Women make up a growing proportion of the workforce and therefore many women experience menopause while in paid employment. We explored the prevalence of menopausal symptoms, the relationship between symptoms and coping with work and the risk factors associated with struggling at work during the menopause. The Health and Employment After Fifty (HEAF) community-based cohort of people aged 50–64 years was incepted 2013–2014 to study health and work. In 2019, female participants were asked to complete a questionnaire about their menopausal symptoms, and effect of those symptoms on their ability to cope at work. 409 women were eligible for inclusion. The commonest symptoms were vasomotor (91.7%); trouble sleeping (68.2%); psychological (63.6%) and urinary (49.1%). The prevalence of reporting symptoms was similar no matter which type of occupation women were performing at the time. Around one-third of women reported moderate/severe difficulties coping at work because of menopausal symptoms. Risk factors for difficulties coping at work included: financial deprivation, poorer self-rated health, depression, and adverse psychosocial occupational factors but not physical demands. More awareness is needed amongst employers in all sectors but women with financial difficulties and those with jobs in which they feel insecure, unappreciated, or dissatisfied are at greatest risk.

Iron and vitamin D deficiencies are common during pregnancy. Our aim was to identify whether antenatal vitamin D₃ supplementation affects iron status (via hepcidin suppression) and/or inflammation. Using a subset of the UK multicenter Maternal Vitamin D Osteoporosis Study (MAVIDOS)—a double-blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled trial (ISRCTN82927713; EudraCT2007-001716-23)—we performed a secondary laboratory analysis. Women with blood samples from early and late pregnancy (vitamin D₃ (1000 IU/day from ~14 weeks gestation n = 93; placebo n = 102) who gave birth in the springtime (March–May) were selected as we anticipated seeing the greatest treatment group difference in change in 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) concentration. Outcomes were hepcidin, ferritin, C-reactive protein, and α1-acid glycoprotein concentration in late pregnancy (25OHD concentration was measured previously). By late pregnancy, 25OHD concentration increased by 17 nmol/L in the vitamin D₃ group and decreased by 11 nmol/L in the placebo group; hepcidin, ferritin, and inflammatory markers decreased but no treatment group differences were seen. In late pregnancy, positive relationships between 25OHD and hepcidin and 25OHD and ferritin in the placebo group were observed but not in the treatment group (group × 25OHD interaction, p < 0.02). Vitamin D₃ supplementation had no effect on hepcidin, ferritin, or inflammatory status suggesting no adjunctive value of vitamin D₃ in reducing rates of antenatal iron deficiency.

Demographic trends in developed countries have prompted governmental policies aimed at extending working lives. However, working beyond the traditional retirement age may not be feasible for those with major health problems of ageing, and depending on occupational and personal circumstances, might be either good or bad for health. To address these uncertainties, we have initiated a new longitudinal study. We recruited some 8000 adults aged 50–64 years from 24 British general practices contributing to the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD). Participants have completed questionnaires about their work and home circumstances at baseline, and will do so regularly over follow-up, initially for a 5-year period. With their permission, we will access their primary care health records via the CPRD. The inter-relation of changes in employment (with reasons) and changes in health (e.g., major new illnesses, new treatments, mortality) will be examined. CPRD linkage allows cost-effective frequent capture of detailed objective health data with which to examine the impact of health on work at older ages and of work on health. Findings will inform government policy and also the design of work for older people and the measures needed to support employment in later life, especially for those with health limitations.

The primary aim of this study was to assess the effect of immigrant status on Emergency Room (ER) utilisation by children under age one, considering all, non-urgent, very urgent, and followed by hospitalisation visits. The second aim was to investigate the role played by mother’s educational level in the relationship between citizenship and ER utilisation.

Background: To investigate the prevalence of caregiving and its relationship with work, health and socio-economic circumstances in the Health and Employment After Fifty (HEAF) study. Methods: The HEAF study comprises 8134 men and women aged 50–64 years recruited from 24 general practices. Socio-demographic, lifestyle and health characteristics and hours per week giving personal care were elicited by postal questionnaire. Objective clinical information about diagnoses/medications was retrieved from health records. Work-related and health risk factors for intense caring responsibilities (≥20 h/week vs. no hours) were explored using logistic regression with adjustment for age and social class. Results: In all, 644 (17%) men and 1153 (26%) women reported caring responsibilities, of whom 93 and 199 were intense caregivers, who were more likely to be socio-economically disadvantaged; less likely to be working and, if combining caring with working (41 men and 90 women), more likely to be part-time/working shifts, than non-carers. Men caring ≥20 h/week were more likely to have COPD and to report musculoskeletal pain, poor/fair self-rated health, depression and sleep problems. Among working women, caring ≥20 h/week was associated with these same health outcomes and also with a doctor-diagnosed mental health problem or musculoskeletal pain in the previous year. Conclusions: Caregiving is common and unequal in the HEAF cohort, with more high-intensity informal care provided by those with greater levels of socio-economic deprivation, which could affect their employment and health. Caregivers need support to lead long, healthy lives, rather than becoming care needers themselves. Employers and governments need to take caregiving into account and support it actively.