Research

There is some interesting research being undertaken in the field of Men’s Health. Below you will find information on some of these projects as well as some already published work and also a link to our own research report which was produced in 2004.

Men's Health Forum Scotland research report -

“Mapping male health focused work currently being carried out across Scotland”

(A qualitative and quantitative study exploring the experiences and perspectives of key stakeholders in developing men’s health focused work. June 2004)

Male health Work in Scotland - June 04 (pdf)

If you have any more information on work that is currently being done, or has already been published, please let us know about it info@mhfs.org.uk

Click on the links below to take you to the information you require.

Young Men, Body Image and Mental Health Research (doc)

LGBT health research database

Men and dieting: a qualitative analysis

'You ain't going to say...I've got a problem down there': workplace-based health promotion with men

Knowledge of sexually transmitted infections and sources of information amongst men

SHARE (Sexual Health and Relationships)

Obesity and overweight in relation to organ-specific cancer mortality in London (UK): findings from the original Whitehall study

Childhood IQ in relation to later psychiatric disorder: evidence from a Danish birth cohort study.

Is subjective social status a more important determinant of health than objective social status? Evidence from a prospective observational study of Scottish men

MRC Social & Public Health Sciences Unit Gender and Health Programme

MEN’S HEALTH - Masculinity, identity, and health

Men and depression

Gender identity in older men

Sex and Smoking: a comparison between male and female smokers

Gender role orientation and smoking

Gender, work-home conflict and morbidity amongst white-collar bank employees in the UK

Women, men and Coronary Heart Disease: a review of the qualitative literature

Illness experience, consultation and medication among chronically ill men and women

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The LGBT Health research database has just been launched

You can access it on-line at:

www.lgbthealthscotland.org.uk/research_database/browse.php

and submit references and abstracts at:

www.lgbthealthscotland.org.uk/research_database/input/html

Men and dieting: a qualitative analysis.

DE SOUZA, Paula and CICLITIRA, Karen E.

Journal of Health Psychology Volume 10, Number 6 - November 2005: 793-804

Abstract

This article describes a qualitative study in which men were interviewed about their experiences of dieting and views on related issues such as health and body image.

Data from this research were analysed using a combination of discourse analysis and grounded theory. Men engaged in dieting and weight loss constructed themselves differently from women dieters: they described women who diet as doing so for cosmetic reasons, whereas men
preferred to think of themselves as dieting for 'legitimate' reasons such as health. Dieting and related initiatives such as joining a slimming club were positioned as female activities, which (heterosexual) men were less willing to undertake without receiving 'support' from partners, family and peers.

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'You ain't going to say...I've got a problem down there': workplace-based health promotion with men.

DOLAN, Alan and STAPLES, Victoria and others.

Health Education Research Vol 20, No 6 - December 2005: 730-738

Abstract

Prostate health has emerged as a key health issue for men. Nearly 10 000 men die from prostate cancer each year and many more live with non-cancerous, but debilitating, prostate conditions.

Despite the widespread prevalence, evidence suggests that men lack knowledge about male cancers and conditions, and are more likely to ignore signs and delay seeking help.

Health promotion with men in the workplace is, therefore, increasingly being advocated as an important way of providing men with health information and encouraging them to see a health professional where appropriate. However, there has not been a developed account of men's views on health promotion within the workplace.

This paper presents the findings of a small-scale qualitative study that explored men's perceptions and experiences of three different workplace-based health promotion interventions to improve prostate health...

Health Scotland library
www.healthscotland.com/library

Knowledge of sexually transmitted infections and sources of information amongst men.

MASON, Linda.

Journal of the Royal Society for the Promotion of Health Vol 125 No 6 November 2005: 266-271

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate men's awareness of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and sexual health services, together with the best ways of providing information about them. Information was collated via a self-administered questionnaire, which was answered by 429 men, giving a response rate of 31%. Men aged 16+ living in two primary care trusts (PCTs) in the north-west of England were accessed through a range of different sources, including social, educational, health, work and religious facilities.

Despite the high rates of STIs in the north-west, approximately one in five men had not heard of herpes, syphilis or Chlamydia. One in ten had not heard of gonorrhoea. The majority of men were unaware that many STIs could be asymptomatic. Only 13% knew where their local genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinic was. The main deterrents to accessing the clinic ...

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SHARE (Sexual Health and Relationships).

