What can we learn from an intersectionality-informed description of study participants? Results from the German National Cohort.

Background: Intersectionality has contributed to novel insights in epidemiology. However, participants of epidemiological studies have rarely been characterised from an intersectional perspective. We aimed to show the gained insights of an intersectionality-informed approach to describing a study po...

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Publicado en:International Journal for Equity in Health Vol. 24; no. 1; pp. 1 - 12
Autores principales: Jaehn, Philipp, Rach, Stefan, Bolte, Gabriele, Mikolajczyk, Rafael, Merz, Sibille, Herrera-Espejel, Paula Sofia, Brand, Tilman, Führer, Amand, Berger, Klaus, Teismann, Henning, Bohn, Barbara, Koch-Gallenkamp, Lena, Brenner, Hermann, Klett-Tammen, Carolina J., Castell, Stefanie, Ebert, Nina, Emmel, Carina, Schmidt, Börge, Gastell, Sylvia, Schulze, Matthias B.
Formato: research tables/charts Journal Article
Publicado: BioMed Central 5/26/2025
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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      dt: 5/26/2025
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      pub: BioMed Central
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        10.1186/s12939-025-02521-3
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        atl: What can we learn from an intersectionality-informed description of study participants? Results from the German National Cohort.
      aug:
        au:
          Jaehn, Philipp
          Rach, Stefan
          Bolte, Gabriele
          Mikolajczyk, Rafael
          Merz, Sibille
          Herrera-Espejel, Paula Sofia
          Brand, Tilman
          Führer, Amand
          Berger, Klaus
          Teismann, Henning
          Bohn, Barbara
          Koch-Gallenkamp, Lena
          Brenner, Hermann
          Klett-Tammen, Carolina J.
          Castell, Stefanie
          Ebert, Nina
          Emmel, Carina
          Schmidt, Börge
          Gastell, Sylvia
          Schulze, Matthias B.
        affil: https://ror.org/04839sh14 Institute of Social Medicine and Epidemiology, Brandenburg Medical School Theodor Fontane, Hochstraße 15, 14770, Brandenburg an der Havel, Germany
      sug:
        subj:
          Epidemiological Research
          Research Subjects
          Intersectionality Evaluation
          Human
          Germany
          Male
          Female
          Adult
          Middle Age
          Aged
          Secondary Analysis
          Educational Status
          Marital Status
          Birth Place
          Age Factors
          Sex Factors
          Equality
          Adult: 19-44 years
          Middle Aged: 45-64 years
          Aged: 65+ years
          Male
          Female
      ab: Background: Intersectionality has contributed to novel insights in epidemiology. However, participants of epidemiological studies have rarely been characterised from an intersectional perspective. We aimed to show the gained insights of an intersectionality-informed approach to describing a study population by comparing it to a conventional approach. Methods: We used data of the German National Cohort (NAKO), which recruited 205,415 participants between 2014 and 2019. In the conventional approach, marginal proportions of educational level, cohabitation status, and country of birth were compared between the study populations of the NAKO and the German census survey (MZ) of 2014. In the intersectionality-informed approach, so-called intersectional population strata were constructed by cross-classifying educational level, cohabitation status, and country of birth. Proportions of these strata were also compared between NAKO and MZ. All analyses were stratified by sex and age group. Results: The conventional approach showed that the proportion of people with low education was lower in the NAKO compared to the MZ in all sex and age strata. Similarly, proportions of all intersectional population strata with low education were lower in the NAKO. Concerning cohabitation, the conventional approach showed that the proportion of those living without a partner was lower in the NAKO than in the MZ for women under 60 and men. The intersectionality-informed approach revealed that the proportions of some subgroups of those living without a partner were higher in the NAKO than in the MZ. These were intersectional population strata who lived without a partner, had a high level of education and were born in Germany. The intersectionality-informed approach revealed similar within-group heterogeneity for country of birth, showing that not all proportions of foreign-born people were lower in the NAKO compared to the MZ. Proportions of foreign-born with high education who lived with a partner were higher. Conclusions: Our results showed that heterogeneity within social categories can be revealed by applying the concept of intersectionality when comparing study participants with an external population. This way, an intersectionality-informed approach contributes to describing social complexity among study participants more precisely. Furthermore, results can be used to reduce participation barriers in a more targeted way.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype:
        research
        tables/charts
        Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
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