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BACKGROUND: Critical care nurses (CCNs) around the globe face other health challenges compared to their peers in general hospital nursing. Moreover, the nursing workforce grapples with persistent staffing shortages. In light of these circumstances, developing a sustainable work environment is imperative to retain the current nursing workforce. Consequently, this study aimed to gain insight into the recalled experiences of CCNs in dealing with the physical and psychosocial influences of work-related demands on their health while examining the environments in which they operate. The second aim was to explore the complex social and psychological processes through which CCNs navigate these work-related demands across various CCN wards. METHODS: A qualitative study following Thorne's interpretive descriptive approach was conducted. From October 2022 to April 2023, six focus groups were organised. Data from a diverse sample of 27 Flemish CCNs engaged in physically demanding roles from three CCN wards were collected. The Qualitative Analysis Guide of Leuven was applied to support the constant comparison process. RESULTS: Participants reported being exposed to occupational physical activity, emotional, quantitative, and cognitive work-related demands, adverse patient behaviour, and poor working time quality. Exposure to these work-related demands was perceived as harmful, potentially resulting in physical, mental, and psychosomatic strain, as well as an increased turnover intention. In response to these demands, participants employed various strategies for mitigation, including seeking social support, exerting control over their work, utilising appropriate equipment, recognising rewards, and engaging in leisure-time physical activity. CONCLUSIONS: CCNs' health is challenged by work-related demands that are not entirely covered by the traditional quantitative frameworks used in research on psychologically healthy work. Therefore, future studies should focus on improving such frameworks by exploring the role of psychosocial and organisational factors in more detail. This study has important implications for workplace health promotion with a view on preventing work absenteeism and drop-out in the long run, as it offers strong arguments to promote sufficient risk management strategies, schedule flexibility, uninterrupted off-job recovery time, and positive management, which can prolong the well-being and sustainable careers of the CCN workforce.
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Studies to date have predominantly focused on countries' socioeconomic conditions (e.g., income inequality) to explain cross-national differences in socioeconomic inequalities in adolescent health (behaviours). However, the potential explanatory role of sociocultural contexts at country-level remains underexamined. This study examined whether the country-level sociocultural context and changes thereof were associated with adolescent socioeconomic inequalities in dietary behaviours. International comparative data of 344,352 adolescents living in 21 countries participating in 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014 waves of the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey were combined with aggregated levels of openness-to-change from the European Social Survey (ESS). Four dietary behaviours (i.e., fruit, vegetable, sweets and soft drink consumption) and two measures of socioeconomic status (SES) on the individual level (i.e., family affluence scale [FAS] and occupational social class [OSC]) were studied. Multilevel logistic regression analyses returned contrasting results for the two SES measures used. In countries with higher levels of openness-to-change, smaller FAS inequalities in daily fruit, sweets and soft drink consumption were observed, but no such inequalities were found for vegetable consumption. Conversely, in these countries, larger OSC inequalities in soft drink consumption were found. Country-specific changes in openness-to-change over time were not associated with the magnitude of adolescent dietary inequalities. Findings underscore the importance of including country-level sociocultural contexts to improve the understanding of cross-national differences in socioeconomic inequalities in adolescents' diets. Future studies, spanning a longer timeframe, are required to examine whether such associations exist within countries over time since our timeframe might have been too small to capture these long-term trends.
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Conducta del Adolescente , Dieta , Conducta Alimentaria , Análisis Multinivel , Factores Socioeconómicos , Humanos , Adolescente , Europa (Continente) , Femenino , Masculino , Conducta del Adolescente/psicología , Dieta/estadística & datos numéricos , Conducta Alimentaria/psicología , Conductas Relacionadas con la Salud , Niño , Clase Social , Verduras , FrutasRESUMEN
PURPOSE: Research on return to work (RTW) following transition-related gender-affirming care (GAC) is lacking. We aim to study the RTW outcomes and experiences of transgender and gender diverse (TGD) people during social and medical transition to understand their needs better and provide tailored support. METHODS: In this convergent mixed-methods study, the questionnaires of 125 employed TGD people, who took steps in transition (social and GAC), were analyzed for personal- and work characteristics, medical work absences, RTW, support at work, and health literacy. In-depth interviews were held with twenty TGD people to explore perceived facilitators and barriers to RTW. RESULTS: One hundred and nine participants reported an average of 38 sick days after GAC. The majority (90.2%) resumed their job at the same employer. Although TGD workers felt supported, their health literacy (55.1%) was lower compared to the general population. The qualitative data analysis revealed four major themes: (1) the need and access to information; (2) having multidisciplinary TGD allies; (3) the influence of the occupational position; (4) the precarious balance between work, life, and GAC. Especially participants with a low health literacy level experienced RTW barriers by struggling: (1) to find and/or apply information; (2) to navigate (occupational) health and insurance services. CONCLUSION: Our research has shown that RTW for TGD individuals is a multifaceted process, affected by personal factors, work-related elements, and the characteristics of the healthcare and social insurance system. Enhancing support for TGD people at work and their RTW requires a high need for centralized information and promoting health literacy while engaging relevant stakeholders, such as prevention services and employers.
