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The Great Recession worsened blood pressure and blood glucose levels in American adults
Journal article   Open access

The Great Recession worsened blood pressure and blood glucose levels in American adults

Teresa Seeman, Duncan Thomas, Sharon Stein Merkin, Kari Moore, Karol Watson and Arun Karlamangla
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS, v 115(13), pp 3296-3301
27 Mar 2018
PMID: 29531048
Featured in Collection :   UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
url
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1710502115View
Published, Version of Record (VoR)Maybe Open Access (Publisher Bronze) Open

Abstract

Adult Aged Aged, 80 and over Blood Glucose - analysis Blood Pressure Cardiovascular Diseases - economics Cardiovascular Diseases - epidemiology Diabetes Complications - economics Diabetes Complications - epidemiology Economic Recession - statistics & numerical data Employment - psychology Female Health Behavior Humans Income Male Middle Aged Prospective Studies United States - epidemiology
Longitudinal, individual-specific data from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) provide support for the hypothesis that the 2008 to 2010 Great Recession (GR) negatively impacted the health of US adults. Results further advance understanding of the relationship by ( ) illuminating hypothesized greater negative impacts in population subgroups exposed to more severe impacts of the GR and ( ) explicitly controlling for confounding by individual differences in age-related changes in health over time. Analyses overcome limitations of prior work by ( ) employing individual-level data that avoid concerns about ecological fallacy associated with prior reliance on group-level data, ( ) using four waves of data before the GR to estimate and control for underlying individual-level age-related trends, ( ) focusing on objective, temporally appropriate health outcomes rather than mortality, and ( ) leveraging a diverse cohort to investigate subgroup differences in the GR's impact. Innovative individual fixed-effects modeling controlling for individual-level age-related trajectories yielded substantively important insights: ( ) significant elevations post-GR for blood pressure and fasting glucose, especially among those on medication pre-GR, and ( ) reductions in prevalence and intensity of medication use post-GR. Important differences in the effects of the GR are seen across subgroups, with larger effects among younger adults (who are likely still in the labor force) and older homeowners (whose declining home wealth likely reduced financial security, with less scope for recouping losses during their lifetime); least affected were older adults without a college degree (whose greater reliance on Medicare and Social Security likely provided more protection from the recession).

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UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#5 Gender Equality
#3 Good Health and Well-Being
#8 Decent Work and Economic Growth
#1 No Poverty
#10 Reduced Inequalities

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Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Economics
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