93 The influence of workplace social capital on hba1c levels among japanese workers: a 2-year prospective cohort study (j-hope)

IntroductionWorkplace social capital (WSC) has been shown to affect employees’ well-being and health, yet it is not clear how public managers can create WSC and which forms of WSC are most important. This study is the first prospective cohort study to examine the relationship between management behaviour, WSC, well-being and sickness absence. It uses a validated and detailed scale on WSC, which can distinguish between bonding, bridging, linking and organisational WSC over time. The study thereby provides rich data giving a much-needed detailed image of how WSC impacts on public employees’ well-being and health. Additionally, the study pays special attention to the fact that these relationships can be different for different types of employees and therefore tests a set of relevant employee and context-related variables.Methods and analysisProject preparations in terms of agreements and data preparation of existing data started in 2019. This prospective cohort study considers and collects organisational data from 2016 to 2025. Annual employee surveys of more than 8000 employees (in a large Danish municipality) will be combined with register data in all years. This generates a unique cohort of public employees in different professions that are traceable over several years. The annual surveys include information on the management behaviour, WSC and employee outcomes. Fine-grained information on sickness absences will be matched for all employees and years under study. Moreover, confounders and the nested nature of the data will be considered.Ethics and disseminationApproval has been obtained from The Regional Committee on Health Research Ethics from Southern Denmark and from the University of Southern Denmark. The results will be presented at conferences and published in international peer-reviewed journals and in a practice-oriented monography targeted at public managers. The result will furthermore be disseminated to the involved employees through seminars and workshops in the participating organisations.

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Workplace social capital and refraining from seeking medical care in Japanese employees: a 1-year prospective cohort study

BMJ Open ◽

10.1136/bmjopen-2020-036910 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (8) ◽

pp. e036910

Author(s):

Akiomi Inoue ◽

Akizumi Tsutsumi ◽

Hisashi Eguchi ◽

Yuko Kachi ◽

Akihito Shimazu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Social Capital ◽

Cohort Study ◽

Medical Care ◽

Prospective Cohort Study ◽

Prospective Cohort ◽

Cox Regression ◽

Annual Household Income ◽

Men And Women ◽

Japanese Employees ◽

Workplace Social Capital

ObjectivesWe examined the association of workplace social capital (WSC), including structural and cognitive dimensions, with refraining from seeking medical care (RSMC) among Japanese employees.DesignOne-year prospective cohort study.Setting and participantsWe surveyed 8770 employees (6881 men and 1889 women) aged 18–70 years from 12 firms in Japan using a self-administered questionnaire comprising the WSC scale and the items on potential confounders (ie, age, educational attainment and equivalent annual household income) at baseline (from April 2011 to March 2013).Outcome measuresAt a 1-year follow-up, we measured RSMC using a single-item question ‘In the past year, have you ever refrained from visiting a hospital, clinic, acupuncturist or dentist despite your sickness (including a slight cold or cavity) or injury?’ResultsThe results of Cox regression with robust variance showed that, after adjusting for potential confounders, the low WSC group (ie, the lowest tertile group) had a significantly higher relative risk (RR) of RSMC compared with the high WSC group (ie, the highest tertile group) among both men and women (overall WSC: RR 1.09 (95% CI 1.01 to 1.17) and 1.20 (95% CI 1.06 to 1.37); structural dimension: RR 1.13 (95% CI 1.04 to 1.22) and 1.25 (95% CI 1.07 to 1.45); and cognitive dimension: RR 1.11 (95% CI 1.03 to 1.20) and 1.21 (95% CI 1.06 to 1.38), respectively). Trend analysis using a continuous score of the WSC scale also showed a significant association of low WSC with a higher risk of RSMC among both men and women.ConclusionsOur findings suggest that the lack of social capital in the workplace is associated with RSMC among Japanese employees.

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