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A study suggests that self-employed women may have health benefits.
Working for yourself can offer several key benefits, including greater flexibility and autonomy that a more traditional work structure may not have. But can self-employment improve cardiovascular health?
At least among women, a new longitudinal study found. Self-employed women were less likely to have high blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity, and reported higher levels of physical activity compared to salaried women or women who were salaried.
“The study shows that there may be health-related benefits,” said Dr. Emily Lau, a cardiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital who specializes in women’s cardiovascular disease. Health. “As a society, the pandemic is really timely because we’re faced with questions about how we should think about work landscapes and whether traditional work structures give us the best way forward.”
Interesting, but not conclusive
of A new studyPublished in BMC Women’s HealthIt is based on data from a large longitudinal study of health and retirement being conducted at the University of Michigan. While interesting, the findings are far from conclusive, noted Dr. Lau. As an observational, cross-sectional analysis, it cannot prove that self-employment leads to better health indicators because a randomized controlled trial that directly compares the effects of an intervention between randomly assigned study participants does not provide scientific strength. .
“Self-care can be an indicator of many things,” she says. “Self-employed women are generally older, have higher levels of education, and are more financially literate. All of these factors are independently associated with better cardiovascular outcomes.”
What did this study look at in cardiovascular health and function?
Cardiovascular disease contributes to heart attacks, strokes and other serious health problems. It affects about half of all women in the US.
The study used survey data collected between 2016 and 2018 to identify 4,624 women of various ethnicities who were either employed, self-employed or salaried. All of them are over 50 years old and 16% of the participants are self-employed and the rest work for someone else.
Researchers examined possible associations between work structure and participants’ self-reported responses to risk factors for cardiovascular disease, such as high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, or heart failure.
Survey questions focused on health behaviors and self-reported cardiovascular disease risk. One, for example, asked about participants’ habits around alcohol: “During the past three months, on how many days did you drink four or more drinks on one occasion?” Another asked, “Would you say your health is good, very good, good, fair, or poor?” he asked.
What did the study find and what are its limitations?
The study found that self-employed women had a 34% lower chance of obesity; 43% chance of low blood pressure; And 30% lower chances of diabetes compared to those who work for salary or wages. Meanwhile, self-employed women appeared to have lower body mass index (BMI) and physical activity, with 80% reporting that they exercised at least twice a week, compared to 72% of other participants.
The results were adjusted for one key factor — access to health care — and it held up despite the fact that more self-employed women indicated they were uninsured. “The biggest strength of the study is that it’s large in size, and they’re trying to capture something that hasn’t been rigorously studied before,” Dr. Lau said. “The researchers should be commended for trying to answer this very complex question.”
Self-sufficiency does not always translate into more freedom, which can affect how much time a person spends on exercise or self-care. “When you’re looking for a high-energy counselor to work from home, you can assume she has the ability to exercise,” says Dr. Lau. “Compare that to an Uber driver or a contractor who doesn’t have a lot of autonomy in her workplace. Those are very different women; lumped together, we can’t understand the drivers or differences in cardiovascular health.”
Furthermore, the study did not corroborate the respondents’ answers with independent test results. And those reporting fair and poor health were grouped into the poor health category when scores were considered. With self-reported outcomes, one person’s poor health may be another person’s idea of ​​fair health, skipping important distinctions.
Maintain workplace flexibility to promote health
Fortunately, we don’t have to be self-sufficient to get the cardiovascular benefits suggested by the research. The workplace flexibility that some workers have enjoyed because of the pandemic provides the same conditions to facilitate health.
“As the research suggests, there may be cardiovascular benefits to not having traditional work settings and spaces,” said Dr. Lau. “It is important to know what exactly contributes to these results, but perhaps flexibility in the workplace and overall autonomy contribute to better health.”
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