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Existing literature indicates that academic staff experience increasing levels of work stress. This study investigated associations between day-to-day threat and challenge appraisal and day-to-day problem-focused coping, emotion-focused coping, and seeking social support among academic office workers. This study is based on an Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) design with a 15-working day data collection period utilising our self-developed STRAW smartphone application. A total of 55 office workers from academic institutions in Belgium (n = 29) and Slovenia (n = 26) were included and 3665 item measurements were analysed. Participants were asked approximately every 90 min about their appraisal of stressful events (experienced during the working day) and their coping styles. For data analysis, we used an unstructured covariance matrix in our linear mixed models. Challenge appraisal predicted problem-focused coping and threat appraisal predicted emotion-focused coping. Our findings suggest an association between threat appraisal as well as challenge appraisal and seeking social support. Younger and female workers chose social support more often as a coping style. While working from home, participants were less likely to seek social support. The findings of our EMA study confirm previous research on the relationship between stress appraisal and coping with stress. Participants reported seeking social support less while working from home compared to working at the office, making the work location an aspect that deserves further research.
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OBJECTIVES: This prospective study aimed to investigate the relation between occupational physical activity (OPA), leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) and sickness absence (SA). A second aim was to explore the possible interaction effects between OPA and LTPA in determining SA. METHODS: The study is based on data from 304 workers in the service and manufacturing sector. Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) was measured by two Axivity AX3 accelerometers for 2-4 consecutive working days. Participants reported on the level of their physically demanding tasks by using a 5-item scale from the Job Content Questionnaire. Data on SA was provided by the administration departments of the participating companies during a 1 year follow-up period. We used negative binomial regression models for our statistical analysis. RESULTS: After adjusting for potential confounders, physically demanding tasks were significantly associated with a higher number of SA episodes and days. Accelerometer-assessed MVPA during leisure time but not during work was correlated with lower SA. Our results show a significant interaction effect between MVPA during work and leisure time in the sense that more MVPA during work increased the risk for SA days only among workers with low LTPA, but not among workers with moderate-to-high LTPA. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that LTPA and OPA are related to opposite SA outcomes. MVPA during leisure time and work interact in their effect on SA, whereas we found no interaction effect between LTPA and self-reported physically demanding tasks in determining SA.
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Ejercicio Físico , Ocupaciones , Humanos , Estudios Prospectivos , Actividades Recreativas , Encuestas y CuestionariosRESUMEN
Objectives: How the work environment contributes to employees' overall subjective well-being remains inadequately explored. Building upon the seminal Job Demands-Resources model, this study aims to test a complex model that combines leadership, job demands, and job resources, as factors contributing either indirectly (via job satisfaction) or directly to employees' subjective well-being (SWB). Methods: The cross-sectional data (N = 1,859) of the Belgian National happiness study (2020) were used. Leadership (satisfaction with leadership; perceived supervisor support), job demands (role conflict; job insecurity; work-private conflict; perceived working conditions), job resources (autonomy; relatedness; competence; skill utilization; personal growth), job satisfaction and subjective well-being (life evaluation; positive affect; negative affect) were assessed via self-report questionnaires. The proposed model investigates the direct impact of job demands and resources on SWB, as well as the indirect impact with job satisfaction as mediating factor, and was tested using the Structural Equation Modeling technique. Results: Findings supported the proposed model. Both job demands and job resources have a direct relationship with SWB. Job resources are positively related to overall SWB, whereas job demands negatively affected SWB. Moreover, job resources are more strongly related to SWB compared to job demands. The demands and resources also indirectly contribute to employee's SWB via job satisfaction as job satisfaction appeared to mediate these relationships. Conclusion: The current study shows that both job demands and resources directly and indirectly contribute to employees' SWB. Creating a supportive and healthy work environment is thus of paramount importance in order to foster employees' SWB. In particular, investing in improving job resources may be a fruitful approach to promote employees' overall subjective well-being.
