scholarly journals Favorable Working Conditions Related to Health Behavior Among Nurses and Care Assistants in Sweden—A Population-Based Cohort Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Magnus Helgesson ◽  
Staffan Marklund ◽  
Klas Gustafsson ◽  
Gunnar Aronsson ◽  
Constanze Leineweber
Keyword(s):  
Health Behavior ◽  
Work Environment ◽  
Risk Behavior ◽  
Sickness Absence ◽  
Working Conditions ◽  
Good Health ◽  
Health Complaints ◽  
Psychosocial Working Conditions ◽  
Sickness Presence ◽  
Recovery Behavior

Objective: To analyze the associations between favorable physical and psychosocial work factors and health behavior among healthcare employees (nurses and care assistants) with health complaints.Methods: The study was based on seven iterations (2001–2013) of a biennial Swedish work environment survey linked with data from public registers. In all, 7,180 healthcare employees, aged 16–64 years, who had reported health complaints, were included. Health behavior was operationalized through four combinations of sickness absence (SA) and sickness presence (SP): ‘good health behavior' (Low SP/Low SA), ‘recovery behavior' (Low SP/High SA), ‘risk behavior' (High SP/Low SA), and ‘poor health behavior' (High SP/High SA). Odds ratios (OR) were calculated by multinomial logistic regression with 95% confidence intervals (CI).Results: After adjusting for socio-demographic factors, those who rarely worked in strenuous postures had an increased probability of having ‘good health behavior' (OR range: nurses 1.72–2.02; care assistants 1.46–1.75). Those who rarely experienced high job demands had increased odds for having ‘good health behavior' (OR: nurses 1.81; OR range: care assistants 1.67–2.13), while having good job control was found to be related to ‘good health behavior' only among care assistants (OR range 1.30–1.68). In the full model, after also considering differences in health, none of the work environment indicators affected ‘good health behavior' among nursing professionals. Among care assistants, rarely having heavy physical work and having low psychosocial demands remained significantly associated with ‘good health behavior' (OR range: 1.24–1.58) and ‘recovery behavior' (OR range: 1.33–1.70). No associations were found between favorable work environment factors and ‘risk behavior' among the two groups of employees. However, positive assessments of the work situation were associated with ‘good health behavior,' even after controlling for all confounders for both groups (OR range: 1.43–2.69).Conclusions: ‘Good health behavior' and ‘recovery behavior' among care assistants were associated with favorable physical and psychosocial working conditions even when health was considered. This implies that reduced sickness presence and sickness absence among care assistants can be achieved through improved physical and psychosocial working conditions.

Comparing the new interdisciplinary Health in work intervention to conventional monodisciplinary welfare interventions at Norwegian workplaces: Protocol for a pragmatic cluster-randomized trial (Preprint)

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anje Christina Höper ◽  
Christoffer Lilja Terjesen ◽  
Nils Fleten
Keyword(s):  
Work Environment ◽  
Sickness Absence ◽  
Intraclass Correlation ◽  
Health Anxiety ◽  
Randomised Trial ◽  
Psychosocial Work Environment ◽  
Cluster Randomised Trial ◽  
Health Complaints ◽  
Psychosocial Work ◽  
Treatment As Usual

BACKGROUND Musculoskeletal and mental health complaints are the dominant diagnostic categories in long-term sick leave and disability pensions in Norway. Continuing to work despite health complaints is often beneficial, and a good work environment can improve work inclusion for people affected. In 2001, the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration (NAV) began to offer inclusive work measures (IWM) to improve the psychosocial work environment, as well as work inclusion of people with health complaints. In 2018, NAV and specialist health services started offering the new collaborative Health in work programme. Its workplace intervention (HIW) presents health- and welfare information that may improve employees´ coping ability regarding common health complaints. It encourages understanding of coworkers´ health complaints and appropriate work adjustments, in order to increase work participation. OBJECTIVE This protocol presents an ongoing, two-arm, pragmatic cluster-randomised trial. Its aim is to compare the effect of monodisciplinary IWM (treatment as usual) and interdisciplinary HIW in terms of changes in overall sickness absence, healthcare utilisation, health-related quality of life, and costs. Secondary objectives are to compare changes in individual sickness absence, psychosocial work environment, job and life satisfaction, health, and health anxiety, both at the individual and the group level. METHODS Data will be collected from national registers, trial-specific registrations and questionnaires. Effects will be explored by difference-in-difference analysis, and regression modelling. Multilevel analysis will visualise any cluster effects by intraclass correlation coefficients. RESULTS Inclusion is completed with 97 workplaces and 1383 individual consents. CONCLUSIONS Data collection will be finished with the last questionnaires to be sent out in July 2023. This trial will contribute to fill knowledge gaps about effectiveness and costs of workplace interventions, thereby benefitting health and welfare services, political decision-makers, and the public and business sectors. CLINICALTRIAL The trial is approved by the Norwegian Regional Committee for Medical and Health Research Ethics and registered in Clinicaltrials.gov (NCT04000035). Findings will be published in reports, peer-reviewed journals and at conferences.

