UCL Discovery
UCL home » Library Services » Electronic resources » UCL Discovery

Employment status and health after privatisation in white collar civil servants: prospective cohort study

Ferrie, JE; Martikainen, P; Shipley, MJ; Marmot, MG; Stansfeld, SA; Smith, GD; (2001) Employment status and health after privatisation in white collar civil servants: prospective cohort study. BRIT MED J , 322 (7287) 647 - 651. Green open access

[thumbnail of 647.pdf]
Preview
PDF
647.pdf

Download (285kB)

Abstract

Objectives To determine whether employment status after job loss due to privatisation influences health and use of health services and whether financial strain, psychosocial measures, or health related behaviours can explain any findings.Design Data collected before and 18 months after privatisation.Setting One department of the civil service that was sold to the private sector,Participants 666 employees during baseline screening in the department to be privatised.Main outcome measures Health and health service outcomes associated with insecure re-employment, permanent exit from paid employment, and unemployment after privatisation compared with outcomes associated with secure re-employmentResults Insecure re-employment and unemployment were associated with relative increases in minor psychiatric morbidity (mean difference 1.56 (95% confidence intervals interval 1.0 to 2.2) and 1.25 (0.6 to 2.0) respectively) and having four or more consultations with a general practitioner in the past year (odds ratio 2.04 (1.1 to 3.8) and 2.39 (1.3 to 4.7) respectively). Health outcomes for respondents permanently out of paid employment closely resembled those in secure re-employment, except for a substantial relative increase in longstanding illness (2.25; 1.1 to 4.4), Financial strain and change in psychosocial measures and health related behaviours accounted for little of the observed associations. Adjustment for change in minor psychiatric morbidity attenuated the association between insecure re-employment or unemployment and general practitioner consultations by 26% and 27%, respectively.Conclusions Insecure re-employment and unemployment after privatisation result in increases in minor psychiatric morbidity and consultations with a general practitioner, which are possibly due to the increased minor psychiatric morbidity.

Type: Article
Title: Employment status and health after privatisation in white collar civil servants: prospective cohort study
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
Keywords: MENTAL-HEALTH, SOCIOECONOMIC-STATUS, MODERATING ROLE, JOB INSECURITY, UNEMPLOYMENT, STRAIN, WOMEN, CONSEQUENCES, CONSULTATION, REEMPLOYMENT
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Epidemiology and Health
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Epidemiology and Health > Epidemiology and Public Health
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1997
Downloads since deposit
249Downloads
Download activity - last month
Download activity - last 12 months
Downloads by country - last 12 months

Archive Staff Only

View Item View Item