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OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to investigate the associations between day-to-day work-related stress exposures (i.e., job demands and lack of job control), job strain, and next-day work engagement among office workers in academic settings. Additionally, we assessed the influence of psychological detachment and relaxation on next-day work engagement and tested for interaction effects of these recovery variables on the relationship between work-related stressors and next-day work engagement. METHODS: Office workers from two academic settings in Belgium and Slovenia were recruited. This study is based on an Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) with a 15-working day data collection period using our self-developed STRAW smartphone application. Participants were asked repeatedly about their work-related stressors, work engagement, and recovery experiences. Fixed-effect model testing using random intercepts was applied to investigate within- and between-participant levels. RESULTS: Our sample consisted of 55 participants and 2710 item measurements were analysed. A significant positive association was found between job control and next-day work engagement (ß = 0.28, p < 0.001). Further, a significant negative association was found between job strain and next-day work engagement (ß = -0.32, p = 0.05). Furthermore, relaxation was negatively associated with work engagement (ß = -0.08, p = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: This study confirmed previous results, such as higher job control being associated with higher work engagement and higher job strain predicting lower work engagement. An interesting result was the association of higher relaxation after the working day with a lower next-day work engagement. Further research investigating fluctuations in work-related stressors, work engagement, and recovery experiences is required.
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Estrés Laboral , Compromiso Laboral , Humanos , Evaluación Ecológica Momentánea , Satisfacción en el Trabajo , Recolección de Datos , Encuestas y CuestionariosRESUMEN
Exposure to work-related stressors is associated with poor physical and mental health outcomes for workers. The role of chronic stressors on health outcomes has been explored, but less is known about the potential role of exposure to day-to-day stressors on health. This paper describes the protocol for a study that aims to collect and analyze day-to-day data on work-related stressors and health outcomes. Participants will be workers engaged in predominantly sedentary work at a university. Self-report data on work-related stressors, musculoskeletal pain, and mental health will be collected three times per day for 10 work days through ecological momentary assessment via online questionnaires. These data will be combined with physiological data collected continuously via a wristband throughout the working day. The feasibility and acceptability of the protocol will be assessed via semi-structured interviews with participants and adherence to the study protocol. These data will inform the feasibility of using the protocol in a larger study to investigate the relationship between exposure to work-related stressors and health outcomes.
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Dolor Musculoesquelético , Estrés Laboral , Humanos , Salud Mental , Evaluación Ecológica Momentánea , UniversidadesRESUMEN
PURPOSE: We investigated relations between day-to-day job demands, job control, job strain, social support at work, and day-to-day work-life interference among office workers in academia. METHODS: This study is based on a 15-working day data collection period using an Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) implemented in our self-developed STRAW smartphone application. We recruited office workers from two academic settings in Belgium and Slovenia. Participants were repeatedly asked to complete EMAs including work stressors and work interfering with personal life (WIPL) as well as personal life interfering with work (PLIW). We applied fixed-effect model testing with random intercepts to investigate within- and between-participant levels. RESULTS: We included 55 participants with 2261 analyzed observations in this study. Our data showed that researchers with a PhD reported higher WIPL compared to administrative and technical staff (ß = 0.37, p < 0.05). We found significant positive associations between job demands (ß = 0.53, p < 0.001), job control (ß = 0.19, p < 0.01), and job strain (ß = 0.61, p < 0.001) and WIPL. Furthermore, there was a significant interaction effect between job control and social support at work on WIPL (ß = - 0.24, p < 0.05). Additionally, a significant negative association was found between job control and PLIW (ß = - 0.20, p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Based on our EMA study, higher job demands and job strain were correlated with higher WIPL. Furthermore, we found associations going in opposite directions; higher job control was correlated with higher WIPL and lower PLIW. Higher job control leading to higher imbalance stands out as a novel result.
