Multidimensional gender discrimination in workplace and depressive symptoms.

BACKGROUND: Discrimination is associated with depressive symptoms and other negative health effects, but little is known about the mental health risks of workplace gender discrimination. We aimed to investigate the association of workplace gender discrimination and depressive symptoms among employed women in South Korea. METHODS: The 6th wave (2016) survey datasets of the Korean Longitudinal Survey of Women and Family (KLoWF) were analyzed for 2,339 respondents who are identified as wage workers. Depressive symptoms were evaluated by the short-form (10-item) Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression scale. Association of workplace gender discrimination and depressive symptoms was assessed using multivariate logistic regression, adjusted for potential confounding variables including age, income satisfaction, education level, marital status, and currently diagnosed disease. We then measured the age effect using age stratification multivariate logistic regression model. RESULTS: Women who experienced gender discrimination at workplace had higher odds of depressive symptoms regardless of the type of the discrimination including hiring, promotion, work assignments, paid wages, and firing. These associations were consistent in younger women below 40 years of age in regard to hiring, promotion, paid wages and firing, whereas inconsistent among older women above 40 years of age. LIMITATIONS: We did not investigate the effect of workplace gender discrimination on depressive symptoms in a longitudinal manner. CONCLUSIONS: Workplace gender discrimination was found to be significantly associated with depressive symptoms after adjustment for socio-demographic factors. Further, women under 40 years of age were especially vulnerable to workplace gender discrimination.

Dietary mushroom intake and the risk of breast cancer based on hormone receptor status.

Although many studies have documented the antitumor activities of mushrooms, the association between mushroom intake and breast cancer, defined by hormone receptor status, has received minimal empirical investigation. This study evaluated the association between mushroom intake and the risk of breast cancer according to hormone receptor status among Korean women. Mushroom intake and breast cancer risk were examined among 358 breast cancer patients and 360 cancer-free controls. Intake of mushrooms was assessed using a quantitative food frequency questionnaire. Greater mushroom intake was related to lower risk of breast cancers among premenopausal women (odds ratio [OR] = 0.35, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.13-0.91 for the highest vs. the lowest quartile intake). The association was stronger for premenopausal women with estrogen receptor (ER)+/progesterone receptor (PR) + tumors (OR = 0.30, 95% CI = 0.11-0.79 for the highest vs. the lowest quartile intake) than those with ER-/PR- tumors. Our results suggest that high consumption of mushrooms might be related to lower risks for breast cancers among premenopausal women; this association may be more robust among women with hormone receptor positive tumors.