BOSTON, May 11, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Workers with no pre-existing health
conditions increased their odds of a new health condition by 83 percent after
jobs loss, U.S. researchers found.
Kate Strully, a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health and Society scholar at the
Harvard School of Public Health, said even if someone finds a job quickly, there
is an increased risk of developing a new health problem -- such as hypertension,
heart disease, heart attack, stroke or diabetes as a result of the job loss from
no fault of one's own.
The study was conducted based on data from the U.S. Panel Study of Income
Dynamics, a nationally representative survey from 1999, 2001 and 2003. The study
looked at establishment closures that included a range of occupations, including
managerial or professional positions, sales, clerical, and craft jobs, machine
operator jobs and service positions.
The study, published in the journal Demography, also found that for those who
lost their job -- white or blue collar -- through no fault of their own, such as
an establishment closure, the odds of reporting fair or poor health increased by
54 percent.
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