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Evaluación Ecológica Momentánea , Apoyo Social , Humanos , BélgicaRESUMEN
AIMS: This study aimed to provide an overview on contemporary gender differences in HRQoL/psychological distress and their relationship with comorbidity burden among European coronary heart disease (CHD) patients. METHODS: Analyses were based on the cross-sectional ESC EORP EUROASPIRE V survey. Consecutive patients (aged 18-80 years), hospitalized for a first or recurrent coronary event were included in this study. Data at hospital discharge and at follow-up (6 to 24 months after hospitalisation) were collected. RESULTS: Data were available for 8261 patients of which 25.8% women. Overall, women reported a worse EQ-5D-5L index score (0.73 vs. 0.81; P < 0.001), EQ-VAS (63.1 vs. 66.0; P = 0.001), global HeartQoL (1.94 vs. 2.26; P < 0.001), physical HeartQoL (1.96 vs. 2.30; P < 0.001), emotional HeartQoL (1.88 vs. 2.18; P < 0.001), HADS-A (6.69 vs. 4.99; P < 0.001), and HADS-D (5.73 vs. 4.62; P < 0.001) compared to men. Also, women were more likely to have comorbidities compared to men (1 comorbidity: 38.7% vs. 35.0%, 2 comorbidities: 9.7% vs. 7.5%; P < 0.001). There is indication that heart failure (EQ-VAS) and diabetes (global HeartQoL, emotional HeartQoL, physical HeartQoL, and HADS-D) interacted with gender and modulate the relationship with HRQoL, in disfavour of women. CONCLUSION: Substantial gender-based health inequalities in terms of HRQoL and psychological distress were found, in disfavour of women. Women had worse HRQoL and psychological distress outcomes when having comorbidities. To a limited extent, comorbidity and women had a negative/synergistic effect on HRQoL. Special attention should be given to this population groups within daily clinical practice.
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Distrés Psicológico , Calidad de Vida , Masculino , Humanos , Femenino , Calidad de Vida/psicología , Estudios Transversales , Comorbilidad , Factores Sexuales , Encuestas y CuestionariosRESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: The impact of various psychosocial factors (sense of coherence, illness perception, patient enablement, self-efficacy, health literacy, personality) is not fully understood across a wide range of chronic diseases, and in particular in patients with multimorbidity. As such, this study assessed the key psychosocial factors associated with impaired health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with one or more chronic diseases based on cross-sectional data collected in Flanders (Belgium). METHODS: Cross-sectional data on 544 chronically ill patients were analysed. Multiple linear regression models were built to analyze the key psychosocial factors associated with HRQoL (EQ-5D-5Lindex as dependent factor). RESULTS: Overall, the strongest independently associated factor with HRQoL was illness perceptions (ß = -0.52, P < 0.001). In addition, sense of coherence (ß = 0.14, P = < 0.05) was independently positively associated with HRQoL. Moreover, after stratification for multimorbidity, the negative association of illness perceptions with HRQoL was stronger when multimorbidity is present compared to when it is absent (ß = -0.62, P < 0.001 vs ß = -0.38, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This study revealed interesting associations of the modifiable psychosocial factors of illness perceptions and sense of coherence with HRQoL in a population of chronically ill persons. Given that the burden of chronic diseases will rise in the next decades, designing and implementing interventions that enhance these psychosocial abilities of patients, especially illness perceptions in multimorbid patients, is needed in order to reduce the burden of chronic diseases in terms of impaired HRQoL.
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Multimorbilidad , Calidad de Vida , Humanos , Estudios Transversales , Enfermedad Crónica , Modelos Lineales , Encuestas y CuestionariosRESUMEN
INTRODUCTION: To date, no study has investigated the impact of polypharmacy (use of ≥5 medications concurrently) on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and psychological distress in a combined sample of chronic disease patients and patients with multimorbidity, using diverse HRQOL measures. This study aimed to explore the association between polypharmacy and HRQOL/psychological distress by using data from a cross-sectional study in Flanders (Belgium). METHODS: We analyzed cross-sectional survey data on 544 chronically ill patients recruited from June 2019 through June 2021. HRQOL was measured with the EuroQol-5 Dimension-5 Level questionnaire (EQ-5D-5L) and the 12-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-12); psychological distress was measured with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Multiple linear regression models were built to assess the association between polypharmacy and HRQOL/psychological distress. RESULTS: Overall, compared with patients without polypharmacy, patients with polypharmacy reported worse EQ-5D-5L index values, EuroQol visual analogue scale (EQ-VAS) scores, SF-12 physical component scores (PCS), SF-12 mental component scores (MCS), and HADS anxiety and depression subscales. In the final regression model adjusting for age, sex, educational attainment, and multimorbidity, polypharmacy remained significantly associated with lower HRQOL in terms of the EQ-5D-5L index (ß = -0.12; P = .008), EQ-VAS (ß = -0.11; P = .01), and SF-12 PCS (ß = -0.15; P = .002) but not with psychological distress (HADS) and SF-12 MCS. CONCLUSION: This study found that polypharmacy was negatively associated with the physical domain of HRQOL, but not with the mental domain, among patients with chronic diseases. These results may be especially important for patients with multimorbidity, given their greater risk of polypharmacy.
