Dataset Information

Associations between indoor temperature, self-rated health and socioeconomic position in a cross-sectional study of adults in England.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Excess winter deaths are a major public health concern in England and Wales, with an average of 20 000 deaths per year since 2010. Feeling cold at home during winter is associated with reporting poor general health; cold and damp homes have greater prevalence in lower socioeconomic groups. Overheating in the summer also has adverse health consequences. This study evaluates the association between indoor temperature and general health and the extent to which this is affected by socioeconomic and household factors.

Design

Cross-sectional study.

Setting

England.

Participants

Secondary data of 74 736 individuals living in England that took part in the Health Survey for England (HSE) between 2003 and 2014. The HSE is an annual household survey which uses multilevel stratification to select a new, nationally representative sample each year. The study sample comprised adults who had a nurse visit; the analytical sample was adults who had observations for indoor temperature and self-rated health.

Results

Using both logistic and linear regression models to examine indoor temperature and health status, adjusting for socioeconomic and housing factors, the study found an association between poor health and higher indoor temperatures. Each one degree increase in indoor temperature was associated with a 1.4% (95% CI 0.5% to 2.3%) increase in the odds of poor health. After adjusting for income, education, employment type, household size and home ownership, the OR of poor health for each degree temperature rise increased by 19%, to a 1.7% (95% CI 0.7% to 2.6%) increase in odds of poor health with each degree temperature rise.

Conclusion

People with worse self-reported health had higher indoor temperatures after adjusting for household factors. People with worse health may have chosen to maintain warmer environments or been advised to. However, other latent factors, such as housing type and energy performance could have an effect.

SUBMITTER: Sutton-Klein J

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7907859 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Similar Datasets

Project description:IntroductionTo gain a better understanding of the complex and independent associations between different measures of socioeconomic position (SEP) and smoking in England.Aims and methodsBetween March 2013 and January 2019 data were collected from 120 496 adults aged 16+ in England taking part in the Smoking Toolkit Study. Of these, 18.04% (n = 21 720) were current smokers. Six indicators of SEP were measured: social grade, employment status, educational qualifications, home and car ownership and income. Models were constructed using ridge regression to assess the contribution of each measure of SEP, taking account of high collinearity.ResultsThe strongest predictor of smoking status was housing tenure. Those who did not own their own home had twice the odds of smoking compared with homeowners (odds ratio [OR] = 2.01). Social grade, educational qualification, and income were also good predictors. Those in social grades C1 (OR = 1.04), C2 (OR = 1.29), D (OR = 1.39), and E (OR = 1.78) had higher odds of smoking than those in social grade AB. Similarly, those with A-level/equivalent (OR = 1.15), GCSE/vocational (OR = 1.48), other/still studying (OR = 1.12), and no post-16 qualifications (OR = 1.48) had higher odds of smoking than those with university qualifications, as did those who earned in the lowest (OR = 1.23), third (OR = 1.18), and second quartiles (OR = 1.06) compared with those earning in the highest. Associations between smoking and employment (OR = 1.03) and car ownership (OR = 1.05) were much smaller.ConclusionsOf a variety of socioeconomic measures, housing tenure appears to be the strongest independent predictor of smoking in England, followed by social grade, educational qualifications, and income. Employment status and car ownership have the lowest predictive power.ImplicationsThis study used ridge regression, a technique which takes into account high collinearity between variables, to gain a better understanding of the independent associations between different measures of SEP and smoking in England. The findings provide guidance as to which SEP measures one could use when trying to identifying individuals most at risk from smoking, with housing tenure identified as the strongest independent predictor.

Project description:ObjectivesThe population of Estonia has one of the lowest life expectancies and health statuses in Europe. This is reflected in a lower perception of health among older adults. This study focuses on the role of health behaviour (smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity and nutrition) in self-rated health, accounting for sociodemographic characteristics, activity limitations and long-term illnesses as well as satisfaction with life of older Estonian men and women.DesignWe use representative cross-sectional data from Wave 4 of the Estonian Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, conducted mainly in 2011.ParticipantsFrequencies, ?2 tests and logistic regression models include respondents aged 50 years and older, with no upper age limit (n=6660).ResultsMen have 20% higher odds (CI 1.02 to 1.43) of poor self-rated health. Being of foreign origin (OR 1.48; CI 1.24 to 1.77), having a basic (2.50; CI 2.06 to 3.00) or secondary (1.71; CI 1.43 to 2.04) education, being retired (2.00; CI 1.65 to 2.44) or staying at home (1.49; CI 1.16 to 1.93) and having activity limitations (3.25; CI 2.77 to 3.80) or long-term illnesses (4.78; CI 4.08 to 5.60) are related to poor self-rated health. Never being involved in vigorous (2.30; CI 1.90 to 2.79) or moderate physical activity (1.41; CI 1.02 to 1.94), and consuming legumes and eggs less frequently (1.25; CI 1.08 to 1.45) is associated with poorer self-rated health. Lower satisfaction with life accounts for some of the variation (2.28; CI 1.92 to 2.71).ConclusionsThere is a strong cumulative effect of one's previous life course on the self-rated health of older adults in Estonia, suggesting that public health policies have long-term consequences rather than immediate consequences. Health services supporting health behaviours and targeting vulnerable population groups with specific sociodemographic characteristics and health problems may influence self-rated health for some. Public health services emphasising social activities or psychological aspects may be most successful in improving self-rated health of older Estonians through satisfaction with life.

Project description:BackgroundDespite the existing literature highlights the central roles of sociodemographic factors, fruit & vegetable (F&V) intake, and physical activities for maintaining good health, less is known about the associations in the Chinese context. This study attempted to explore the associations of servings of F&V intake and levels of physical activities with poor self-rated health (SRH) among Chinese older adults.MethodsData were drawn from the Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health-China (SAGE-China) issued by the World Health Organization and included 7560 respondents aged ≥60 years in China. After screening out the potential confounding factors, multiple logistic regression models were adopted to explore the associations of sociodemographic factors, servings of F&V intake, and levels of physical activities with poor SRH.ResultsAmong the sample, nearly a quarter reported poor health status. There were significant gender differences in the case of servings of F&V intake and levels of physical activities. Logistic regressions indicated that higher fruit intake was associated with lower likelihood of vigorous level of physical activity as compared to zero intake. Likewise, higher vegetable intake (≥10 servings) was associated with a higher likelihood of vigorous & moderate level of physical activity when compared to lower intake (≤ 4 servings). Higher fruit intake was associated with a lower likelihood of poor SRH. Similarly, vegetable intake (5 servings: AOR = 0.69, 95%CI: 0.58-0.83; 6-9 servings: AOR = 0.72, 95%CI: 0.59-0.87) was significantly associated with poor SRH. Additionally, vigorous level of physical activity (AOR = 0.79, 95%CI: 0.65-0.97) and vigorous fitness/leisure (AOR = 0.57, 95%CI: 0.39-0.84) were significantly associated with poor SRH.ConclusionThis study suggested that older adults with high fruit intake had lower probability of performing vigorous & moderate level of physical activity, while those with high vegetable intake had higher probability of performing vigorous & moderate level of physical activity. Likewise, the older adults with high F&V intake and higher probability of performing vigorous level of physical activity, walk/bike activity, and vigorous/moderate fitness/leisure had less likelihood to face the risk for poor SRH outcomes. The appropriate servings of F&V intake and levels of physical activity should be highlighted.