Risk factors for smoking in adolescence: evidence from a cross-sectional survey in Switzerland.

BACKGROUND: Cigarette smoking during adolescence is a major public health concern with far-reaching health implications. Adolescents who smoke are at an increased risk of developing long-term health problems and are more likely to continue smoking into adulthood. Therefore, it is vital to identify and understand the risk factors that contribute to adolescent smoking - which in turn facilitate the development of targeted prevention and intervention programs. METHODS: Data was drawn from a cross-sectional survey conducted between October and December 2021, encompassing adolescents of adolescents aged 14 to 19 residing in Switzerland (n = 2,683). Multiple logistic regression analysis was employed to explore which demographic, household, behavioural and psychographic factors are associated with current smoking status. RESULTS: The regression results showed higher odds of smoking for female respondents (OR 1.39; p-value 0.007); older adolescents (OR 1.30; p-value < 0.001); those living in the French-speaking part of Switzerland (OR 1.39; p-value 0.021), in suburban areas (OR 1.35; p-value 0.023) and with a smoker in the same household (OR 2.41; p-value < 0.001); adolescents consuming alcohol (OR 4.10; p-value < 0.001), cannabis products (OR 6.72; p-value < 0.001) and hookah (OR 5.07; p-value < 0.001) at least once a month; respondents not engaging in sports (OR 1.90; p-value < 0.001) or music (OR 1.42; p-value 0.031) as top five leisure activities and those experiencing high stress levels at home (OR 1.74; p-value < 0.001). Adolescents with high scores in health awareness (OR 0.33; p-value < 0.001), on the relational self-esteem scale (OR 0.78; p-value 0.054) and on the general well-being scale (OR 0.52; p-value 0.022) were less likely to smoke than their counterparts with lower scores. High risk-seeking was associated with higher odds of smoking (OR 2.15; p-value < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest the importance of a comprehensive approach at both individual and institutional levels to reduce smoking rates in adolescents. More specifically, a holistic strategy that encompasses adolescents, families, schools and policymakers ranging from strengthening adolescents' self-esteem, smoking cessation support for parents, to increasing engagement in musical and physical activities, and enhancing health awareness in the school curriculum.

Factors associated with the choice of supplementary hospital insurance in Switzerland - an analysis of the Swiss Health Survey.

BACKGROUND: Switzerland has universal coverage via mandatory health insurance that covers a generous basket of health services. In addition to the basic coverage, the insured can buy supplementary insurance for the inpatient sector. Supplementary hospital insurance in Switzerland provides additional services during inpatient stays. Little is known about which factors are associated with the choice of semi-private and private hospital insurances. However, this is of importance to policy makers and the insured population, who might be concerned about a "two-class" inpatient care system. Therefore, the aim of the paper was to explore the factors associated with supplementary hospital insurance enrolment in Switzerland. METHODS: We used the five most recent waves of the representative Swiss Health Survey (1997, 2002, 2007, 2012, 2017) to explore which factors are associated with supplementary hospital insurance enrolment in adults aged 25 or older. We estimated the same probit model for all five surveys waves and computed average marginal effects. RESULTS: Our study shows that in all cross-sections the likelihood of enrolling in supplementary hospital insurance increased with higher age, education, household income and was higher for people with a strong preference for unrestricted choice of a specialist and with a higher-than-default deductible choice. The likelihood of supplementary hospital insurance enrolment was lower for the unemployed relative to their inactive counterparts and those living in rural areas relative to comparable urban residents. Ever-smoker status was not statistically significantly associated with supplementary hospital insurance choice. However, our findings indicated differences in estimates over the years regarding demographic as well as insurance-related variables. For example, women were more likely to choose supplementary hospital insurance than comparable men in earlier years. CONCLUSION: Most importantly, our results indicate that factors related to socioeconomic status - such as education, labour market status, and income - consistently show significant associations with the probability of having supplementary hospital insurance for the entire study period, as opposed to demographic variables - such as nationality and sex.

Disability insurance benefit application in Switzerland: an analysis of linked administrative and survey data.

