Unemployment, social support and health problems: results of the GEDA study in Germany, 2009

It is well documented that the unemployed have more health problems than the employed, and that social support facilitates coping with unemployment. The association of unemployment and social support with health was examined on the basis of representative data derived from a German study.

The GEDA study (Gesundheit in Deutschland Aktuell [Current Health in Germany]) was conducted in 2008/09 by the Robert Koch Institute, the nationwide governmental public health agency in Germany. For this paper, we analyzed data from the GEDA study that were obtained from 12022 persons aged 30 to 59. We used health indicators taken from the Four-Item Healthy Days Core Module of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and we measured social support on the Oslo Three-Item Social Support Scale. We report the findings on impairment in three distinct areas (physical, emotional, and functional) and the results of a multivariate statistical analysis.

Unemployed persons aged 30 to 59 years suffer physical, emotional, and functional impairment more commonly than employed persons. Men and women with little social support are more likely to be impaired in these three areas whether they are employed or not. Regression analysis reveals that unemployment and social support have significant, independent effects on both the incidence of such impairments (OR(unemployed)= 1.2-1.7, OR(supported)= 0.4-0.9) and on their duration (IRR(unemployed)= 1.3-1.8, IRR(supported)=0.6-0.8) after age, income, and education have been controlled for.

Physicians should be mindful of the deleterious effect of unemployment on health and should encourage unemployed patients to participate in social networks, as the evidence shows that social support can have health benefits.