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Distrés Psicológico , Calidad de Vida , Enfermedad Crónica , Estudios Transversales , Humanos , Polifarmacia , Calidad de Vida/psicología , Encuestas y CuestionariosRESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: Forward bending of the back is common in many jobs and a risk factor for sickness absence. However, this knowledge is based on self-reported forward bending that is generally imprecise. Thus, we aimed to investigate the dose-response relation between device-measured forward bending at work and prospective register-based risk of long-term sickness absence (LTSA). METHODS: At baseline, 944 workers (93% from blue-collar jobs) wore accelerometers on their upper back and thigh over 1-6 workdays to measure worktime with forward bending (>30Ë and >60Ë) and body positions. The first event of LTSA (≥6 consecutive weeks) over a 4-year follow-up were retrieved from a national register. Compositional Cox proportional hazard analyses were used to model the association between worktime with forward bending of the back in an upright body position and LTSA adjusted for age, sex, body mass index (BMI), occupational lifting/carrying, type of work, and, in an additional step, for leisure time physical activity (PA) on workdays. RESULTS: During a mean worktime of 457 minutes/day, the workers on average spent 40 and 10 minutes on forward bending >30Ë and >60Ë in the upright position, respectively. Five more minutes forward bending >30Ë and >60Ë at work were associated with a 4% [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.01-1.07] and 8% (95% CI 1.01-1.16) higher LTSA risk, respectively. Adjustment for leisure-time PA did not influence the results. CONCLUSION: We found a dose-response association between device-measured forward bending of the back and prospective LTSA risk. This knowledge can be integrated into available feasible methods to measure forward bending of the back for improved workplace risk assessment and prevention.
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Análisis de Datos , Ausencia por Enfermedad , Humanos , Estudios Prospectivos , Lugar de Trabajo , Ocupaciones , DinamarcaRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: The burden of chronic diseases is rapidly rising, both in terms of morbidity and mortality. This burden is disproportionally carried by socially disadvantaged population subgroups. Quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) measure the impact of disease on mortality and morbidity into a single index. This study aims to estimate the burden of chronic diseases in terms of QALY losses and to model its social distribution for the general population. METHODS: The Belgian Health Interview Survey 2013 and 2018 provided data on self-reported chronic conditions for a nationally representative sample. The annual QALY loss per 100,000 individuals was calculated for each condition, incorporating disease prevalence and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) data (EQ-5D-5L). Socioeconomic inequalities, based on respondents' socioeconomic status (SES), were assessed by estimating population attributable fractions (PAF). RESULTS: For both years, the largest QALY losses were observed in dorsopathies, arthropathies, hypertension/high cholesterol, and genitourinary problems. QALY losses were larger in women and in older individuals. Individuals with high SES had consistently lower QALY loss when facing a chronic disease compared to those with low SES. In both years, a higher PAF was found in individuals with hip fracture and stroke. In 2013, the health inequality gap amounts to 33,731 QALYs and further expanded to 42,273 QALYs in 2018. CONCLUSION: Given that chronic diseases will rise in the next decades, addressing its burden is necessary, particularly among the most vulnerable (i.e. older persons, women, low SES). Interventions in these target groups should get priority in order to reduce the burden of chronic diseases.
