Psychological Distress and Work Environment Perception by Physical Therapists from Southern Italy during COVID-19 Pandemic: The C.A.L.A.B.R.I.A Study

The psychosocial impact of the work environment during the COVID-19 pandemic on health professionals is a growing issue. The present study examined specific psychosocial work environment indicators during the COVID-19 pandemic, through a multiple regression model of a self-administered cross-sectional online survey in a cohort of physical therapists from a region of Southern Italy from March 2020 to May 2021. The questionnaire contained items on work and healthcare issues related to COVID-19. Eighty physical therapists (29 male and 51 female), mean age 32.5 ± 10.1 years, were involved in this survey. The multiple regression analysis showed that “management activity” was significantly correlated to “therapist frustration” during the COVID-19 pandemic (ΔR2 = 0.16; p < 0.03). Findings of this study underline the importance of a healthy psychosocial work environment to enhance job satisfaction of all health professionals and to avoid role conflict and burnout syndrome during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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The Burnout Syndrome among Women Working in the Retail Network in Associations with Psychosocial Work Environment Factors

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18115603 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (11) ◽

pp. 5603

Author(s):

Gintarė Kalinienė ◽

Dalia Lukšienė ◽

Rūta Ustinavičienė ◽

Lina Škėmienė ◽

Vidmantas Januškevičius

Keyword(s):

Logistic Regression ◽

Work Environment ◽

Human Resources Management ◽

Job Demands ◽

Psychosocial Work Environment ◽

Burnout Syndrome ◽

Multivariate Logistic Regression Model ◽

Multivariable Logistic Regression Analysis ◽

Psychosocial Work ◽

Work Related

The burnout syndrome is a significant occupational health problem in various employees’ populations. The aim of this study was to evaluate burnout level among retail network workers and its associations with psychosocial work environment. The cross-sectional epidemiological study was conducted on workers of one Lithuanian retail network (n = 254), where all respondents were women. In order to assess their occupational stress and burnout, two instruments were used: HSE management standards work-related stress indicator tool and Copenhagen burnout inventory (CBI). The statistical analysis showed high prevalence of burnout—the frequency of personal, work-related and client-related burnout was 53.5%, 66.5% and 55.5% respectively. The Spearman’s correlation analysis revealed that job demands, control manager’s support, coworkers’ support and relationships significantly associated with all burnout subscales. The multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the independent associations between HSE indicators and burnout subscales. The multivariate logistic regression model revealed that job demands and manager’s support were significant factors for all burnout dimensions. In conclusion, in order to reduce occupational burnout among employees working in retail companies, it would be useful for occupational interventions to focus on workload reduction and optimization, and for the human resources management strategy to focus on maintaining this.

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Job Strain in Physical Therapists

Physical Therapy ◽

10.2522/ptj.20080322 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 89 (9) ◽

pp. 946-956 ◽

Cited By ~ 46

Author(s):

Marc A. Campo ◽

Sherri Weiser ◽

Karen L. Koenig

Keyword(s):

Work Environment ◽

Job Stress ◽

Job Strain ◽

Physical Therapists ◽

Job Demands ◽

Psychosocial Work Environment ◽

Job Control ◽

Psychosocial Work ◽

Work Related

BackgroundJob stress has been associated with poor outcomes. In focus groups and small-sample surveys, physical therapists have reported high levels of job stress. Studies of job stress in physical therapy with larger samples are needed.ObjectiveThe purposes of this study were: (1) to determine the levels of psychological job demands and job control reported by physical therapists in a national sample, (2) to compare those levels with national norms, and (3) to determine whether high demands, low control, or a combination of both (job strain) increases the risk for turnover or work-related pain.DesignThis was a prospective cohort study with a 1-year follow-up period.MethodsParticipants were randomly selected members of the American Physical Therapy Association (n=882). Exposure assessments included the Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ), a commonly used instrument for evaluation of the psychosocial work environment. Outcomes included job turnover and work-related musculoskeletal disorders.ResultsCompared with national averages, the physical therapists reported moderate job demands and high levels of job control. About 16% of the therapists reported changing jobs during follow-up. Risk factors for turnover included high job demands, low job control, job strain, female sex, and younger age. More than one half of the therapists reported work-related pain. Risk factors for work-related pain included low job control and job strain.LimitationsThe JCQ measures only limited dimensions of the psychosocial work environment. All data were self-reported and subject to associated bias.ConclusionsPhysical therapists’ views of their work environments were positive, including moderate levels of demands and high levels of control. Those therapists with high levels of demands and low levels of control, however, were at increased risk for both turnover and work-related pain. Physical therapists should consider the psychosocial work environment, along with other factors, when choosing a job.

