Monthly Wage Research Articles

Class Size and Class Heterogeneity

We study how class size and composition affect the academic and labor market performances of college students, two crucial policy questions given the secular increase in college enrollment. We rely on the random assignment of students to teaching classes. Our results suggest that a one standard deviation increase in the class-size would result in a 0.1 standard deviation deterioration of the average grade. Further, the effect is heterogenous as female and higher income students seem almost immune to the size of the class. Also, the effects on performance of class composition in terms of gender and ability appears to be inverse U-shaped. Finally, a reduction of 20 students (one standard deviation) in one's class size has a positive effect on monthly wages of about 80 Euros (115 USD) or 6% over the average.

Epidemiologic profile and quality of life of patients treated for oral cancer in Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais, Brazil

To assess the quality of life of patients treated for oral cancer, analyzing their physical, social/family, functional and emotional well-being; to identify socioeconomic and clinical functional variables that may potentially influence their quality of life; to describe the patients' epidemiologic profile (sex and age) and tumor features (histopathology, anatomical location and stage); to identify the frequency of risk factors associated with the malignancy. Observational cross-sectional study-case series study undertaken in 2 cancer treatment institutions in Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais, Brazil, between 2000 and 2007. Of the 88 registered oral cancer patients, 16 were selected for the study sample. The majority of the study sample (87%) included males, with a mean age of 57.06 years; 43.8% were retired; 50% had not completed elementary education. Most (56.3%) had a monthly income of less than the minimum wage. Most (83.7%) smoked before cancer diagnosis and 43.8% from this sample continued to smoke after treatment. In addition, those who drank alcohol before treatment continued drinking (31.3%). The tongue was the predominant anatomic site (37.5%). The patients' quality of life score was fair; the best result was for emotional well-being. Despite the limitations imposed by low survival, it was possible to evaluate the quality of life of these patients. Patients having a family income higher than the minimum monthly wage scored significantly better in final indexes FACT-G and FACT-HN than those with a lower income.

Decentralized Wage Formation in Sweden

AbstractRecent Swedish collective bargaining agreements have incorporated provisions for local pay review talks and opportunities for individuals to negotiate their own wages. Using trade union data, we show that members who participate in local pay review talks and members who negotiate their own wages have significantly higher monthly wages than those who do not. Pay decentralization either improves an individual's bargaining position or attracts more productive trade union members. Either way, trade union wage policies to increase individual‐level wage variance are achieving their intended effects.

Workers' Valuation of the Remaining Employment Contract Duration

We introduce and apply a method for estimating workers' marginal willingness to pay for job attributes employing data on job search activity. Worker's willingness to pay for the remaining duration of the employment contract is derived. We provide evidence that workers attach substantial value to the remaining contract duration. A temporary worker with a remaining contract of six months is willing to pay about 10% of the monthly wage to increase the contract by one month.

The Historical Influence of Computer Use at Work on Income in the Late Twentieth Century

This article offers information on historical shifts of socioeconomic positions caused by the diffusion of computers into the labor market. An account of the effects of using computers at work on gross monthly wages is offered, capturing significant changes over time within two decades (1979 to 1999). Empirical analyses are based on four large German labor market censuses. Results sustain the theoretical notion that early adopters receive a risk premium for using information technology, supporting the modernization hypothesis. Positive effects of computer training on income levels are found. Large gender income gaps are substantiated. Over time, income premiums for workers in the information segment increase. Indications for the downscaling of computerized jobs in the information segment are detected.