The website below relates to primary research on a sex education programme recently implemented in a number of Scottish secondary schools. Amongst other things, it includes publications that discuss various aspects of sex education and sexuality amongst male and female pupils. Some of these articles make gender comparisons whilst the website provides data comparing the degree to which male and female teenagers feel comfortable discussing sexual issues with their parents. Also, some qualitative papers from the research programme are written solely about males. Contact details are provided on the website.
http://www.msoc-mrc.gla.ac.uk/share/SHARE.html

International Journal of Obesity advance online publication 28 June 2005; doi: 10.1038/sj.ijo.0803020
http://www.nature.com/...../full/0803020a.html

Obesity and overweight in relation to organ-specific cancer mortality in London (UK): findings from the original Whitehall study

G D Batty, M J Shipley, R J Jarrett, E Breeze, M G Marmot and G Davey Smith

Abstract

Objective
To examine the relation of obesity and overweight with organ-specific cancer mortality.

Methods
In the Whitehall prospective cohort study of London-based government employees, 18 403 middle-age men participated in a medical examination between 1967 and 1970. Subjects were followed up for cause-specific mortality for up to 35 y (median: interquartile range (25th−75th centile); 28.1 y: 18.6−33.8).

Results
There were over 3000 cancer deaths in this cohort. There was a raised risk of mortality from carcinoma of the rectum, bladder, colon, and liver, and for lymphoma in obese or overweight men following adjustment for range of covariates, which included socioeconomic position and physical activity. These relationships held after exclusion of deaths occurring in the first 20 y of follow-up.

Conclusion
Avoidance of obesity and overweight in adult life may reduce the risk of developing some cancers.

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British Journal of Psychiatry 2005 Aug;187:180-1

Childhood IQ in relation to later psychiatric disorder: evidence from a Danish birth cohort study.

Batty GD, Mortensen EL, Osler M.

http://bjp.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/abstract/187/2/180

Studies examining the relationship between early-life IQ and the risk of subsequent psychiatric disorder in adulthood are scarce. In the present investigation, the childhood IQ scores of 7022 singleton-born Danish males were linked to psychiatric hospital discharge records in adulthood. IQ scores were inversely related to the risk of total psychiatric illness, with the highest levels apparent in the lowest scoring IQ group (HRlowest quintile v. highest=1.70, 95% CI 1.34-2.14). Adjusting for paternal occupational social class and birth weight had only a small attenuating effect. Low childhood IQ may have an aetiological role in the development of adult total psychiatric disorder.

Is subjective social status a more important determinant of health than objective social status? Evidence from a prospective observational study of Scottish men

J. Macleod, G. Davey Smith, C. Metcalfe, C. Hart
Social Science & Medicine, 61 (9):1916-1929
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2005.04.009

Abstract
Both subjective and objective measures of lower social position have been shown to be associated with poorer health. A psychosocial, as opposed to material, aetiology of health inequalities predicts that subjective social status should be a stronger determinant of health than objective social position. In a workplace based prospective study of 5232 Scottish men recruited in the early 1970s and followed up for 25 years we examined the association between objective and subjective indices of social position, perceived psychological stress, cardiovascular disease risk factors and subsequent health. Lower social position, whether indexed by more objective or more subjective measures, was consistently associated with an adverse profile of established disease risk factors. Perceived stress showed the opposite association. The main subjective social position measure used was based on individual perceptions of workplace status (as well as their actual occupation, men were asked whether they saw themselves as "employees", "foremen", or "managers"). Compared to foremen, employees had a small and imprecisely estimated increased risk of all cause mortality, whereas managers had a more marked decreased risk. The strongest predictors of increased mortality were father's manual as opposed to non-manual occupation; lack of car access and shorter stature, (an indicator of material deprivation in childhood). In the fully adjusted analyses, perceived work-place status was only weakly associated with mortality. In this population it appears that objective material circumstances, particularly in early life, are a more important determinant of health than perceptions of relative status. Conversely, higher perceived stress was not associated with poorer health, presumably because, in this population, higher stress was not associated with material disadvantage. Together these findings suggest that, rather than targeting perceptions of disadvantage and associated negative emotions, interventions to reduce health inequalities should aim to reduce objective material disadvantage, particularly that experienced in early life.
Keywords: Health inequality; Psychosocial factors; Subjective social status; Social position; Mortality; Morbidity; Scotland

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Here are some publications from the MRC Social and Public Health Sciences Unit on young men's sexual health. All of them can be obtained from their Unit library (Mary Robbins: mary@msoc.mrc.gla.ac.uk).

