ArticlePloS one2022
Over-indebtedness and health in Switzerland: A cross-sectional study comparing over-indebted individuals and the general population.
Article in PloS one, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed, 6 citations in OpenAlex.
- Being overindebted and overweight in Switzerland - A largely unexplored association in an understudied population.PloS one · 2026Article
- Overindebted, unsupported and lonely, and mentally stressed and depressed-exploring the relationship between overindebtedness, social disconnectedness and poor mental health in a population-based Swiss study.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Overindebtedness, unemployment, and poor mental health - and the role of sense of control: a population-based Swiss study.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPrevious international studies have shown that over-indebtedness is associated with poor health. However, in Switzerland research addressing over-indebtedness is widely lacking, strongly needed and particularly important because it is evidently a rising but still commonly tabooed, socially "undesired" and highly stigmatized phenomenon that is rarely discussed and largely ignored and unexplored.
methodsA cross-sectional survey was conducted among over-indebted adults seeking advice from one of the four official debt advisory centers in the Canton of Zurich. The survey finally included 219 respondents participating voluntarily and anonymously. This sample was then linked with a comparable subsample of the nationally representative Swiss Health Survey of 2017, namely 1,997 respondents of the same age from the Canton of Zurich. For reasons of comparability identical health questions and measures were taken from the Swiss Health Survey and used in the over-indebtedness survey. The pooled or combined dataset covered a total of 2,216 adult individuals.
resultsRemarkably high prevalence rates and relative risks of poor self-rated health, severe musculoskeletal and sleep disorders and moderate to severe depression were observed among over-indebted individuals compared to the general population. More than 50% of the over-indebted individuals had poor general health or moderate to severe depression compared to the general population with 14% and 7%, respectively. And far above one third of the over-indebted but 'only' between 6% and 8% of the general population showed severe musculoskeletal disorders and sleep disorders. Even after adjustment for various control variables and covariates, over-indebtedness increased the odds ratios for poor health outcomes consistently and dramatically, i.e. by a factor of 8 and more (aOR = 8.5-11.6).
conclusionsOver-indebtedness in Switzerland has particularly negative effects on various aspects of the health of the persons concerned, irrespective of their demographic characteristics and their social and employment status.
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