Quantifying self-rated age.

Chronological age, in conjunction with population life tables, is widely used for estimating future life expectancy. The aims of this study are to estimate a subjective ageing indicator, namely self-rated age, and to evaluate its concurrent validity in comparison with other age indicators: subjective survival probabilities, subjective age, and biological age. We use data from the Wave 6 of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, Wave 12 of the Health and Retirement Study in the United States, and life tables from the Human Mortality Database. For the statistical analysis we use multinomial regression models. Our results indicate that health status and frequency of physical activities imply similar patterns of self- rated age, subjective survival probabilities, subjective age, and biological age. However, the impact of cognitive function differs by geographical region. Self-rated age can be interpreted as a subjective adjustment that better reflects the ageing process.

Modelling the effects of maternal socio-demographic characteristics on the preterm and term birth weight distributions in Greece using quantile regression.

The present study aims at modelling the effects of maternal socio-demographic characteristics on the birth weight distribution in Greece. The analysis is based on nationwide vital registration micro-data; 103,266 single live births recorded in 2006 are considered. Quantile regression models, allowing for the effects of covariates to vary across the conditional distribution of the dependent variable, birth weight, are applied to preterm and term births separately. The statistical analysis shows that the effects of most factors differentiate across the birth weight distributions. Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) coefficients, on the other hand, systematically underestimate effects at the lower tail and overestimate effects among heavier babies. Hence, quantile regression has a strong advantage over the OLS method. The findings also indicate that birth weight distributions of term and preterm infants are distinct and should be analysed separately. For both distributions female sex, primiparity, age of mother over 35 and prior history of stillbirths and child deaths are related to lower birth weight while higher educational attainment has a protective effect. Among term births, illegitimacy, living in big metropolitan areas and immigrant status of the mother are also significant predictors. For preterm births the impact of age of mother, parity and, in particular, prior stillbirths or deceased children is very pronounced.

Socioeconomic inequality and stillbirth rate disparities among native and foreign mothers: evidence from Greece.

We study, for the first time, stillbirth differentials among native and migrant populations in Greece using national vital registration microdata for the period of 2010-2014. We employ conventional demographic measures and propose a standardization procedure to delineate the effect of selected distributions of livebirths on the observed stillbirth rates. The stillbirth rate among immigrant mothers is 40% higher than among natives, an excess which persists throughout gestational intervals and age groups. Our findings also show a clear gradient of stillbirth rates by maternal education, favoring more educated women, and this finding applies to both native and immigrant mothers. Our standardization methodology shows that the distribution of births by maternal educational level and age play a role; this finding implies that elevated immigrant stillbirth rates may be attributed to a certain extent to the specific characteristics of this group, since immigrant women have, on average, a younger age structure and lower educational attainment. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s43545-022-00410-y.

Demographic and socioeconomic determinants of low birth weight and preterm births among natives and immigrants in Greece: an analysis using nationwide vital registration micro-data.

The present study makes use of nationwide individual-level vital registration data on the single live births occurring in Greece in 2006 to explore associations of socio-demographic factors with adverse pregnancy outcomes, using multinomial logistic regression models. The findings indicate that important risk factors associated with low birth weight preterm and intra-uterine growth retarded births (IUGR) include female sex, primiparity, age of mother over 35, illegitimacy and prior history of stillbirths, infant and child deaths. These constitute risk factors for normal weight preterm births as well, though associations with sex and primiparity in this case point to the opposite direction. Residing in large metropolitan areas is related to a greater risk of an IUGR birth. Among Greek women, educational attainment has a protective effect while housewife status is linked to higher chances of an IUGR birth. For immigrant mothers however, the opposite holds. The study also shows that normal weight preterm births form a distinct group.

Economic crisis and stillbirth ratios: Evidence from Southern Europe.

In this paper we assess the impact of the recent European recession on stillbirth indices over the course of the 2000s and 2010s; the analysis focuses on four Southern European countries (Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal), which were seriously affected by the sovereign debt crisis from around 2008 to 2017. We use national vital statistics and established economic indicators for the period 2000-2017; stillbirth ratios (stillbirths per 1000 livebirths) are the chosen response variable. For the purpose of the study, we employ correlation analysis and fit regression models. The overall impact of economic indicators on the stillbirth indices is sizeable and statistically robust. We find that a healthy economy is associated with low and declining levels of stillbirth measures. In contrast, economic recession appears to have an adverse effect (Greece, Italy and Spain), or an unclear impact (Portugal), on the stillbirth outcome. This study provides evidence of the adverse effect of the European sovereign debt crisis and ensuing period of austerity on a scarcely explored aspect of health.