Who is Better Off from Trade Liberalization? An Experience from Urban China*

Empirical studies have found that the skill wage gap (difference between wages earned by skilled and unskilled workers) narrowed in the case of the ‘Four Asian Dragons’ as they underwent trade liberalization during the 1960s and 1970s, whereas the gap widened in most of the Latin American countries after they liberalized their economies in the 1980s. China's integration into the world economy since 1978 has been used to explain this phenomenon, but few formal studies have been carried out in China regarding the effects of trade liberalization on the skill wage gap because of the limited availability of data. The present study uses unique household surveys conducted in ten provinces of China in 1988 and 1995 to study this issue. Results show that trade liberalization that occurred in China between 1988 and 1995 was responsible for an average increase of 28.73 yuan (approximately 20 percent of the total increase) in average monthly wages. However, trade liberalization significantly widened the urban skill wage gap in China by introducing an increase in income only for those who had 13 years or more of education (at least junior high school graduates). Interestingly, import liberalization also only benefited those who had more than 9 years of schooling; whereas export liberalization brought wage increases for people with 7–12 years of education. Finally, those with specific production skills from technical schools, rather than those with several years of general education, were mostly favored in the labor market in China between 1988 and 1995.

Does Privatization Improve Job Satisfaction? The Case of Ghana

This paper analyzes the impacts of privatization in Ghana on the basis of a survey of 300 workers in privatized and state-owned enterprises. The findings indicate a significant positive relationship between privatization and job satisfaction. Whereas monthly wage is an important determinant of job satisfaction in state-owned enterprises, education and the availability of training opportunities are strong determinants in privatized enterprises. The study also shows that there exists a variety of instruments to implement a privatization program smoothly.

Challenges in critical care obstetrics in West Africa

The need for critical care facilities in obstetrics has become increasingly important in West Africa. At present 47% of global maternal mortality occurs in Africa, 1 with the highest rate in sub-Saharan Africa. Sadly, 85% of all maternal deaths are the direct result of complications arising during pregnancy, delivery or the puerperium. 1 Nigeria, with 37 000 maternal deaths per year has the second highest number of maternal deaths in the world after India (160 000/year). 2 It has been estimated that between 0.1% and 0.9% of women develop complications during pregnancy that require admission to intensive care (ICU). 3 Due to poorly developed health care delivery systems this figure should be higher in West Africa as demonstrated by studies from Nigeria 4 and Burkina Faso. 5 There are, however, limited critical care obstetric facilities, equipment and staff. Various studies in sub-Saharan African countries, including four in West Africa (Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast and Mali), have revealed that hemorrhage (30%), sepsis (18%), eclampsia (13%) and abortion (10%) are the major causes of maternal mortality. 1 Such patients would benefit from ICU admission but unfortunately many are still nursed on general wards. 6 An additional problem is that patients present late to hospital, even to those with ICU facilities, as women may visit traditional medicine practitioners before hospital presentation. Consequently they may be moribund by the time they reach hospital. In West Africa, most ICUs are to be found in teaching or regional hospitals in urban areas. This effectively means that women from rural areas, who are poorer and suffer more from pregnancy-related complications, do not have easy access to ICU services. This is disappointing as critical care obstetric patients often need ICU admission for organ support and greater medical and nursing care. 5 Most ICUs in West Africa have fewer than ten beds and in Nigeria units are mainly limited to the 16 federal government funded teaching hospitals. Current practice is compounded by poor road networks, inadequate ambulance services and imperfect referral systems. An important impediment to the improvement of critical care obstetrics in West Africa is the paucity of anesthetists with necessary ICU experience. In West Africa, ICUs are usually run by anesthetists but due to the economic problems in the region, some specialist and trainee anesthetists have emigrated to more favorable climes, compounding an already precarious situation. 7,8 In some regions, consultant anesthetists regularly cover two or more hospitals, increasing their workload leading to reduced efficiency because of fatigue. To improve critical care services political will is paramount. Governments should provide funds to build and equip more ICUs, build and repair roads and improve the remuneration of staff to prevent their loss to other countries. Nigeria, the world’s most populous black nation, spends less than one percent of her gross national product on health care. Presently, only eight of the federal government funded teaching hospitals are to be upgraded to international standard, with three hospitals already beneficiaries. Economic empowerment programs and health education will help reduce poverty and ignorance, known contributing factors to poor utilization of health facilities. ICU admission is expensive with some centers charging US $40-160 per day. This is excessive in nations where the minimum monthly wage is less than US $80. The recently introduced National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) in Nigeria may enable more patients to meet the financial obligation of ICU care. This initiative re-emphasizes the need for maternal health insurance schemes in West Africa. The assistance of Western aid organizations has helped greatly by way of donated equipment and drugs to some ICUs in the region. Sadly, however, because of a shortage of biomedical engineers, poor maintenance limits the life span of equipment. While Western help is needed and appreciated, a nation’s health care plans should not depend on charity and governments should invest in their people. Though a significant number of pregnancy-related complications can be reduced by efficient primary health care, complications still develop even in women who attend antenatal services. When these complications arise, the resulting need for ICU admission is rarely met in West Africa due to a combination of factors. An improvement in ICU facilities may help reverse this sad trend.