• (In press) Buston, K. and Wight, D. ‘The salience and utility of school sex education to young men.’ Sex Education.
• 1999 Wight, D. ‘Cultural Factors in Young Heterosexual Men's Perception of HIV Risk.’ Sociology of Health and Illness. Vol. 21, No 6, pp.735-58.
• 1996 Wight, D. 'Beyond the Predatory Male: The diversity of young Glaswegian men's discourses to describe heterosexual relationships.' In Sexualising the Social: Power and the organisation of sexuality. Eds L. Adkins and V.Merchant, pp.145-70. London: Macmillan.
• 1994 Wight, D. 'Assimilating 'Safer Sex': Young heterosexual men's understanding of 'safer sex''. In AIDS: Foundations for the Future, eds P. Aggleton, P. Davies, and G. Hart, pp.97-109. London: Falmer.
• 1994 Wight, D. 'Boys' thoughts and talk about sex in a working class locality of Glasgow.' Sociological Review Vol. 42, No.4.
• 1993 Wight, D. 'Constraint or Cognition? Young men and safer heterosexual sex.' In AIDS: Facing the Second Decade, eds P. Aggleton, P. Davies, and G. Hart, pp. 41-60. London: Falmer Press.
  

MRC Social & Public Health Sciences Unit

Gender and Health Programme

Some of our projects focus exclusively on men’s health (men and help-seeking, older men, men and depression) while others compare the experiences of men and women in relation to chronic illness, smoking, and work-home conflict.

Please see our website for further information and a full list of publications, or contact our librarian (Mary@msoc.mrc.gla.ac.uk) for copies of papers.

http://www.msoc-mrc.gla.ac.uk/CurrentResearch/Gender/Gender_MAIN.html

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Masculinity, identity, and health

(PhD project: Ros O'Brien, supervisors Kate Hart and Graham Hunt)

This project explores whether the 'practices of masculinity' undermine men's health, and how illness may challenge masculinity. We collected accounts from fifty-nine participants (age range 15 to 72 years) in fifteen focus group discussions. Analysis of our data suggested a widespread endorsement of the view that men 'should' be reluctant to seek help, particularly amongst younger men. However, men also presented accounts which questioned or went against this apparent reluctance to seek help. These were themselves linked with masculinity: help seeking was more quickly embraced when it was perceived as a means to preserve or restore another, more valued, enactment of masculinity (e.g. working as a fire-fighter, or maintaining sexual performance or function).

CONTACT: Kate Hunt: Kate@msoc.mrc.gla.ac.uk

PUBLICATION (from our librarian: Mary@msoc.mrc.gla.ac.uk):

O'Brien, R., Hunt, K., & Hart, G. (2005). Men's accounts of masculinity and help-seeking: 'It's caveman stuff, but that is to a certain extent how guys still operate'. Social Science and Medicine 61, 503-516.

Men and depression (Carol Emslie and Kate Hunt, with Damien Ridge and Sue Ziebland)

There is evidence that depressive symptoms in men are often undiagnosed and it has been suggested this is partly due to forms of masculinity which make it difficult for men to seek help. We analysed the accounts of 16 men with depression, collected as part of the DIPEx web resource. As part of recovery from depression, it was important for men to reconstruct a valued sense of themselves and their own masculinity . (Ongoing project: expected completion date end 2005).

CONTACT: Carol Emslie: C.Emslie@msoc.mrc.gla.ac.uk

See www.dipex.org for extracts from the interviews of men with depression

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Gender identity in older men

(Carol Emslie, Kate Hunt and Ros O'Brien)

Despite the recent interest in multiple 'masculinities', previous research has either ignored older men or implicitly treated them as without gender. We conducted interviews with men born in the early 1930s in the west of Scotland. Disruptive life events (the illness or death of a spouse or loss of their job through redundancy) forced men to re-evaluate previously taken-for-granted attitudes to gender roles. Social class was important in shaping men's attitudes to paid work and gender roles; for example, men who were upwardly mobile were most egalitarian about the gendered division of labour in the household. More privileged men also constructed masculinity differently from less privileged men. Our findings suggests that more attention should be paid to the variety of ways in which older men construct their gender identities.

CONTACT: Carol Emslie: C.Emslie@msoc.mrc.gla.ac.uk

PUBLICATION (from our librarian: Mary@msoc.mrc.gla.ac.uk):

Emslie, C., Hunt, K., & O'Brien, R. (2004). Masculinities in older men: a qualitative study in the West of Scotland. Journal of Men's Studies, 12(3), 207-226.

