Publications by Year (Since 2000) / Selected Publications
Ecob, R, Sutton, G, Rudnicka, A, Smith, P, Power, C, Strachan, D, Davis, A (2008), Is the relation of social class to change in hearing threshold levels from childhood to middle age explained by noise, smoking and drinking behaviour? Int J Audiology. 47:100-108.
Recent work shows that variation in adult hearing function is related both to social class of origin and current social class. This study examines how much of this relationship after adjustment for childhood hearing impairment is explicable by occupational noise, current smoking and alcohol consumption. A cohort of 9023 persons born in the UK during one week in 1958 was followed periodically and hearing threshold levels (HTLs) were measured at 1 kHz and 4 kHz at age 45 years. Most (71% and 68% at 1 kHz and 4 kHz respectively) of the relation to social class of origin of adult HTLs remains after adjustment for these other factors. For the relation to current social class, corresponding values are 64% and 44% (though varying by gender). The magnitude of social class effect is comparable to that of occupational noise. Susceptibility to hearing impairment is likely to be appreciably determined in early childhood.
Henderson. M, Ecob. R, Wight, D and Abraham, C (2008). What explains between-school differences in rates of smoking? BMC Public Health. 8:1186-1471.
Background
Schools have the potential to influence their students' behaviour through the school's social organisation and culture (characteristics), as well as through the formal curriculum. This paper tests whether school characteristics (such as the quality of social relationships) account for school differences in smoking rates.
Methods
Longitudinal survey data from 5,092 pupils in 24 Scottish schools are linked to data on school characteristics including quality of relationships, school level deprivation, attitude to school, staying on rates and attendance.
After adjusting for individual level predictors of smoking (using multi-level modelling), students' smoking data was linked to data on school characteristics including quality of relationships, attitude to school, staying on rates and attendance.
Results
Overall, 25% of males and 39% of females reported smoking, rates by school ranging from 8% to 33% for males and from 28% to 49% for females. When individual socio-economic and socio-cultural factors were controlled there was still a large ''school effect' for males but no school effects for females at 15/16 years. The males' 'school effect' can be explained by school characteristics including: the proportion of students who choose to remain in school after the minimum legal leaving age, teachers' and pupils' perceptions of the quality of teacher-student relationships, teachers' perceptions of teacher-teacher relationships and the extent to which the school was judged to focus on caring and inclusiveness.
Conclusions
These results highlight the potential importance of school-level characteristics in students' health behaviour and demonstrate that their effects may have a different impact depending on gender: in this study the effects were only found for males. This supports a school-wide or "Health Promoting School" approach to smoking prevention, particularly for males.
Smith, D.J.& Ecob, R. "An Investigation of Causal Links between Victimization and Offending in the Teenage Years", British Journal of Sociology.Vol 58 (4).2007
There is a considerable body of evidence from earlier research to show that offending is associated with an increased risk of victimization, and being a victim with an increased risk of offending. There have been few earlier studies of the link. These have generally set out to test specific explanations for the linkage, for example, the idea that the same lifestyles or routine activities can be associated with both victimization and offending. In a current study of a cohort of 4,300 young people in Edinburgh we have found a correlation of 0.421 between crime victimization and self-reported offending at the age of 15 when offending peaks. Variables chosen to test three broad types of theory are shown to be related both to victimization and to offending. The present analysis uses latent class growth mixture models to track the dynamic relationships over time between victimization and offending both before and after controlling for these explanatory variables. In the short term, offending is strongly related to a later rise in victimization, but in the longer term to a fall that tends to cancel out the earlier rise. These findings remain the same after controlling for the ten explanatory variables. Victimization is associated with a rise in offending in the longer term. The theoretical perspectives suggested by earlier researchers are fairly successful in explaining this linkage. Future research should focus on the role of peer influence in linking victimization and offending, and should push forward the analysis into the adult years. The implications for criminal justice policy could be far-reaching.
Tappin, DT, Brooke, H, Ecob, R and Gibson, A.(2002) Used Cot Mattresses and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome in Scotland: a case-control study. BMJ 1325: 1007.
Objective
This new study examined the proposition that a used infant mattress is associated with an increased risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) in Scotland.
Design Case-Control study.
Setting Scotland, UK, population 5.1 million, with approximately 53,000 births per year.
Participants 131 infants who died of SIDS between 1/1/96 and 31/5/00 and 278 age, season and obstetric unit matched control infants.
Main outcome measures Routine and last sleep use of an infant mattress previously used by another child.
Results Routine use of an infant mattress previously used by another child was significantly associated with an increased risk of SIDS (multivariate OR 3.07, 95% CI 1.51, 6.22). Last sleep use of a used infant mattress was also associated (multivariate OR 6.10, 95% CI 2.31, 16.12).
Conclusion
A valid significant association exists between use of a used infant mattress and an increased risk of SIDS particularly if the mattress is from another home. Insufficient evidence is available to judge whether this relationship is cause and effect. Keywords: child care, sudden infant death, case-control studies
Watt, G. & Ecob, R.(2000) A comparison of mortality trends in Edinburgh and Glasgow: are the age-cohort predictions of mortality differences supported on the 1991 data? J. Public Health Medicine. 22 (3) pp 330-336.