Economic Analysis of Corneal Ulcers in South India

To estimate the costs of treating corneal ulcers at a tertiary eye care center in south India from a patient perspective. A prospective cohort study design at a tertiary eye care center in south India. Each subject presenting with corneal ulcers to the center had a detailed clinical and laboratory workup including slit-lamp biomicroscopy, direct smear examination with appropriate stains, and cultures. Data on direct costs including costs of consultation, studies to confirm diagnosis, and treatment were collected at baseline and follow-up visits. We also collected indirect costs including travel, accommodation, food, and loss of wages of both the subject and accompanying persons. We recruited 498 consecutive cases for the study. The mean duration of onset of symptoms before presentation at the cornea service was 13.1 +/- 19.9 days. The mean follow-up duration was 34.8 +/- 28.2 days. The total overall cost for accessing and receiving care was 85.8 US dollars +/- 4.6 (95% confidence interval: 76.4 US dollars, 94.6). The mean total cost to diagnose and appropriately treat 1 case of keratitis such that the patient had vision better than 6/18 at final follow-up was 56.2 US dollars +/- 3.6 (95% confidence interval: 49.0 US dollars, 63.3). : The costs to the patient to receive appropriate care for corneal ulcers in this population are much higher than the average monthly wage for this population. There is an urgent need to devise strategies that may help reduce costs of care for corneal ulcers in this population.

Salário mínimo, benefício previdenciário e as famílias de baixa renda

Este artigo tem foco nas famílias com rendimento per capita de até ¼ do salário mínimo. São analisadas as condições de inserção no mercado de trabalho e a influência dos benefícios previdenciários para o padrão de renda auferido. A preocupação, portanto, volta-se para a importância dos benefícios da previdência, no sentido de atenuar a fragilidade de renda destas famílias e as conseqüências da desvinculação do valor do seu piso do salário mínimo para este padrão de rendimentos. Analisando-se as características dos componentes das famílias de baixa renda, observa-se que, diante das transformações estruturais no processo de produção e do cenário conjuntural da economia brasileira, aqueles com idade ativa não apresentam os pré-requisitos necessários para se inserirem de forma digna no mundo do trabalho. Dessa forma, o estudo da composição da renda das famílias mais pobres mostra que a renda dos inativos - aposentados e pensionistas - é fundamental para retirar tais famílias do limite da linha de pobreza. O perfil dos componentes das famílias será analisado a partir dos microdados da Pesquisa Nacional por Amostra de Domicílios - PNAD/IBGE - para 2004, segundo idade, nível de escolaridade, cor ou raça e inserção no mercado de trabalho propriamente dita: tipo de atividade exercida e posição na ocupação. A comparação do perfil dos componentes das famílias mais carentes com o do total das famílias mostrará que as rendas de aposentadoria e pensão tornam-se fundamentais não apenas para diminuição da desigualdade, mas, fundamentalmente, para redução da pobreza.