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Disparidades en el Estado de Salud , Calidad de Vida , Anciano , Anciano de 80 o más Años , Bélgica/epidemiología , Enfermedad Crónica , Femenino , Estado de Salud , Humanos , Años de Vida Ajustados por Calidad de Vida , Encuestas y CuestionariosRESUMEN
Emerging literature is highlighting the huge toll of the COVID-19 pandemic on frontline health workers. However, prior to the crisis, the wellbeing of this group was already of concern. The aim of this paper is to describe the frequency of distress and wellbeing, measured by the expanded 9-item Mayo Clinic Wellbeing Index (eWBI), among general practitioners/family physicians during the COVID-19 pandemic and to identify levers to mitigate the risk of distress. Data were collected by means of an online self-reported questionnaire among GP practices. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software using Version 7 of the database, which consisted of the cleaned data of 33 countries available as of 3 November 2021. Data from 3711 respondents were included. eWBI scores ranged from -2 to 9, with a median of 3. Using a cutoff of ≥2, 64.5% of respondents were considered at risk of distress. GPs with less experience, in smaller practices, and with more vulnerable patient populations were at a higher risk of distress. Significant differences in wellbeing scores were noted between countries. Collaboration from other practices and perception of having adequate governmental support were significant protective factors for distress. It is necessary to address practice- and system-level organizational factors in order to enhance wellbeing and support primary care physicians.
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COVID-19 , Médicos Generales , COVID-19/epidemiología , Estudios Transversales , Humanos , Pandemias , SARS-CoV-2RESUMEN
Information on trends in adolescent health inequalities is scarce but the available evidence suggests that inequalities are increasing. Prior studies describe associations between material resources of socioeconomic status (SES) and health, while information on non-material SES resources and inequalities in health behaviours is lacking. To improve current understandings of evolutions in adolescent health inequalities, we examined how material and non-material SES resources were associated with changes in selected health outcomes (life satisfaction, physical and psychological symptoms) and health behaviours (physical activity, screen time, breakfast, fruit, vegetables, sweets and soft drinks consumption and alcohol and tobacco use) over a 12-year period. Repeated cross-sectional data came from the 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014 waves of the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey from 23 European countries (n = 480,386). Measures of family affluence and occupational social class were used as indicators of material and non-material SES resources respectively. Regression-based slope indices of inequality indicated that absolute material and non-material inequalities remained stable from 2002 to 2014 in all health outcomes, except for life satisfaction for which a decrease in material inequalities was found between the highest and lowest affluence group (0.81 to 0.68 difference; p < 0.001). In terms of health behaviours, material inequalities decreased in screen time between highest and lowest affluence groups (0.53 to 0.34 h/day difference; p < 0.001), fruit (odds ratio [OR] 1.89 to 1.72 lower odds; p = 0.0088) and soft drinks consumption (OR 1.36 to 1.13 lower odds; p < 0.001) and remained stable in all others. Non-material inequalities increased in all health behaviours (except for sweets consumption) between highest and lowest occupational social class groups: physical activity (0.16 to 0.24 h/day difference; p = 0.0071), screen time (-0.41 to -0.58 h/day difference; p < 0.001), breakfast (0.21 to 0.51 day/week difference; p < 0.001), fruit (OR 1.23 to 1.48 higher odds; p < 0.001), vegetables (OR 1.39 to 1.74 higher odds; p < 0.001) and soft drinks consumption (OR 0.59 to 0.43 lower odds; p < 0.001) and alcohol (OR 0.99 to 0.85 lower odds; p = 0.0420) and tobacco use (OR 0.71 to 0.59 lower odds; p = 0.0183). In summary, non-material inequalities in most health behaviours increased, whereas material inequalities in adolescent health and health behaviours remain stable or decreased. Policies and interventions may consider non-material SES components as these can help in reducing future health inequalities.
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Salud del Adolescente , Clase Social , Adolescente , Niño , Estudios Transversales , Conductas Relacionadas con la Salud , Humanos , Factores Socioeconómicos , VerdurasRESUMEN
Workplace stress remains a major interest of occupational health research, usually based on theoretical models and quantitative large-scale studies. Office workers are especially exposed to stressors such as high workload and time pressure. The aim of this qualitative research was to follow a phenomenological approach to identify work stressors as they are perceived by office workers. Six focus groups with office workers of different occupations were conducted in Belgium and Slovenia. A total of 39 participants were included in the study. We used the RQDA software for data processing and analysis and the seven job-quality indices of the European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) to structure our findings. The results show that work intensity and social environment proved to be main stress categories, followed by skills and discretion, prospects, and working time quality. The physical environment and earnings were not covered in our results. We created organisational (structural/process-oriented and financial) stressors and office workers' physical health as two additional categories since these topics did not fit into the EWCS. While our findings mainly confirm data from existing occupational stress literature and emphasise the multi-level complexity of work stress experiences, this paper suggests that there are relevant stressors experienced by office workers beyond existing quantitative frameworks.
