Feeling discriminated means poor self-perceived health: a gender analysis using SHARE

Area of Science:

• Social Epidemiology
• Occupational Health
• Gerontology

Background:

• Extensive literature links discrimination to adverse health outcomes.
• The specific impact of past and perceived discrimination on older workers' self-assessed health remains understudied.
• Understanding gender-based differences in this association is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between reported discrimination and self-assessed health in older workers aged 50-65.
• To analyze potential gender disparities in this relationship.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) and SHARELIFE questionnaire (n=30,019).
• Employed logistic regression models to separately analyze discrimination's effect on male and female workers' self-assessed health.
• Examined reported levels of discrimination across genders.

Main Results:

• Women constituted 49.0% of the sample, reporting higher levels of discrimination.
• A significant association was found between discrimination and poorer self-assessed health for both men and women.
• The association appeared particularly strong in men (ORs ranging from 1.565 to 1.802) compared to women (ORs ranging from 1.196 to 1.728).

Conclusions:

• Discrimination is a significant determinant of self-assessed health among older workers.
• Interventions addressing discrimination are vital for improving the health of both male and female workers.
• Findings underscore the need for policies to mitigate discrimination in the workplace.