Education for Librarianship in the Russian Far East: An Update on the Vladivostok State University of Economics and Services

During the Spring 2005, I returned to Russia for the fifth time and the third time to Vladivostok, in particular. This brief communication, based on my short-term Fulbright lectureship, is an update to my earlier 2002 report, published in JELIS.1 Since that article employed a detailed STEPE analysis, this time I shall more briefly provide a SWOT analysis at the end of this article as well as cover the university's mission, goals and objectives, curriculum, faculty, students, and facilities. Allow me to address these points seriatim. VSUES Mission, Goals, and Objectives The youngest of the five universities in the city, Vladivostok State University of Economics and Services (http://www.vvsu.ru/) was founded in 1967 as the Far Eastern Technological Institute; VSUES was granted university status in July 1996 by the federal government.2 Today, VSUES, with branches in Artyom and Nakhodka, enrolls more than 26,000 students (of which 6,000 are on campus in Vladivostok) and has an academic staff (i.e., faculty and staff) of more than 1 500. Along with elected members from faculty, its rector (a.k.a. president) and prorectors (a.k.a. vice-presidents) serve as the Academic Board of the university. The sixty-five Board members serve for a five-year period and meet on the last Thursday of each month. The University's 1997 financial situation showed a positive balance of 0.5 billion rubles based on a revenue of 4 1 .6 billion rubles and expenses of 41.0 billion. Federal sources provide 50% of the revenue while tuition covers the other 50%. More recently, the university reports 0.8 million rubles earned on revenue of 80.7 million rubles and expenses of 75.8 million. Now, student tuition provides 33.6 percent of the revenue, government funding another 40%, and the remaining 26.3 from city governments15. The university's website is posted at http://www.vvsu.ru/ index. asp. Administratively, the University has a President, Dr. Gennadii I. Lazarev, who has served since 1988. Dr. Lazarev is assisted by five vice presidents. Organizationally, the university has six institutes and one center, headed by Deans, including an Institute of Information Science, Innovation, and Business Systems. Today, the University Library reportedly contains more than 875,000 items, including 44 full-text periodicals along with 600 print-based periodicals accessible via an alphabetical and systematic catalog. The collection is now entirely bar coded for circulation^. Recently, the library developed their own automated in-house library circulation system for registered users; the director of the University Library is Tat'iana Grekhova, who earned her doctorate in 2005. The library's Webpage is http://lib.vvsu.ru/russian/ and the electronic catalog can be found at http://tricon.vvsu.ru/catalog/zgate.exe?Init+tricon. xml, simple, xsl+rus. The administration has positioned the university in an entrepreneurial way and is dedicated to pursuing the ideals of truth, independence and justice [and] has committed itself to developing creative people with the broad and profound knowledge, the professional competence and the independent judgment which will enable them to become the future leaders of the New Russia.4 VSUES Faculty At the Soviet on 29 April 2005, the Rector promised 20% salary increases this academic year as well as another 40% for 2006/07. Russians working in the state sector have made great gains in recent years, but the average monthly wage is around 8295 rubles (about $277) per month for January-November 2005. 5 In the documentalist program (headed by an assistant director), there are 40 faculty members; 60% are professors while the remainder are aspiranta and Candidat Nauk holders, earning their degrees from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Khabarovsk, or Vladivostok. VGUES Curriculum In general, Russian higher education is responding to the EU's 2000 Bologna Process, but VSUES' main challenges are: (1 ) the proposed three year baccaulaurete in EU countries whereas the Russian diplom is five years long, (2) the demographic decline6 in the number of university students is projected to be 50% less in the near future, and (3) charting a course between its public service role and crass commerialization. …

Factors associated with vaginal birth after previous cesarean section in Brazilian women

