The association of substance use with attaining employment among unemployed job seeking adults: Prospective findings from the French CONSTANCES cohort

Cannabis use, health problems, and criminal offences in Germany: national and state-level trends between 2009 and 2021

The German federal government plans to decriminalise cannabis. The impact of this policy on use prevalence, cannabis-related health and legal problems cannot be fully anticipated and should be viewed in context with current trends. We used routine data on (a) cannabis use (population-based surveys), (b) cannabis-related diagnoses (ICD-10 code F12) in outpatient medical settings and (c) minor law offences (registered violations against the narcotics law for possessing small amounts) to analyse age and sex-specific trends by federal state between 2009 and 2021. To enable comparisons across time and federal state besides crude prevalence rates, age-standardised rates were calculated. Between 2009 and 2021, the age-standardised prevalence of cannabis use (5.7-10.6%), rate of diagnoses (1.1-3.7 per 1,000), and legal offences (1.8-3.1 per 1,000) increased, with the largest increase noted for cannabis-related diagnoses. Relatively, increases were most pronounced for older users (40-to-59-year-olds: use and offences; 35-to-44-year-olds: cannabis-related diagnoses) and rather stagnant for minors. Cannabis use and health problems appear to be more pronounced in Northern and city states, while no clear geographic trend was observed for law offences. Cannabis-related outpatient treatment demand has risen more steeply than use prevalence suggesting an increasing challenge for the health care system. Despite rising rates for documented offences, the long-term implications of law violations on social and occupational life are poorly understood but may be considered for evaluations of the proposed law changes.

Addiction severity and re-employment in Sweden among adults with risky alcohol and drug use

BACKGROUND

The Addiction Severity Index (ASI) assesses respondents' biopsychosocial problems in seven addiction-related domains (mental health, family and social relations, employment, alcohol use, drug use, physical health, and legal problems). This study examined the association between the seven ASI composite scores and re-employment in a sample of Swedish adults screened for risky alcohol and drug use who were without employment at assessment.

METHODS

We conducted a retrospective cohort analysis of employment outcomes among 6502 unemployed adults living in Sweden who completed an ASI assessment for risky alcohol and drug use. The study linked ASI scores to annual tax register data. The primary outcome was employment, defined as having earnings above an administrative threshold. We used Cox proportional hazard models to estimate the association between time to re-employment and ASI composite scores, controlling for demographic characteristics, RESULTS: Approximately three in ten individuals in the sample regained employment within five years. ASI composite scores suggested widespread biopsychosocial problems. Re-employment was associated with lower ASI composite scores for mental health (estimate: 0.775, 95 % confidence interval: 0.629-0.956), employment (estimate: 0.669, confidence interval: 0.532-0.841), drug use (estimate: 0.628, confidence interval: 0.428-0.924), and health (estimate: 0.798, confidence interval: 0.699-0.912).

CONCLUSIONS

This study suggests that several ASI domains may provide information on the complex factors (i.e., mental health, health, drug use) associated with long-term unemployment for people with risky substance use.

Changes in alcohol consumption according to the duration of unemployment: prospective findings from the French CONSTANCES cohort

OBJECTIVES

To prospectively examine the association between the duration of unemployment among job seekers and changes in alcohol use in a year.

DESIGN

A prospective study.

SETTING

French population-based CONSTANCES cohort.

PARTICIPANTS

We selected 84 943 participants from the CONSTANCES cohort included between 2012 and 2019 who, at baseline and 1-year follow-up, were either employed or job-seeking.

OUTCOME MEASURES

Multinomial logistic regression models computed the odds of reporting continuous no alcohol use, at-risk alcohol use, increased or decreased alcohol use compared with being continuously at low risk and according to employment status. The duration of unemployment was self-reported at baseline; thus, the employment status at 1-year follow-up was categorised as follows: (1) employed, (2) return to employment since less than a year, (3) unemployed for less than 1 year, (4) unemployed for 1 to 3 years and (5) unemployed for 3 years or more. Analyses were adjusted for age, gender, education, household monthly income, marital status, self-rated health, smoking status and depressive state.

RESULTS

Compared with being continuously at low risk (ie, ≤10 drinks per week), the unemployment categories were associated in a dose-dependent manner with an increased likelihood of reporting continuous no alcohol use (OR: 1.74-2.50), being continuously at-risk (OR: 1.21-1.83), experiencing an increase in alcohol use (OR: 1.21-1.51) and a decrease in alcohol use (OR: 1.17-1.84).

CONCLUSION

Although our results suggested an association between the duration of unemployment and a decrease in alcohol use, they also revealed associations between at-risk and increased alcohol use. Thus, screening for alcohol use among unemployed job seekers must be reinforced, especially among those with long-term unemployment.

Liens entre le statut tabagique et la situation vis-à-vis de l’emploi : analyse transversale de la cohorte CONSTANCES

This study aims to estimate the prevalence of tobacco use in 2017 and 2019 in the French population covered by the Régime Général d'Assurance Maladie according to employment status. From the French national CONSTANCES cohort, 18,008 randomly recruited volunteers aged between 18 and 69 years, affiliated to the Régime Général d'Assurance Maladie and enrolled in 2017, were included in the analysis. The prevalence of tobacco use according to employment status was estimated. Estimates of these prevalence data were calculated in 2017 and 2019 after correction for selection bias at inclusion and non-response at follow-up. In 2019, smoking prevalence was higher among unemployed people (29.2% among men and 20.7% among women) than among employed people (16.5% among men and 13.8% among women). Smoking prevalence was highest among those not in work for health reasons (38.5% among men and 35.8% among women). Smokers were more likely to be unemployed than non-smokers (OR 2.63 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.79; 3.85] in men and OR 1.55 [95% CI: 1.08; 2.22] in women). Among men, the prevalence of employed people among light smokers (<10 cigarettes/day) significantly decreased between 2017 (87.1%) and 2019 (74.8%). These results underline the importance of reinforcing smoking prevention campaigns among the unemployed, particularly for health reasons.