises is important given the significance of parenthood for individuals' lives. The objective of this study was to explore how three prominent explanations for sex inequalities in childlessness relate to the Sex Gap in Childlessness (SGC) in Sweden. The three explanations examined were sex ratio imbalance (more men than women), mismeasurement of fatherhood (inequalities in registration) and partnership differences (inequality in multi-partner fertility). Administrative register data for cohorts born in 1945-1974 were used. The population was restricted to men and women who were born in Sweden or arrived prior to the age of 15, and all registered childbearing partnerships were examined. To explore the possible significance of the three explanations, counter-factual standardization was used. Of the three explanations examined, the population sex ratio had the largest positive impact on the SGC, while multi-partner fertility had a negative impact. The results show that inequalities in the sex ratio can explain about 20-34% of the SGC depending on cohort. Inequalities in registration of fathers explain about 9-24% of the SGC depending on cohort. Finally, results show that women are slightly more likely to have multiple partners, and that this behaviour has a substantial minimizing effect on the SGC (minimizing it by 6-65%). To the authors' knowledge this was the first paper to estimate the scope of the impacts of these three mechanisms on the SGC. Differences in multi-partner fertility have in many instances been used as an explanation for men's higher childlessness. This study shows that women have slightly more childbearing partners than men, and that this actually leads to a smaller SGC in the studied population.
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| 4. |
- Dalal, Koustuv, et al.
(author)
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Contraception use and associations with intimate partner violence among women in Bangladesh
- 2012
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In: Journal of Biosocial Science. - New York, USA : Cambridge University Press. - 0021-9320 .- 1469-7599. ; 44:1, s. 83-94
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This study examines the association between contraception use and intimate partner violence (IPV) among women of reproductive age in Bangladesh. The observational study of 10,996 women used the chi-squared test and logistic regressions to assess the associations. Almost 80% of all respondents had used contraceptives at some point in their lives. About half of the respondents (48%) were victims of physical violence, while 11% experienced sexual abuse from their husbands. Urban residents, higher educated women and women aged 20-44 were more likely to use contraceptives than their peers in rural areas, those with lower education and those in their late forties (45-49 years). Women exposed to physical violence were almost two times (OR 1.93, CI 1.55-2.41) more likely to use contraceptives compared with their non-abused peers. Sexual abuse had no significant association with contraceptive use. Physical violence is a predictor for higher levels of contraceptive use among women in Bangladesh. The findings emphasize the importance of screening for IPV at health care centres. The differences in urban and rural contraceptive use and IPV exposure identified by the study have policy implications for service delivery and planning.
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| 5. |
- Dalal, Koustuv, et al.
(author)
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Fairness of utilizing health care facilities and out-of-pocket payment burden : Evidence from Cambodia
- 2013
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In: Journal of Biosocial Science. - : Cambridge University Press. - 0021-9320 .- 1469-7599. ; 45:3, s. 345-357
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Catastrophic spending on health care through out-of-pocket payment is a huge problem in most low-and middle-income countries all over the world. The collapse of health systems and poverty have resulted in the proliferation of the private health sector in Cambodia, but very few studies have examined the fairness in ease of utilization of these services based on mode of payment. This study examined the utilization of health services for sickness or injury and identified its relationship with people’s ability to pay for treatment seeking at various instances. Based on cross-sectional data from the Cambodian 2007 Demographic and Health Survey, the economic index estimated through principal component analysis and Lorenz curve was used to quantify the degree of fairness and equality in utilization and payment burden among the respondents. A distinct level of fairness was found in health care utilization and out-of-pocket payments. Specifically, use of private health care facilities and over-the-counter remedies dominate, and out-of-pocket payments cut across all socioeconomic strata. As many countries in low-and middle-income regions, and most importantly those in transition such as Cambodia, are repositioning their health systems, efforts should be made towards maintaining equitable access through adoption of finance mechanisms that make utilization of health care services fair and equitable. © 2012 Cambridge University Press.
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| 6. |
- Dalal, Koustuv, et al.
(author)
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Wife abuse in rural Bangladesh
- 2009
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In: Journal of Biosocial Science. - Cambridge, UK : Cambridge University Press. - 0021-9320 .- 1469-7599. ; 41:5, s. 561-573
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a global public health and gender problem, especially in low-income countries. The study focused on verbal abuse, physical abuse and abuse by restricting food provision to wives by their husbands by victim and perpetrator characteristics, emphasizing the socioeconomic context of rural Bangladesh. Using a cross-sectional household survey of 4411 randomly selected married women of reproductive age, the study found that a majority of the respondents are exposed to verbal abuse (79%), while 41% are exposed to physical abuse. A small proportion (5%) of the women had suffered food-related abuse. Risk factors observed were age of the wife, illiteracy (of both victims and perpetrators), alcohol misuse, dowry management, husband’s monetary greed involving parents-in-law, and wife’s suspicions concerning husband’s extramarital affairs. Well-established risk factors for wife abuse, along with dowry and husband’s monetary greed, have a relatively high prevalence in rural Bangladesh. © 2009 Cambridge University Press.
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| 7. |
- D'Ambruoso, Lucia, et al.
(author)
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'Maybe it was her fate and maybe she ran out of blood' : final caregivers' perspectives on access to care in obstetric emergencies in rural Indonesia.