scholarly journals Working conditions and compensated sickness absence among nurses and care assistants in Sweden during two decades: a cross-sectional biennial survey study

BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. e030096 ◽  
Author(s):  
Staffan Marklund ◽  
Klas Gustafsson ◽  
Gunnar Aronsson ◽  
Constanze Leineweber ◽  
Magnus Helgesson
Keyword(s):  
Work Environment ◽  
Sickness Absence ◽  
Working Conditions ◽  
Rate Ratio ◽  
Job Demands ◽  
Physical Work ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Work Factors ◽  
Work Environment Factors ◽  
Ratio Range

ObjectivesThe aims of the study were to trace the patterns of work environment factors and compensated sickness absence (SA) among nurses and care assistants compared with other occupations and to compare SA among exposed and non-exposed nurses and care assistants.DesignA cross-sectional survey on work environment factors based on the biennial Swedish Work Environment Surveys 1991–2013, linked to longitudinal register data on SA 1993–2014.ParticipantsThe study included 98 249 individuals, stratified into nurses and care assistants (n=16 179) and a reference population including all other occupations (n=82 070).Outcome measureAnnual days of compensated SA (>14 days) 3 years after exposure years.ResultsNurses and care assistants had higher SA in 1993–2014 compared with all other occupations, and differences in background factors only partly explained this relationship. For both groups, exposure to physical work factors remained steady, but the number of exposed were 10%–30% higher among nurses and care assistants. Those exposed to heavy physical work and strenuous working postures had in most years significantly higher SA when compared with non-exposed (rate ratio range: 1.4–1.9). Exposure to high job demands increased 10%–25% in 1991–1999 among nurses and care assistants but became more stable in 2001–2013 and high proportions of high job demands coincided with the increase in SA in 1995–1999. Nurses and care assistants exposed to high job demands had for most years significantly higher SA than non-exposed (rate ratio range: 1.5–2.1). Low job control and low support from supervisors elevated SA significantly only for a few years.ConclusionsExposure to negative work factors among nurses and care assistants was weakly associated with variations in SA, but may be related to their higher level of SA when compared with other occupations. Improved physical and psychosocial working conditions may reduce the elevated SA level in these occupations.

Joint association of physical and psychosocial working conditions with risk of long-term sickness absence: Prospective cohort study with register follow-up

2020 ◽  
pp. 140349482093642
Author(s):  
Emil Sundstrup ◽  
Lars Louis Andersen
Keyword(s):  
Cohort Study ◽  
Sickness Absence ◽  
Working Conditions ◽  
Physical Work ◽  
Trend Test ◽  
Psychosocial Working Conditions ◽  
Influence At Work ◽  
Emotional Demands

Aims: The interplay between physical and psychosocial working conditions for the risk of developing poor health is not well understood. This study aimed to determine the joint association of physical and psychosocial working conditions with risk of long-term sickness absence (LTSA) in the general working population. Methods: Based on questionnaire responses about physical working conditions and psychosocial working conditions (influence at work, emotional demands, support from colleagues and support from managers) and two-year prospective follow-up in a national register on social transfer payments, we estimated the risk of incident LTSA of >30 days among 9544 employees without previous LTSA from the Danish Work Environment Cohort Study. The analyses were censored for all events of permanent labour market drop-out (retirement, disability pension, immigration or death) and controlled for potential confounders. Results: In the total cohort, more demanding physical working conditions were associated with risk of LTSA in a dose–response fashion (trend test, p<0.0001). The combination of poor overall psychosocial working conditions (index measure of influence at work, emotional demands, support from managers and support from colleagues) and hard physical working conditions showed the highest risk of LTSA. However, poor overall psychosocial working conditions did not interact with physical working conditions in the risk of LTSA ( p=0.9677). Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that workplaces should strive to improve both psychosocial and physical work factors in order to ensure the health of workers.

Do psychosocial working conditions modify the effect of depressive symptoms on long-term sickness absence?

2013 ◽  
pp. n/a-n/a ◽  
Author(s):  
Pernille U. Hjarsbech ◽  
Karl Bang Christensen ◽  
Rikke Voss Andersen ◽  
Vilhelm Borg ◽  
Birgit Aust ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Sickness Absence ◽  
Working Conditions ◽  
Psychosocial Working Conditions
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