Reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) in the general population

Socio-economic hardships put children in an underprivileged position. This systematic review was conducted to identify factors linked to underachievement of disadvantaged pupils in school science and maths. What could be done as evidence-based practice to make the lives of these young people better? The protocol from preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) was followed. Major electronic educational databases were searched. Papers meeting pre-defined selection criteria were identified. Studies included were mainly large-scale evaluations with a clearly defined comparator group and robust research design. All studies used a measure of disadvantage such as lower SES, language barrier, ethnic minority or temporary immigrant status and an outcome measure like attainment in standardised national tests. A majority of papers capable of answering the research question were correlational studies. The review reports findings from 771 studies published from 2005 to 2014 in ...

https://cogentoa.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/2331186X.2016.1178441

A systematic review of factors linked to poor academic performance of disadvantaged students in science and maths in schools

Schooling and Achievement in American Society

Objectives As a vulnerable group, the elders’ oral health gained less attention, particularly the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and dental caries. This study aimed to assess the associations and to explore the effects of confounders on the associations in elderly people. Design Cross-sectional study. Settings 3 neighbourhood committees and 3 village committees in Sichuan Province, China. Participants 744 people (362 men and 382 women) aged 65–74 years were included. Outcome measures Oral health outcomes included the decayed, missing and filled teeth (DMFT) index and its components. SES was assigned by educational level, household income and type of household. The bivariate association between the participants’ characteristics and DMFT was analysed using non-parametric tests. Four logistic regression models were used to analyse the associations between SES and dental caries by regulating confounders. Results Poor oral health was observed in these participants. Bivariate analysis showed a significant association between SES and DMFT (p﹤0.05). Only adjusting gender, high educational level (adjusted (AOR)=0.34, 95% CI 0.17 to 0.66), high household income (AOR=0.47, 95% CI 0.41 to 0.77) were protective factors against dental caries, and living in agricultural families (AOR=1.86, 95% CI 1.32 to 2.63) was risk factor (p﹤0.05). After adjusting other confounders, SES was partly related to the dental caries. Moreover, an interaction existed among SES indicators. Conclusions SES is associated with dental caries, and older people with low SES have poor oral health. The associations were explained partly by diet, behaviour and awareness. Our results provide effective evidence in targeted policy-making and intervention measures and implicate that pertinence measures, economic assistance and medical insurance funds should be provided to older people of low SES. Furthermore, a follow-up design should attempt to confirm the causal relationship between SES and dental caries and evaluate the effect of intervention.

https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/bmjopen/7/9/e016557.full.pdf

Association between socio-economic status and dental caries in elderly people in Sichuan Province, China: a cross-sectional study

The aim of the present study was to analyse the association between the occurrence of a major depressive episode among older adults and work status in low- and medium-income countries. A cross-sectional study was conducted with people 60 years of age and older from the six countries (Mexico, India, China, Russian Federation, Ghana and South Africa) included in the Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health (SAGE) and who participated in its first wave (2009-2010). The occurrence of a major depressive episode (MDE) over the previous 12 months was determined based on an adaptation of the ICD-10 diagnostic criteria. The association between current work status and the presence of an MDE was estimated using binary logistic regression models with country-level fixed effects, and interaction terms between the country and work status. Results showed the odds of presenting an MDE were lower for older adults who were retired with a pension than for those who were currently working, although this protective association was observed only for men in China (OR=0.23; CI 95%:0.08-0.70) and Ghana (OR=0.25; CI 95%:0.07-0.95) and for women in India (OR=0.05; CI 95%:0.01-0.51) and South Africa (OR=0.19; CI 95%:0.04-0.97). For women, being a homemaker also showed a protective association in South Africa (OR=0.09; CI95%:0.01-0.66) and Mexico (OR=0.32; CI95%:0.14-0.76). In the case of being retired without a pension, no significant association was found in any country. The previous indicates that retirement with pension has a protective association with MDE only for men in China and Ghana and women in India and South Africa. The heterogeneity of this association reflects cultural and socioeconomic differences between the analysed countries.

Work status, retirement, and depression in older adults: An analysis of six countries based on the Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health (SAGE).

Background 
The prevalence of major depressive disorder (MDD) is higher in those with low levels of educational attainment, the unemployed and those with low social status. However the extent to which these factors cause MDD is unclear. Most of the available data comes from studies in developed countries, and these findings may not extrapolate to developing countries. Examining the relationship between MDD and socio economic status in China is likely to add to the debate because of the radical economic and social changes occurring in China over the last 30 years.


Principal findings 
We report results from 3,639 Chinese women with recurrent MDD and 3,800 controls. Highly significant odds ratios (ORs) were observed between MDD and full time employment (OR = 0.36, 95% CI = 0.25–0.46, logP = 78), social status (OR = 0.83, 95% CI = 0.77–0.87, logP = 13.3) and education attainment (OR = 0.90, 95% CI = 0.86–0.90, logP = 6.8). We found a monotonic relationship between increasing age and increasing levels of educational attainment. Those with only primary school education have significantly more episodes of MDD (mean 6.5, P-value = 0.009) and have a clinically more severe disorder, while those with higher educational attainment are likely to manifest more comorbid anxiety disorders.


Conclusions 
In China lower socioeconomic position is associated with increased rates of MDD, as it is elsewhere in the world. Significantly more episodes of MDD occur among those with lower educational attainment (rather than longer episodes of disease), consistent with the hypothesis that the lower socioeconomic position increases the likelihood of developing MDD. The phenomenology of MDD varies according to the degree of educational attainment: higher educational attainment not only appears to protect against MDD but alters its presentation, to a more anxious phenotype.

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Yan Zhang

Papers

Associations of educational attainment, occupation, social class and major depressive disorder among Han Chinese women.