To identify factors associated with a vaginal second delivery in women who had one previous cesarean section. A nested case-control study was carried out as a secondary data analysis of an original retrospective, population-based cohort study of women who delivered their first child during 1985 in the city of Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil, and who were interviewed 10 years later in 1995. The study population consisted of 1352 women who had their first delivery by cesarean section and who had also had at least one subsequent delivery. The group of cases (150 women, around 11% of the sample) consisted of women who had a vaginal second delivery, and the control group was made up of 1202 women who had a cesarean section at second delivery. For each possible associated factor we calculated the odds ratio and 95% confidence interval. For ordered categorical variables the c2 test for trend was used. Unconditional multivariate regression analysis was used to estimate the adjusted odds ratio for each associated factor. The factors significantly associated with vaginal delivery were monthly family income below 5-fold the Brazilian minimum monthly wage, reliance on the Brazilian national health system for healthcare, low maternal age, and first cesarean section indicated because of fetal breech or transverse presentation, or twin pregnancy. Among those women who also had a cesarean section at their second delivery, only 11% had undergone a trial of labor. The main determining factors for a vaginal second delivery in women with a previous cesarean section were unfavorable social and economic factors.

Una aproximación a los costos indirectos de la discapacidad en Colombia

This document studies the relationships between economic policy and disability, representing an attempt at providing a theoretical analysis for economic policy of disability in Colombia. The absolute figures and percentages of distribution of disability in the Colombian population from 1981 to 2003, obtained from 3 official sources, were used. The following variables were selected: age, education, employment, socio-economic level, income and dependence. Several hypotheses were formulated and contrasted with frequency analysis and the Chi-square test to estimate differences between groups. The analysis demonstrated that vulnerability to disability is different according to: 1. Sex, with a greater impact on males; 2. Age: greater impact for older age groups and, in the last 3 years, greatest impact in the 25 to 55 year age group under potential risk of disability; 3: Region: greater vulnerability in rural areas and 4. Socio-economic level: persons with disabling conditions belong to the lower socio-economic strata. The typical profile of persons with disabling conditions is poor education, income of less than a minimum monthly wage, unemployed, belonging to the 1 or 2 socio-economic strata, forming part of homes defined as poor, being male and living in rural areas. Poverty seems to enhance disability increasing vulnerability, risk and restricting opportunities for welfare. These results can be used as arguments for redirecting the policies and actions for greater access of disabled persons to social and economic opportunities.