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GENDER AND HEALTH

Sex and Smoking: Comparison between male and female smokers

A report for no smoking day by Robert West and Andy McEwan; St George's Hospital Medical School and Clive Bates; Action on Smoking and Health (ASH)

March 1999

View at: www.ash.org.uk

Gender role orientation and smoking

(Kate Hunt, Mary-Kate Hannah, PatrickWest )

Patterns of smoking by class, gender and gender role identities are likely to vary for people born at different times in the twentieth century. We analysed the relationships using data from the West of Scotland Twenty-07 Study. Class trends in smoking were less apparent for men than for women amongst those born in the 1930s and 1950s, and there was little evidence of class patterning in either sex in those born in the early 1970s. There was little relationship between measures of gender role orientation and current smoking amongst men. Amongst women the strongest association was between smoking and a well-validated measure of 'femininity' in the 1950s cohort. In this same cohort of women, there was also a weaker relationship between smoking and higher masculinity scores. These results are discussed in the context of continuing use of gendered imagery to exploit new markets in the developing world.

CONTACT: Kate Hunt: Kate@msoc.mrc.gla.ac.uk

PUBLICATION (from our librarian: Mary@msoc.mrc.gla.ac.uk):

Hunt, K., Hannah, M.K. , & West, P. (2004). Contextualising smoking: masculinity, femininity and class differences in smoking in men and women from three generation in the west of Scotland. Health Education Research Theory and Practice, 19(3), 239-249.

Gender, work-home conflict and morbidity amongst white-collar bank employees in the UK (Carol Emslie, Kate Hunt and Sally Macintyre)

Most research on work-home conflict focuses solely on women. However, given the long working hours of men in the UK, it seems likely that the conflicting demands of paid work and home life may also be an issue for men. Data were collected from 2176 full-time male and female employees of a British bank. We did not find any significant gender differences in perceptions of work-home conflict. However, having children and being in a senior position were more strongly related to work-home conflict for women than for men, while working unsociable hours was more important for men. Work-home conflict was strongly associated with reporting poor health for both men and women. Our results suggest that work-home conflict is a problem for men as well as women.

CONTACT: Carol Emslie: C.Emslie@msoc.mrc.gla.ac.uk

PUBLICATION (from our librarian: Mary@msoc.mrc.gla.ac.uk):

Emslie, C., Hunt, K., & Macintyre, S. (2004). Gender, work-home conflict, and minor morbidity amongst white-collar bank employees in the UK. International Journal of Behavioural Medicine, 11(3), 127-134.

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Women, men and Coronary Heart Disease: a review of the qualitative literature
(Carol Emslie)

Understanding cardiac patients' experiences is essential in order to improve CHD prevention and education. This project aimed to review the qualitative literature which examined patients' experiences of their illness. Early studies were conducted almost exclusively with men, and tended to generalise from 'male' experience to 'human' experience. By the late 1990s, this pattern had changed, with the vast majority of studies including women and many studies being conducted on solely female samples. However, many studies still did not have a specific gender focus. Key themes in the literature included: interpreting symptoms and seeking help, belief about coronary 'candidates', and relationships with health professionals. This review indicates the need for studies which explicitly compare the experiences of men and women. There is also an urgent need for work which takes masculinity and gender roles into account when exploring the experiences of male cardiac patients.

CONTACT: Carol Emslie: C.Emslie@msoc.mrc.gla.ac.uk

PUBLICATION (from our librarian: Mary@msoc.mrc.gla.ac.uk): Emslie, C. (2005) 'Women, men and coronary heart disease: review of the qualitative literature', Journal of Advanced Nursing 51 (4), 382-395.

Illness experience, consultation and medication among chronically ill men and women (PhD project: Anne Townsend, supervised by Kate Hunt and Sally Wyke)

This study explores the decisions that chronically ill men and women make about consulting their General Practitioner. Respondents were sampled from the middle cohort of the West of Scotland Twenty-07 Study. Thirteen women and ten men took part in two in-depth interviews, and were asked to complete a daily symptom diary for two weeks. The study was designed to compare chronically ill respondents (reporting 4 or more chronic conditions) who were 'high' or 'low' consulters (defined respectively as 7 or more, or 3 or fewer, consultations in the last year). Analysis shows that all of the respondents constructed themselves as moral and appropriate users of their GPs' services in the interviews. The men and women described some similar experiences, but there were also differences between their accounts.

CONTACT: Kate Hunt: Kate@msoc.mrc.gla.ac.uk

PUBLICATION (from our librarian: Mary@msoc.mrc.gla.ac.uk):

Townsend, A., Hunt, K., & Wyke, S. (2003). Managing multiple morbidity in mid-life: a qualitative study of attitudes to drug use. British Medical Journal, 327, 837-840.