Room
1er étage - D130
Theme
Healthy and unhealthy behaviours: tobacco, physical activity, etc.
Chair
Sonja Kahlmeier
Title
Health effects of working from home for employees with tertiary education in Switzerland
Name
Sarah Heiniger
Affiliation
ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences
Abstract
Objectives:
As at least 40% of Switzerland's workforce is expected to work from home in ten years, it is crucial to assess the impact of this work arrangement on employee health. This study aimed to explore how working from home affects the health of employees with a tertiary degree – a demographic with the highest likelihood of home-office feasibility and adoption.
Methods:
Data were drawn from the COVID-19 Social Monitor, a large longitudinal online panel of the Swiss resident population aged 18 to 79 (N=3,381), encompassing 24 survey waves from 30/03/2020 to 14/11/2022. We estimated individual-fixed-effects models, adjusting for survey waves, to examine the impact of transitioning to a home office on nine binary health outcomes: poor quality of life, frequent stress, heightened strain, headache, neck pain, back pain, sleep problems, lack of energy and physical inactivity.
Results:
The descriptive analysis (Figure 1)* shows that, even well after the lifting of COVID-19-home-office measures, the proportion of tertiary-educated employees working across all home-office intensities remained high relative to pre-pandemic levels. Specifically, in 03/2020 versus 11/2022: 1% versus 4% working exclusively from home, 3% versus 12% working mainly from home and 27% versus 33% working partially from home. This increase was accompanied by a decrease in the proportion of those who never worked from home (68% versus 51%). Individual-fixed-effects estimates indicate no statistically significant negative effect of transitioning to a home office on any of the nine health outcomes (Figure 2)*.
Discussion:
Our descriptive results confirm the general upward trend in working from home among tertiary-educated employees, thereby underscoring the importance of health-impact research in this context. To our knowledge, this is the first large-scale quantitative study to explore the effect of a shift to working from home on health in Switzerland in this demographic. Therefore, our study contributes nuanced insights to the inconclusive evidence in this area. It also provides a benchmark for future research by encompassing a comprehensive range of health outcomes and adopting an extensive panel structure that spans periods during which working from home became an option rather than a requirement. Finally, the absence of adverse health effects is an important finding for employers offering their employees flexible work arrangements.
*Figures: follow Link
Title
Promoting Awareness and Prevention of Sports-Related Concussion (SRC) in Swiss Adolescents: A Multidisciplinary Approach
Name
Michael von Rhein
Affiliation
Kinderspital Zürich
Abstract
Mild Traumatic Brain Injury, commonly referred to as concussion, is one of the most frequent injuries in children and adolescents. Different strategies have been proposed to prevent concussions in contact sports, including technical, policy, economic, and communication and education strategies. However, in Switzerland, there is currently no nationwide prevention strategy in place. We therefore are establishing a group of experts from various fields, as well as representatives from sports and politics to develop a national strategy to increase awareness, knowledge, and work out a prevention strategy regarding sports-related concussion (SRC) in Swiss children and adolescents. The project will focus on three selected contexts in Switzerland that represent the country's linguistic and cultural diversity (Ticino, Zurich and Lausanne). Until September, we will conduct face-to-face interviews and workshops with representatives of the above-mentioned groups from all parts of Switzerland to 1.) gather their experience and knowledge to develop a clear understanding of the extent and nature of the problem, 2.) develop a strategy to address the problem and 3.) concretely develop a targeted campaign, including specific actions, channels, target groups and messages to raise awareness and contribute to the prevention and management of SRC. In preparation for these interviews and workshops, a careful stakeholder analysis will be conducted to ensure comprehensive coverage of all relevant parties. This will include the identification of key individuals and groups whose input is essential for an in-depth understanding of SRC in the sports context. Interviews will be conducted in all three language regions of Switzerland to ensure a diverse and representative sample. Workshops will be held in conjunction with SSPH+ faculty meetings to receive feedback from both scientific and non-scientific persons, such as parents and sports club members. The involvement of health communication specialists will be crucial in co-designing the campaign to ensure the delivery of effective and resonant prevention messages. Our presentation will sum up the interview and workshop findings and invite to participate in the implementation of SRC prevention strategy.
Title
Organised sports counteracts the age-related physical activity decline in youth
Name
Johanna Hänggi
Affiliation
Swiss TPH
Abstract
Introduction:
Maintaining physical activity (PA) throughout the lifespan is crucial for overall health and well-being. This study aimed to identify factors that mitigate age-related decline in PA among children and adolescents during five years of follow-up. In a novel approach, we investigated whether participation in organised sports (OS) plays a role in sustaining or enhancing PA and, therefore, counteracting its age-related decline.