Differentials in sex ratio at birth among natives and immigrants in Greece: an analysis employing nationwide micro-data.

This study uses micro-level information on the live births registered in Greece for 2006 to assess differentials in the propensity to have a male offspring between natives and immigrants. The sex ratio at birth for the whole population is 106.3 but it is considerably higher among immigrants (110.9) than among natives (105.4). Relatively high sex ratios at birth are observed for several migrant groups; differentials between natives, on the one hand, and Albanians (109.5) and Asians (129.0), on the other, are significant. The high sex ratio at birth for Albanians seems typical of that population. For Asians, the result is consistent with international findings though it may also be partly related to the small number of observations.

Mortality by Cause of Death Among Immigrants and Natives in a South European Country: The Case of Greece, 2011.

The aim of the paper is to examine for the first time in Greece mortality by cause of death among immigrants. The analysis makes use of vital registration statistics for 2010-2012 and census data for 2011; standardised mortality ratios are estimated for four distinct groups: natives, migrants from EU-27 (excluding Greece), other Europeans (mainly Albanians) and those from all other countries (mainly Asia/Africa). All immigrants seem to experience favourable mortality from neoplasms but higher mortality from external causes in comparison to Greeks. The results regarding cardiovascular diseases are mixed. Persons originating in Asian/African regions exhibit higher mortality from infectious diseases and TB. The findings highlight the specificities of immigrant mortality which stem from pre-existing conditions in the country of origin as well as from the adverse socio-economic environment in the country of destination. As immigrants experience some excessive 'avoidable' mortality implementation of appropriate measures should be a social policy priority.

An assessment of socio-economic inequalities in health among elderly in Greece, Italy and Spain.

OBJECTIVE: This study explores socio-economic inequalities in health among Mediterranean people aged 50 or higher. METHODS: The data used in the analysis come from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, wave 1, release 2; the sample includes 2,671 Greek, 2,502 Italian and 2,343 Spanish persons. Seven health indicators are examined using age-sex standardized prevalence rates and logistic regression models. Concentration indices are also computed for self-rated health (SRH). RESULTS: Socio-economic position of individuals declines with age. Persons of lower socio-economic position experience worse health in all instances. Independently of education and gender, Greek persons display the lowest prevalence rates for SRH and physical and depressive symptoms, Spanish exhibit the highest rates for chronic conditions, and Italians perform better regarding functional limitations. Within-country analysis shows that the magnitude of socio-economic inequalities in SRH is greatest in Greece, followed by Spain and lastly by Italy. CONCLUSIONS: The analysis reconfirms the advantage of high over low socio-economic position for all countries and health indicators and proves education as an important correlate compared to wealth and income among the elderly.

Socio-demographic and health-related factors affecting depression of the Greek population in later life: an analysis using SHARE data.

Depression in later life is one of the most prevalent conditions forecasted to rise to the second most burdensome health condition worldwide by 2020. Using data from the 2004 Study of Health Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE: release 1) on 857 Greek males and 1,032 females aged 50 or higher this study explores, firstly, associations of socio-demographic and health related indicators with depressive symptoms (EURO-D) and, secondly, attempts to identify patterns and structures among them. To achieve the first objective, the 12-item summated EURO-D scale is used in binary form with a cut-off point clinically validated by the EURODEP. Use of logistic regression pinpoints strong associations with gender, years of education, co-morbidity, disability, cognitive function and past depression. Women, less educated persons, those with poor physical health, declining cognitive function and a history of depression are significantly more at risk of scoring higher than three at the EURO-D scale. The role of age is not as clear. To achieve the second objective, multiple correspondence analysis is used in the first instance and factor analysis for binary data subsequently; two components are identified within EURO-D and continuous factor scores are produced. These factors are called "affective suffering" and "motivation". Linear regression models reveal that the first component is responsible for the gender while the second for the age differentials in EURO-D; additionally we find that, apart from physical health indicators which are strongly related to both factors, other associations differ. Further exploration of this differentiation seems of interest, particularly as there is an indication that "motivation" may be an affectively neutral condition.