A golden opportunity was presented, with the availability of data from 1991 census and death registration data for 1989-93, to compare the reality of deaths, both overall rates and differences in rates between cities, with predictions obtainable from the age-cohort model on deaths around 1961-1981 censuses shown in our previous paper (Watt and Ecob, 1992, see below). All cause mortality rates fell between 1979-83 and 1989-93 by a larger amount in Edinburgh than Glasgow. Differences in life expectancy between the cities at age 35 increased by 44% to 4.7 years in men and by 19% to 2.5 years in women. Mortality rates in both cities fell by a larger amount than predicted, by 10% in men and by 6% in women. The widening of differences in life expectancy between Glasgow and Edinburgh is partly due to a historical trend of longevity increasing more quickly in Edinburgh. Moreover reductions in mortality are generally significantly more than expected from the age-cohort model is shown by the fact that in 9 out of the 16 possible age/gender combinations the rates are outside and below the 95% confidence interval band of the predicted rates. Seven of these are for men (all Glasgow age groups and all but youngest age group for Edinburgh) and 2 are for women (oldest age groups in both Edinburgh and in Glasgow).
Ecob, R. (2000).The relationship of population density, postcode sector hectarage and area deprivation to Mortality in four Scottish Cities. Chapter for 'The geography of health inequalities in the developed world. Ed. Boyle, Curtis, Gatrell, Graham, Moore. Blackwell. Oxford.
Through merging of data, at a postcode sector level on mortality, deprivation and population size, from 1981 census (and available as Appendices to Carstairs and Morris 's, 1991, book 'Mortality and Deprivation in Scotland ') with data on area hectarage of these sectors obtained from 1991 Small Area Statistics, it is possible to examine in some detail the possible influence of population density and area size (hectarage) of postcode sector on mortality in addition to the known effects of area deprivation. Though the four major cities were found to vary in the extent of mortality given deprivation (Glasgow having the highest mortality and Aberdeen the lowest), no differences were found between cities in the relationship to deprivation. Population density was related in a non-linear way to mortality, particularly high mortality being found in areas with very low population densities. An additional inverse effect of area size on mortality was found, area size being a proxy for distance from city centre. The relationship to population density (given area size)was found to be stronger in Glasgow and Aberdeen than in Dundee and was absent in Edinburgh. Causes are postulated in the manner and extent of population movement, particularly in Glasgow, in connection with mainly post-war urban development. In order to gain further insights into the mechanisms involved, the need for prospective individual level data on social factors and mortality is stressed.
Ecob, R and Der, G.(2000) An iterative method for the detection, elimination or possible imputation of outliers in longitudinal data using multilevel models. In Reise,S and Duan, N eds 'Multilevel Modeling: Methodological Advances, Issues, and Applications '. Lawrence Earlbaum, London.
An iterative method of detecting outliers in longitudinal data comprising repeated measures on individuals over time is proposed. This is based on the supposition that an outlier - an incorrect observation - will distort a statistical model fitted to the data thereby biasing the evaluation of the correctness or otherwise of the remaining observations. This method proceeds by identifying outliers on the basis of a fitted model, eliminating these and refitting the model, proceding iteratively until convergence. Residuals are considered at the lowest level only � however this method can be easily extended to accommodate residuals at higher levels (individuals and above).This method is assessed on two data sets on heights of a cohort of 15 year old males and females subsequently followed up at ages 16,18 and 23 from a study examining the social patterning of health over time (West of Scotland Twenty-07 study) and on data on weight of calves on 11 occasions for twogroups with different treatments. An initial assessment of this method indicates that convergence is usually fast.
Ecob, R and Macintyre, S. (2000). Small area variations in health related behaviours; do these depend on the behaviour itself, its measurement, or on personal characteristics. Health and Place. 6 pp 261-274.
In this paper we examine the area patterning of four health related behaviours (smoking, alcohol consumption, diet, and exercise) in the West of Scotland, after controlling for a range of individual/household characteristics, using multilevel models. Smoking and drinking were measured both as binary and as continuous variables, and diet and exercise were each measured in two ways: 'good' (health promoting) and 'bad' (health damaging). 'Area effects' (unattributed random variation by post code sector) were found for 'bad' diet and for smoking consumption and both 'good ' and 'bad ' diet, 'bad' exercise patterns and current smoking were associated with postcode sector deprivation. For bad diet this effect was found only for individuals in more affluent households, and for 'good' exercise and current smoking the association with area deprivation differed between adolescents and adults. We conclude that the influence of area on health related behaviours varies according to the behaviour and the way it is measured and that the influence of are deprivation and/or of area can vary by age and household deprivation.
Ecob, R. & Jones, K. J. (1998).Mortality variation in England and Wales between types of place: an analysis of the ONS longitudinal study. Social Science and Medicine. Vol 47,12,2055-2066.
There has been some recent debate, particularly recently, on whether there is an additional effect of 'area ' on mortality in addition to characteristics of individuals and households. A particularly strong pro-individual position, for example, was taken by Sloggett and Joshi (1994). This analysis, on the same data set as theirs, namely the ONS longitudinal study, relating 1971 census to subsequent deaths in the period to the end of 1985, gives a different result. For both males and females, a particular type of place (as indicated by the Craig-Webber code for the particular ward) has excess or reduced mortality. In addition, for males, the effects of individual social class varies according to the percent professional in the Craig Webber type and, for females, the effect of being a car owner varies according to the proportion of households in the Craig-Webber type with access to a car. The pattern for females and males also differs, for males greaterdifferentiation in mortality by social class being associated with greater affluence of area and in females, for differences between car owners and not, being associated with lower levels of car ownership in the area. Differences between results between the two studies are attributed in part to the greater wealth of information on area contained in the, multi-dimensional, Craig-Webber area classification.