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Salud Laboral , Estrés Laboral , Grupos Focales , Humanos , Estrés Laboral/epidemiología , Carga de Trabajo , Lugar de TrabajoRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: While chronic workplace stress is known to be associated with health-related outcomes like mental and cardiovascular diseases, research about day-to-day occupational stress is limited. This systematic review includes studies assessing stress exposures as work environment risk factors and stress outcomes, measured via self-perceived questionnaires and physiological stress detection. These measures needed to be assessed repeatedly or continuously via Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) or similar methods carried out in real-world work environments, to be included in this review. The objective was to identify work environment risk factors causing day-to-day stress. METHODS: The search strategies were applied in seven databases resulting in 11833 records after deduplication, of which 41 studies were included in a qualitative synthesis. Associations were evaluated by correlational analyses. RESULTS: The most commonly measured work environment risk factor was work intensity, while stress was most often framed as an affective response. Measures from these two dimensions were also most frequently correlated with each other and most of their correlation coefficients were statistically significant, making work intensity a major risk factor for day-to-day workplace stress. CONCLUSIONS: This review reveals a diversity in methodological approaches in data collection and data analysis. More studies combining self-perceived stress exposures and outcomes with physiological measures are warranted.
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Estrés Laboral , Evaluación Ecológica Momentánea , Humanos , Estrés Laboral/epidemiología , Factores de Riesgo , Encuestas y Cuestionarios , Lugar de TrabajoRESUMEN
INTRODUCTION: Health-care organizations are facing a high burden of ergonomic occupational accidents, and prevention is a continuous point of interest. In this manuscript, we describe the characteristics of ergonomic accidents in a large Belgian university hospital and discuss the value of near misses. METHODS: Combining databases, we identified the frequency [number of accidents × 106 hours worked per year], severity (number of days off work × 103 hours worked per year), and profile of the victims of occupational ergonomic accidents (with absence from work) or incidents or near-misses (without absence from work). Ergonomic accidents and incidents include slips, trips, falls, injurious body movements, overexertion, and handling heavy weights. RESULTS: In a period of 23 years, we noticed a significant decrease in the frequency of ergonomic accidents (from about 7 to about 4 standard units), without changes in the severity. The decrease in the frequency of accidents is mirrored by an increase in the frequency of incidents (from about 4 to about 6 standard units). Female and older employees are more vulnerable to accidents, and the frequency was between two and four times higher for employees mostly involved in manual tasks compared to employees mostly involved in managerial tasks. The profile of the victims and the causes of accidents and incidents were identical. CONCLUSION: Although it is premature to assume a cause-consequence relationship between incidents and accidents, it is tempting to speculate that the increased ratio of the frequencies of incidents over accidents might be one of the variables reflecting the adequacy of preventive measures and the growth of safety behavior.
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Accidentes de Trabajo , Ergonomía , Potencial Evento Adverso , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , Accidentes de Trabajo/prevención & control , Accidentes de Trabajo/estadística & datos numéricos , Bélgica/epidemiología , Hospitales Universitarios , Potencial Evento Adverso/estadística & datos numéricos , Factores de Riesgo , Personal de Hospital/estadística & datos numéricosRESUMEN
Objectives: We investigate whether job control and/or social support at work play a buffering role in the relation between various physical work behaviors and Need for Recovery (NFR) among employees with physically demanding jobs. Methods: Our findings are based on data from 332 workers. The Job Content Questionnaire was used to assess job control, social support and specific physically demanding tasks. General physical work behaviors were measured by two Axivity AX3 accelerometers. The NFR Scale (0-11) was used to assess NFR. We used multiple linear regression models. Results: Sitting at work turned out to be negatively associated with NFR, whereas physically demanding tasks were associated positively with NFR. Our results show a significant buffering role for job control on the correlation between sitting, physically demanding tasks and NFR, but not for social support. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that higher job control might be beneficial to reduce high NFR and eventually may help to reduce early drop-out and sickness absence. Further research is called for to confirm the buffering role of job control and to investigate the underlying mechanisms.