- 2010
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In: Journal of Biosocial Science. - Cambridge : Cambridge University Press. - 0021-9320 .- 1469-7599. ; 42:2, s. 213-241
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Maternal mortality persists in low-income settings despite preventability with skilled birth attendance and emergency obstetric care. Poor access limits the effectiveness of life-saving interventions and is typical of maternal health care in low-income settings. This paper examines access to care in obstetric emergencies from the perspectives of service users, using established and contemporary theoretical frameworks of access and a routine health surveillance method. The implications for health planning are also considered. The final caregivers of 104 women who died during pregnancy or childbirth were interviewed in two rural districts in Indonesia using an adapted verbal autopsy. Qualitative analysis revealed social and economic barriers to access and barriers that arose from the health system itself. Health insurance for the poor was highly problematic. For providers, incomplete reimbursements, and low public pay, acted as disincentives to treat the poor. For users, the schemes were poorly socialized and understood, complicated to use and led to lower quality care. Services, staff, transport, equipment and supplies were also generally unavailable or unaffordable. The multiple barriers to access conferred a cumulative disadvantage that culminated in exclusion. This was reflected in expressions of powerlessness and fatalism regarding the deaths. The analysis suggests that conceiving of access as a structurally determined, complex and dynamic process, and as a reciprocally maintained phenomenon of disadvantaged groups, may provide useful explanatory concepts for health planning. Health planning from this perspective may help to avoid perpetuating exclusion on social and economic grounds, by health systems and services, and help foster a sense of control at the micro-level, among peoples' feelings and behaviours regarding their health. Verbal autopsy surveys provide an opportunity to routinely collect information on the exclusory mechanisms of health systems, important information for equitable health planning.
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| 8. |
- Egerbladh, Inez, et al.
(author)
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Socioeconomic, demographic and legal influences on consanguinity and kinship in northern coastal Sweden 1780-1899
- 2011
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In: Journal of Biosocial Science. - 0021-9320 .- 1469-7599. ; 43:4, s. 413-435
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Most studies on consanguinity have been conducted on contemporary populations and have focused on the prevalence and types of preferred intra-familial marriage. With its comprehensive birth, marriage and deaths records dating back to the late 17th century, and the legal bar on first cousin marriage removed in the mid-19th century, Sweden offers unique opportunities to examine the factors that determine by whom, where and why consanguineous marriages were contracted. The present study covers the period 1780-1899 and presents a detailed portrait of cousin and sibling exchange marriages in the Skelleftea region of northern coastal Sweden. The combined prevalence of first, second and third cousin marriage increased from 2.3% in 1790-1810 to 8.8% in 1880-1899, and multi-generation consanguinity also increased significantly over the study period. The distribution and prevalence of first cousin marriages was strikingly non-random, with a significantly greater propensity for consanguinity among land-owning families, especially involving first-born sons, within specific pedigrees, and in a number of more remote inland communities. Additional factors associated with a greater likelihood of consanguineous marriage included physical or mental disability among males, and among females the prior birth of an illegitimate child. Besides the inherent interest in the social and demographic structure of this region of northern Sweden during the course of the 19th century, in future studies it will be important to determine the degree to which the observed patterns of consanguineous and sibling exchange marriages in these past generations could have influenced present-day genetic structure.
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| 9. |
- Gavrus-Ion, Alina, et al.
(author)
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Religion and fertility patterns : comparison of life history traits in Catholics and Protestants, Hallstatt (Austria) 1733-1908
- 2021
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In: Journal of Biosocial Science. - 0021-9320 .- 1469-7599. ; 53:2, s. 305-318
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Catholicism and Protestantism have different ways of promoting the family unit that could influence survival and fertility at a population level. Parish records in the Austrian village of Hallstatt allowed the reconstruction of Catholic and Protestant genealogies over a period of 175 years (1733-1908) to evaluate how religion and social changes affected reproduction and survival. Life history traits such as lifespan beyond 15 years, number of offspring, reproductive span, children born out of wedlock and child mortality were estimated in 5678 Catholic and 3282 Protestant individuals. The interaction of sex, time and religion was checked through non-parametric factorial ANOVAs. Religion and time showed statistically significant interactions with lifespan >15 years, number of offspring and age at birth of first child. Protestants lived longer, had a larger reproductive span and an earlier age at birth of first child. Before the famine crisis of 1845-1850, Protestants showed lower values of childhood mortality than Catholics. Comparison of the number of children born out of wedlock revealed small differences between the two religions. Religion influenced reproduction and survival, as significant differences were found between Catholics and Protestants. This influence could be explained in part by differential socioeconomic characteristics, since Protestants may have enjoyed better living and sanitary conditions in Hallstatt.
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| 10. |
- Haandrikman, Karen, 1977-
(author)
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Effects of the fertility transition on birth seasonality in the Netherlands
- 2008
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In: Journal of Biosocial Science. - : Cambridge University Press. - 0021-9320 .- 1469-7599. ; 40:5, s. 655-672
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Synchronous with the decline in fertility that took place in the post-war period in the Netherlands, patterns of birth seasonality changed as well. In this paper seasonal fluctuations in fertility in the Netherlands are examined using population register data for the period 1952 to 2005. The peak in births has changed from spring to summer and subsequently to August/September, thereby shifting from the European to the American pattern. The seasonal shift can be attributed to parity-specific changes. Before the transition, birth seasonality did not differ much between the different parities. In the transition period from higher to low fertility, differences between parities increased which persist up to today. At present, the overall seasonality pattern is determined by first births. Moreover, birth seasonality varies by maternal age. The findings stimulate the discussion on the role of planning as a cause of birth seasonality.
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