Psychosocial work factors and sick leave risk after a terrorist bomb attack: a survey and registry-based longitudinal study of governmental employees in Norway

ObjectivesStudies show that social support may reduce the negative psychological effects of terror. The aim was to explore the effects of the psychosocial work environment on sick leave risk among governmental employees after a workplace bomb attack.DesignWe linked longitudinal survey data collected at 10 and 22 months after the bombing with registry data on doctor-certified sick leave collected from 42 months before the attack to 33 months after the attack. ORs and rate ratios were estimated with mixed effects hurdle models.SettingThe bombing of the government ministries in Oslo, Norway, 22 July 2011.ParticipantsWe identified 1625 participants from a cohort of 3520 employees working in the ministries during the bombing in 2011.ResultsAfter adjustment for confounders, social support from coworkers reduced the odds of sick leave (OR 0.80, 95% CI 0.68 to 0.93), and there was marginal evidence for reduced odds with support from superior (OR 0.87, 95% CI 0.87 to 1.03). A social work climate, an innovative climate and a human resource primacy climate (HRP) reduced the sick leave risk (eg, HRP OR 0.77, 95% CI 0.66 to 0.90). The hurdle model found no associations between psychosocial support at work and the duration of sick leave.ConclusionsPsychosocial support at work can enhance employees’ work ability after terror and reduce the sick leave risk by more than 20%. However, a supportive psychosocial work environment did not reduce the duration of sickness absence. The protective role of psychosocial work factors on sick leave may be most significant when employees are at work and interact with their work environment.

Importance of the Working Environment for Early Retirement: Prospective Cohort Study with Register Follow-Up

Background: This study investigates the role of physical work demands and psychosocial work factors for early retirement among older workers. Methods: Data from three Danish surveys on work environment and health among employed older workers (age 55–59) were merged with a national register containing information on labour market participation. Robust Poisson regression modelled the risk ratios (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the association between physical and psychosocial work factors and early retirement, that is, not working after the age of 64. Results: Of the 2800 workers, 53% retired early. High physical work demands (RR 1.33, 95%CI 1.19–1.48), poor overall psychosocial working conditions (RR 1.43, 95%CI 1.26–1.61), and access to early retirement benefits (RR 1.79, 95%CI 1.53–2.10) predicted early retirement. Subgroup analyses revealed that poor overall psychosocial working conditions were a stronger predictor for early retirement among workers with seated jobs than those with physically active jobs. Conclusions: High physical work demands and poor psychosocial working conditions are factors that can push older workers out of the labour market prematurely. Poor psychosocial working conditions seem to be a particularly strong push factor among workers with seated work.

Older working adults in the HEAF study are more likely to report loneliness after two years of follow-up if they have negative perceptions of their work quality

Background Loneliness is an important public health issue associated with mortality and morbidity. Often researched amongst older people, less is known about risk factors for loneliness among adults aged 50–64 years who are in work. We investigated (a) if exit from the workforce increases the odds of loneliness; (b) whether adverse psychosocial work factors are associated with increased odds of loneliness over 2 years of follow-up; and (c) whether the association is stronger among subjects still working compared with those who have exited the workforce. Methods Data came from the Health and Employment After Fifty (HEAF) study, a large population cohort who provided questionnaire information about work and health at baseline and 2 annual follow-ups. Logistic regression was used to explore the association between psychosocial risk factors and loneliness at follow-up 2, with adjustment for loneliness at baseline, sex, age, self-rated health, living alone, and mental health diagnosis. Results Of the initial 8134 participants, 4521 were working at baseline and provided data for this analysis. Of those, 507 (11.2%) were defined as lonely at 2 years’ follow-up. Exiting the workforce was not significantly associated with loneliness (OR = 1.1, 95%CI: 0.7–1.7). However, negative psychosocial work factors predicted loneliness at follow-up. After mutual adjustment, lack of choice at work (OR: 1.5, 95%CI: 1.1–1.9), often lying awake worrying about work (OR: 1.4, 95%CI: 1.0–1.9) and perceived not coping with physical demands of the job (OR: 1.3, 95%CI: 1.0–1.7) were independent predictors, with associations robust to adjustment for demographic factors and health. Associations were only slightly altered when we restricted the sample to those who remained in work until the end of follow-up. Conclusions Loneliness amongst middle-aged working adults is not predicted by permanent work exit but is predicted by individuals’ perceptions about their work. Provision of good-quality work, matched to the capacity of the older worker, could prevent loneliness.