ArticleBMC public health2019
Does unemployment contribute to poorer health-related quality of life among Swedish adults?
Article in BMC public health, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 57 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
57 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 149 citations in OpenAlex.
- Does unemployment lead to greater levels of loneliness? A systematic review.Social science & medicine (1982) · 2021Pooled it
- Health-improving interventions for obtaining employment in unemployed job seekers.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2020Pooled it
- Cost-effectiveness of guideline-based stepped and collaborative care versus treatment as usual for patients with depression - a cluster-randomized trial.BMC psychiatry · 2020Trial
- Return to Work or Not: The Paths to Psychiatric Disability and Back.Journal of occupational rehabilitation · 2026Article
- Temporal Dynamics of Anxiety and Career Adaptability in AI-Delivered Versus Human-Delivered Counseling Among Unemployed Adults: A 13-Wave Longitudinal Behavioral Intervention Study.International journal of behavioral medicine · 2026Article
- Return to Work after Surgical Treatment of Osteochondral Defects of the Talus: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Cartilage · 2026Article
- Factors associated with health state valuations: a secondary analysis of an EQ-5D-3L valuation study from Jordan.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2026Article
- Determinants of male global health and quality of life in Switzerland: a cross-sectional study using a gender-diverse approach.BMJ open · 2026Article
- Profiles of quality of care among individuals with suicidal behaviors.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- Correlates of quality of life in people living with HIV infection beyond viral load suppression in Africa: a scoping review.BMJ public health · 2026Article
- Health-related quality of life of unemployed individuals diagnosed with a mental illness: a cross-sectional study.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2025Article
- Patterns of health literacy among vulnerable unemployed citizens: a cross-sectional study in a Danish municipality.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Prevalence of mental disorders and work ability among unemployed individuals in Germany: a register-based analysis of socio-medical assessments by the Federal Employment Agency between 2016 and 2021.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Association between socioeconomic status and patient-reported outcome at 1 year after shoulder arthroplasty for osteoarthritis or cuff-tear arthropathy: a nationwide cohort study of 2,292 arthroplasties.Acta orthopaedica · 2025Article
- Is structural equation modeling applicable in a population health determinants assessment? An experience from the European Union.PloS one · 2025Article
- Article
- Factors Impacting Quality of Life in a Group of Iranian Patients in Chronic Oral Mucosal Disease Following Treatment?Clinical and experimental dental research · 2024Article
- Health and disability - a multi-group latent class analysis of the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 among those with mental and physical health conditions.Health and quality of life outcomes · 2024Article
- Assessment of knowledge and awareness of stroke among the Syrian population: unveiling the current landscape in Syria through the first nationally representative study.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Daily Loneliness Affects Quality of Life in Sickle Cell Disease.International journal of behavioral medicine · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPrevious studies have shown that unemployment has negative impacts on various aspects of health. However, little is known about the effect of unemployment on health-related quality of life. Our aim was to examine how unemployment impacts upon health-related quality of life among Swedish adults, and to investigate these effects on population subgroups defined by education level, marital status, previous health, and gender.
methodsAs part of a cross-sectional study, a questionnaire was sent to 2500 randomly selected individuals aged 20 to 64 years living in Sweden in 2016. The questionnaire included the EuroQol 5 dimensions (EQ-5D) instrument and was answered by 967 individuals (39%). Quality-adjusted life year (QALY) scores were derived from the EQ-5D responses. Of the respondents, 113 were unemployed and 724 were employed. We used inverse probability-weighted propensity scores in our analyses to estimate a risk difference. Gender, age, education level, marital status, and previous health were used as covariates in our analyses.
resultsThere was a statistically significant lower QALY score by 0.096 points for the unemployed compared to the employed. There were also statistically significant more problems due to unemployment for usual activities (6.6% more), anxiety/depression (23.6% more), and EQ-5D's Visual Analogue Scale (7.5 point lower score). Grouped analyses indicated a larger negative health effect from becoming unemployed for men, those who are married, and young individuals.
conclusionsIn our study, we show that the health deterioration from unemployment is likely to be large, as our estimated effect implies an almost 10% worse health (in absolute terms) from being unemployed compared to being employed. This further highlights that unemployment is a public health problem that needs more focus. Our study also raises further demands for determining for whom unemployment has the most negative effects and thus suggesting groups of individuals who are in greatest need for labor market measures.
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