Methods:
The study was nested into the population-based SOPHYA cohort. Participants aged 6-16 years at SOPHYA1 (2014) with complete accelerometer data from baseline and follow-up assessment (SOPHYA2, 2019) were included. Information on sex, age, body mass index percentiles, language region, household income, and education was collected by self-report. Participation in organised sport (OS) was calculated by linkage with the Youth and Sports (Y+S) database as the number of days with at least one activity in Y+S offered programs for ages 5 to 20 years during the follow-up period. Participants were categorised as improvers or worseners based on total activity as counts per minute (CPM) and minutes in moderate-to-vigorous activity (MVPA). Participants who maintained or increased their PA in the respective domain were considered improvers. A generalised linear model with a binomial logit link function examined the relationship between OS participation, baseline characteristics, and the probability of becoming a PA improver in CPM and MVPA, respectively.
Results:
The analysis included 432 participants. In general there was a strong decline from 2014 to 2019 in CPM and MVPA. The prevalence of improvers was 22.5% for CPM and 9.5% for MVPA. Engagement in OS between 2014 and 2019 was positively associated with CPM and MVPA improvement. For 30 additional days of participation in OS within the five years of the study, the log odds of being an improver vs. being a worsener increased by about 4.0% for CPM (p=0.04) and by about 6.2% for MVPA (p=0.03).
Conclusion:
As organised in the Swiss national Youth & Sports program context, OS partially counteracts age-related PA decline from childhood to young adulthood. This finding underscores the relevance of population-level OS promotion with specific attention to girls and children from lower socio-economic backgrounds who are at a higher risk of PA decline. Policies supporting accessible sports programs can empower young individuals of all interests and abilities to maintain active lifestyles.
Title
Outdoor mobility in community-dwelling older adults: uncovering the role of bio-psycho-social and environmental factors
Name
Julia Spaltenstein
Affiliation
Unisanté / University of Lausanne
Abstract
Introduction: Older people who go outdoors frequently have a better quality of life, a higher likelihood of ageing in place, and a lower use of healthcare. The built environment has an impact on mobility, but evidence from quantitative studies is scarce. This study seeks to identify which factors of the built environment and which bio-psycho-social factors are associated with outdoor mobility.
Methodology:
This cross-sectional study uses data from community-dwelling adults aged 68 to 82 (N=3428), who are part of the Lausanne cohort Lc65+. The study collects data about the frequency of outdoor mobility (low: 0-2x/week, medium: 3-4x/week, high: 5-7x/week), and on a large set of bio-psycho-social variables. Environmental data were extracted from the Lausanne statistics office, focusing on variables within the subject’s direct environment (accessible by walking - max 800 meters). Analyses were conducted using multinomial regressions. Additionally, we will study the distribution of the frequency of outdoor mobility and bio-psycho-social variables across Lausanne to help identifying potential clusters, then conduct geographically weighted logistic regression if such clusters are identified.
Results:
Three out of four participants (77.1%) report a high frequency of outdoor mobility. In the multivariable model, variables associated with an increase in the relative risk of reporting a high frequency of outdoor mobility (vs “medium” or/and “low”) were: a dense and high-quality social network, living alone, participating in group activities, having a dog, and a high level of education. Variables associated with a reduced relative risk of high frequency of outdoor mobility (vs “medium” or/and “low”) were: moderate or severe physical limitations, being older, being a woman, having dyspnoea, mood disorders, urinary incontinence, having a cat, and living in sheltered housing. Analyses on environmental variables are still ongoing.
Conclusion:
Identifying the key factors in the built environment that impact outdoor mobility will help guide public health initiatives and urban planning strategies to promote outdoor mobility and thus healthy ageing.
Title
Impact of Tobacco Advertising Restrictions in Switzerland: A Staggered DiD Study
Name
Andreas Stoller
Affiliation
University of Fribourg
Abstract
Introduction:
The acceptance of the popular initiative “Yes to protecting children and young adults from tobacco advertising” in 2022 and the ongoing revision of the tobacco product law, turn tobacco advertising regulation into a topic of increased importance in Switzerland. The confederation and cantons restrict tobacco advertising only partially and thus leave room for stricter regulations. With the goal to inform tobacco politics, we measure the impact of tobacco billboard bans on smoking in Switzerland, based on Swiss health survey data, using a staggered difference-in-differences approach
Data and methodology:
The analysis is based on the Swiss Health Survey 1997-2017 provided by the Federal Statistical Office and data on tobacco prevention policies provided by the Federal Office of Public Health. The Swiss context displays a considerable inter-cantonal variation in tobacco prevention policies, with cantons playing an important role in shaping tobacco politics. Exploiting the inter-cantonal variation in tobacco prevention policies, we apply the staggered difference-in-differences method by Callaway and Sant'Anna to measure the impact of tobacco billboard bans.
Preliminary results:
In our main difference-in-differences analysis, we evaluate the effect of tobacco billboard bans on the smoking rate when controlling for other tobacco policies and socio-demographic factors. Our preliminary results suggest that tobacco billboard bans lead to a significant but small reduction of the smoking rate, which persists up to 5 years after the policy introduction. We further explore heterogeneous effects by gender and age. Finally, we apply a generalized synthetic control method as a robustness check.
Conclusion:
Our preliminary findings indicate a significant but small reduction in the smoking rate due to tobacco billboard bans in Switzerland. This is in line with other quasi-experimental studies on Swiss tobacco prevention policies which report either small effect sizes or no significant effects.