Whether an increase in precarious employment has expanded the inequalities in health and healthcare access? 20-year time-trend analysis

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24790516
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Medical sociology
• Research Institution: Nippon Medical School
• Principal Investigator: Kachi Yuko 日本医科大学, 医学部, 助教 (10579337)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 健康格差 / 非正規雇用 / メンタルヘルス / 主観的健康感 / コホート研究 / 反復横断研究

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In order to develop the effective policies to reduce the health problems of precarious employees, researchers need to build evidence about the health effects of precarious employment. First, we examined whether precarious employment increased the risk of health problems over four years in a nationally representative cohort of Japanese middle-aged people. Results suggest that precarious employment is associated with double the risk of incidence of mood or anxiety disorders among Japanese men. Second, we quantified the contribution of precarious employment to changes in health inequalities between 1986 and 2007 in a national sample of Japanese adults. Results suggest that an increase in precarious employment did not contribute to health inequalities.

Free Research Field

社会疫学