Lithuania's labour limits

Lithuania's labour limits

Back to the Future: An Overview of Moldova Under Voronin

The overwhelming victory of the Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova (PCRM) in the February 25, 2001, parliamentary elections, greater than any poll had predicted, came as a complete surprise, even to the Communists. The Kremlin was equally caught off guard, especially because speculation had it that leading up to the elections they had been paving the way for a power-sharing deal between the incumbent team of President Petru Lucinschi and Prime Minister Dumitru Braghis and the Communists as their best alternative. (1) In a free and fair election with a relatively high voter turnout of 67.52 percent, the PCRM won 51.07 percent of the votes, an absolute majority. Coming in a distant second was the Braghis Alliance with 13.36 percent of the votes. The only other party to clear the 6 percent hurdle necessary to gain seats in parliament was the pro-Romanian Christian Democratic Popular Party (CDPP) with 8.24 percent. After the proportional distribution of the remaining seats in parliament, with the Communists also getting the lion's share, the PCRM commanded a total of seventy-one of the one hundred one seats in Parliament. This not only gave them far more votes than the sixty-one needed to elect the next president, but even more than the necessary two-thirds to amend the constitution. The parliamentary opposition now only consisted of the Braghis Alliance with nineteen seats and the CDPP with eleven. (2) The purpose of this article is twofold: first, to take a brief look at how the PCRM has carried out its overwhelming mandate in the areas of domestic politics, foreign policy, and the economy, and second, to discuss the consequences of Moldova's transition from communism to democracy and a market economy as the PCRM's first term in office draws to a close. Considering that Moldova had become the poorest country in Europe, the PCRM's commanding victory probably should not have come as a surprise. Since declaring independence in 1991, Moldova has had the largest fall in gross national product (GNP) and living standard of any former socialist state in Europe. In 2000, with the GNP a mere 30 percent of what it was ten years before, average nominal monthly wages were let 405 (532), about two-fifths of the minimal monthly consumer basket. For pensioners, the average monthly pension, a pitiable let 84, only covered 18 percent of the consumer basket. (3) Approximately 80 percent of the population was living on less than $1 a day. (4) One of the few avenues of escape from this seemingly endless poverty has been emigration. A poll taken shortly before the February 2001 elections by the Romanian Center for Opinions and Market Studies (COMS) found that 36 percent of Moldovans wanted to leave the country and work abroad for some time, and 26 percent wanted to leave 'for good. (5) The number of those who have emigrated varies widely. In 2003, the Moldovan Department of Statistics and Sociology reported that 234,000 people, or 11.4 percent of the work force, were working abroad or were looking lot work outside the country. Other governmental agencies, claiming that many workers have slipped through the official statistics because they are working abroad illegally, have cited figures of 600,000 or more. (6) The International Labor Organization (ILO) recently calculated figures of approximately 600,000. (7) The Communists could not have asked for a better scenario. Accusing the opposition of failing to deliver on their promises of economic growth by their mishandling of market reforms, which the Communists by and large opposed, and being responsible for the collapse and general pauperization of the country, the Communists conducted an antireform, populist campaign that emphasized a greater role for the state in the political and economic processes and in society overall. This included clamping down on corruption, setting price controls, reinstating the old Soviet raion system of local control, raising pensions and wages for state workers, and creating a system of real social guarantees to ensure a decent life for citizens. …

Discriminatory Barriers and the Gender Wage Gap in France

Abstract. In this paper, we propose a method of decomposition that identifies the wage effect of the gender discriminatory barriers in the allocation of grades and full‐time jobs. Standard decomposition techniques tend to interpret the explained portion as a non‐discriminatory component, though discriminatory barriers in the labour market also affect the characteristics of individuals. Using survey data generated by INSEE in France in 2000, we find some evidence that the gender discriminatory barriers within the French labour market explain much of the difference between men and women's attainment and full‐time employment. Our method substantially changes the traditional empirical conclusions since the discriminatory barriers in the allocation of grades and full‐time jobs account for one quarter of the gender monthly wage gap. When adding to the pure wage discrimination portion, we thus show that half of the gender monthly wage gap is not explained.

Productivity costs and determinants of productivity in HIV-infected patients

Background: In HIV-infected patients, reduced ability to work may be an important component of the societal costs of this disease. Few data about productivity costs in HIV-infected patients are available. Objective: The goals of this study were to estimate productivity costs in the HIV-infected population in Switzerland and to identify characteristics that may influence patient productivity. Methods: This cross-sectional study included all patients younger than retirement age (65 years for men and 62 years for women) who were enrolled in the Swiss HIV Cohort Study in 2002. Measures of productivity losses in this population were based on patients' ability to work and the median monthly wage rates adjusted for age, sex, and educational level in Switzerland. Factors associated with ability to work were analyzed in a multivariate ordinary logistic regression (proportional odds) model. As of July 1, 2002, the exchange rate for US dollars to Swiss francs (CHF) was US $1.00 ≈ CHF 1.48. Results: A total of 5319 HIV-infected patients (3665 men [68.9%] and 1655 women [31.1%]; mean [SD] age, 40.6 [8.4] years; range, 17–64 years) were included in the study. The mean annual productivity loss per patient was estimated at CHF 22,910 (95% CI, CHF 22,064-CHF 23, 756). Ability to work was independently associated with the following ( P < 0.001 for all): age (10-year increase: odds ratio [OR], 0.60 [95% CI, 0.54–0.62]), sex (female/male: OR, 0.73 [95% CI, 0.63–0.84]), history of IV drug use (OR, 0.22 [95% CI, 0.19–0.26]), time since first positive HIV test (>10 years vs ⩽10 years: OR, 0.66 [95% CI, 0.58–0.76]), CD4 cell count (201–500 vs 0–200 cells/μL: OR, 1.68 [95% CI, 1.38–2.46]; ⩾501 vs 0–200 cells/μL: OR, 2.01 [95%, CI, 1.64–2.46]), history of AIDS-indicator disease (OR, 0.47 [95% CI, 0.41–0.55]), stable partnership during the last 6 months (OR, 1.63 [95% CI, 1.43–1.86]), and educational level (higher vs basic: OR, 1.68 [95% CI, 1.45–1.95]). Conclusions: Productivity losses to society for the HIV-infected population appeared to be substantial in this analysis. Given a patient's clinical health status, a higher education level and a stable partnership were associated with greater ability to work. Socioeconomic characteristics may influence the cost-effectiveness of health care interventions in HIV-infected patients.