BACKGROUND: The guiding principle of disability insurance in Switzerland is 'rehabilitation before pension'. Access to rehabilitation measures to restore, maintain or improve the earning capacity of individuals with disabilities is essential. Gainful employment enables them to be an active part of society, improves their quality of life, and may mitigate the adverse health effects of disability pension receipt. The aim of this study was therefore to identify factors for disability insurance benefit application in Switzerland. METHODS: A novel dataset was created linking the 2010 Social Protection and Labour Market cross-section with administrative register data on disability insurance benefit application (2009-2018). Multiple logistic regression was employed to examine the associations between long-term health-related activity limitation, region of residence, demographic and socioeconomic characteristics and disability insurance benefit application in adults aged 18-55 (N = 18,448). Sensitivity analysis based on age was performed in individuals aged 18 to retirement age and aged 25 to 55. RESULTS: The regression results showed higher odds of disability insurance benefit application for individuals suffering from long-term health-related activity limitations (OR 2.88; 95% CI 1.29-6.44; p-value 0.010); born outside of Switzerland (OR 1.75; 95% CI 1.32-2.32; p-value 0.000); living without a working partner (OR 1.54; 95% CI 1.17-2.02; p-value 0.002); living without a child aged 0-14 years (OR 1.70; 95% CI 1.29-2.26; p-value 0.000); aged 18-39 (OR 1.41; 95% CI 1.09-1.83; p-value 0.009); with a learnt occupation in 'Manufacturing' (OR 2.75; 95% CI 1.68-4.50; p-value 0.000), 'Construction and mining' (OR 2.03; 95% CI 1.13-3.66; p-value 0.018), 'Trade and transport' (OR 2.12; 95% CI 1.30-3.45; p-value 0.003), 'Business and administration' (OR 1.68; 95% CI 1.03-2.72; p-value 0.036), and 'Health, teaching, culture and science' (OR 1.55; 95% CI 1.05-2.29; p-value 0.026); and renters (OR 1.44; 95% CI 1.00-1.94; p-value 0.016). The results were robust to alternative samples defined by age - albeit with some differences in regional and learnt occupational patterns. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggested that disability insurance benefit application is more than a health-related phenomenon in Switzerland. However, the results provided a less consistent picture on the role of marginalization in application than in other European countries.

Disability pension receipt in young adults: an analysis of the Swiss Social protection and labour market (SESAM) data.

BACKGROUND: There has been an overall decreasing trend in the inflow into disability pension in Switzerland since 2003 with the exception of young adults. Disablement in young adulthood reflects a particularly critical phenomenon given the potentially far-reaching long-term social, economic and health consequences. The aim of this study was therefore to identify factors for disability pension in young adults aged 18-39, living in Switzerland. METHODS: We used the 2010-2015 cross-sections of the Social protection and labour market; a unique dataset linking microdata from the Swiss Labour Force Survey, the Swiss Central Compensation Office Register, and the Unemployment Insurance Register. Multiple logistic regression was employed to explore the association between demographic, socioeconomic, and health factors and disability pension in young adults living in Switzerland with long-term activity limitation (N = 5306). Alternative specifications of the benchmark model were estimated as robustness checks; and subsample analyses were conducted excluding (i) those aged 18-24 and (ii) those with partial disability pension. RESULTS: Our regression results showed that those living without a working partner (OR 2.11; 95% CI 1.51-2.94) and without a child aged 0-14 (OR 2.15; 95% CI 1.48-3.12), born in Switzerland (OR 2.68; 95% CI 1.87-3.84), of higher age (OR 1.16; 95% CI 1.12-1.19), having completed at most lower secondary school (OR 3.26; 95% CI 2.24-4.76), lacking income throughout the four-year period prior to interview (OR 3.94; 95% CI 2.70-5.75), suffering from chronic illness (OR 4.52; 95% CI 2.83-7.19), and severe long-term activity limitation (OR 4.52; 95% CI 2.83-7.19) had higher odds of DP. Our findings were robust to alternative specifications and subsamples; and the alternative specifications revealed differences by learnt occupation, with highest odds for those without an occupational qualification (OR 5.93; 95% CI 3.72-9.46; p-value 0.000) and for those in 'Manufacturing' (OR 3.59; 95% CI 1.91-6.71) relative to 'Health, education, culture, and science'. CONCLUSIONS: Most importantly, our results showed that educational and employment factors are of high relevance, as well as chronic morbidity and severe long-term activity limitation. From a policy perspective, early intervention should thus focus on the attainment of vocational and academic qualifications beyond the lower secondary level, facilitating school-to-work transition and labour market integration.