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Psychosocial job demand and control: multi-site musculoskeletal pain in Swedish police

Scandinavian Journal of Public Health ◽

10.1177/1403494818801507 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 47 (3) ◽

pp. 318-325 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Louise B. Larsen ◽

Nerrolyn Ramstrand ◽

Eleonor I. Fransson

Keyword(s):

Social Support ◽

Work Environment ◽

Musculoskeletal Pain ◽

Odds Ratio ◽

Online Survey ◽

High Strain ◽

Psychosocial Work Environment ◽

Physical Factors ◽

Psychosocial Work ◽

High Social Support

Aims: Police have a high prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders. While physical factors contributing to this have been explored, little is known regarding the contribution of the psychosocial work environment. This study explores the association between elements of the JDC model, social support and multi-site musculoskeletal pain among Swedish police. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, responses from 4185 police were collected using a self-administered online survey. The survey included questions on the psychosocial work environment and musculoskeletal pain, as well as several potential confounding factors. Logistic regression analyses were performed to explore the degree of association between 1) the indices for job demands, job control, social support and multi-site musculoskeletal pain and 2) the four categories of the JDC model, social support and multi-site musculoskeletal pain. Results: The overall psychosocial work environment of Swedish police was characterised by low control and high social support. Police who reported active and high strain jobs were found to have an increase in the odds ratio for multi-site musculoskeletal pain (OR 1.45 (95% CI 1.08–1.94) and 1.84 (1.51–2.24), respectively). High demands, which is a component in the categories for active and high strain jobs, was also found to be associated with an increase in the odds ratio for multi-site musculoskeletal pain (OR 1.66 (1.45–1.91)). High social support was associated with a decrease in the odds ratio for multi-site musculoskeletal pain (OR 0.72 (0.57–0.86)). Conclusions: The psychosocial work environment should be considered when investigating factors related to the health and wellbeing of police.

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Expanding the Domain of the Psychosocial Work Environment: Work Place Norms and Work-Family Conflict as Correlates of Stress and Subjective Health Symptoms

PsycEXTRA Dataset ◽

10.1037/e336032004-001 ◽

2013 ◽

Author(s):

Tove H. Hammer ◽

Per Oystein Saksvik ◽

Kjell Nytro ◽

Hans Torvatn ◽

Mahmut Bayazit

Keyword(s):

Work Environment ◽

Family Conflict ◽

Subjective Health ◽

Psychosocial Work Environment ◽

Work Place ◽

Psychosocial Work ◽

Work Family Conflict ◽

Health Symptoms ◽

Work Family

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Being bullied at work--Psychosocial work environment, organisation's economic situation, and individual situation of the target

PsycEXTRA Dataset ◽

10.1037/e577572014-018 ◽

2013 ◽

Author(s):

Maarit A.-L. Vartia ◽

Maria Hirvonen

Keyword(s):

Work Environment ◽

Psychosocial Work Environment ◽

Economic Situation ◽

Psychosocial Work ◽

Being Bullied

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The Psychosocial Work Environment and Perceived Stress among Seniors with Physically Demanding Jobs: The SeniorWorkingLife Study

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18147437 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (14) ◽

pp. 7437

Author(s):

Jonas Vinstrup ◽

Annette Meng ◽

Emil Sundstrup ◽

Lars L. Andersen

Keyword(s):

Work Environment ◽

Perceived Stress ◽

High Stress ◽

Organizational Factors ◽

Work Conditions ◽

Psychosocial Work Environment ◽

Psychosocial Work ◽

Decision Latitude ◽

Collegial Support ◽

Increased Risk

Background: Poor psychosocial work conditions are known to foster negative health consequences. While the existing literature on this topic focus mainly on white-collar workers, the influence of different aspects of the psychosocial work environment in physically demanding jobs remain understudied. Likewise, senior workers represent a population of the workforce at increased risk of adverse health outcomes and premature exit from the labour market. This study investigates the association between psychosocial work factors and perceived stress among the senior work force. Methods: Utilizing cross-sectional findings, this study reports associations between psychosocial factors (organizational justice, cooperation and collegial support, decision latitude, clarity of tasks, and quality of leadership) and the outcome of perceived stress quantified by Cohen’s Perceived Stress Scale (CPSS). Currently employed senior workers with physically demanding jobs were included in the analyses (n = 3386). Associations were modeled using general linear models with weights to make the estimates representative. Results: For all individually adjusted psychosocial variables, the category of “good” was consistently associated with lower stress scores compared to the categories of both “moderate” and “poor” (all p < 0.0001). Likewise, in the mutually adjusted analysis, the category of “good” was statistically different from “poor” for all included variables, while the category of “moderate” remained different from “poor” for “clarity of tasks”, “cooperation and collegial support”, and “decision latitude”. Conclusions: Among senior workers with physically demanding jobs, poor ratings of organizational factors related to the psychosocial work environment are consistently associated with high stress scores. Blue-collar occupations focusing primarily on physical risk factors are recommended to increase awareness on psychosocial aspects that may be relevant to the local work environment.

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