Skill Intensity and Rising Wage Dispersion in Nineteenth-Century American Manufacturing

We study the correlates of the monthly establishment wage—the average monthly wage at the establishment level—and changes in wage dispersion between plants using a model of manufacturing developed by Goldin and Katz and data from manuscript censuses of manufacturing. We find that wages were decreasing in establishment size, but increasing in capital intensity and use of steam power. We also find an increase in inequality in the establishment wage between 1850 and 1880. Most of the increase occurred below the median wage and can be attributed, in part, to the growing concentration of employment in large establishments.

Intention to apply or accept an alternative job among participants of extended employment programs.

The research studied 249 people employed in extended employment programs in northern Israel with respect to their intention to apply for an alternative job (an active step) or to accept a new job offer (a passive step). Findings indicated that young, single people who were living with their parents and perceived their level of disability as mild indicated more intention to apply for an alternative job or to accept a new job offer. Furthermore, people with low monthly wages, less satisfaction with their income and with the extended employment program in general, and a lack of participation in non-employment activities expressed a greater inclination to apply for an alternative job or to accept a new job offer. The only difference between people's intentions to apply for an alternative job (an active step) or to accept a job offer (a passive step) was in regard to their perception of their disability. The intention to apply for an alternative job was associated with mild disability, whereas the acceptance of a new job offer was related to mild and moderate disability.

Violencia física marital en Barranquilla (Colombia): prevalencia y factores de riesgo

ObjectiveTo determine the prevalence of violence against women of fertile age living in a couple and identify the personal, socioeconomic, and family function characteristics associated with this phenomenon. MethodsWe performed a cross-sectional study in a random sample of 275 women of fertile age living in the neighborhood of Carlos Meisel in Barranquilla, Colombia. Information was gathered through a structured questionnaire and face-to-face interviews at the participants’ homes. The questionnaire was adapted from the World Health Organization's recommendations on ethics and safety when investigating domestic violence. The questionnaire included items on personal characteristics, habitual alcohol and drug consumption, family function test (Family Apgar), socioeconomic characteristics, and physical abuse in the 12 months prior to the interview. ResultsThe prevalence of marital violence was 22.9%. Women aged 25-29 years old were the most commonly affected (33.3%). Factors associated with violence were habitual alcohol consumption in women (Odds ratio [OR] = 6.02; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 1.7-22.2) and in the spouse (OR = 10.11; 95% CI, 5.1-20.1) and drug consumption by the husband (OR = 11.01; 95% CI, 4.2-29.5). A monthly wage of less than 300,000 Colombian pesos (140 euros) was also significantly associated with domestic violence as was moderate or severe family dysfunction (respectively, OR = 16.9; 95% CI, 4.8-59.0; OR = 81.6; 95% CI, 18.8-335). ConclusionsBecause this was a cross-sectional study, the results should be interpreted with caution. Nevertheless, violence against women in the study sample was associated with potentially modifiable factors.