The Protective Role of Job Control/Autonomy on Mental Strain of Managers: A Cross-Sectional Study among Wittyfit's Users.

BACKGROUND: Karasek's Job Demand-Control-Support model is the gold standard to assess the perception of work; however, this model has been poorly studied among managers. We aimed to explore the perception of work (job demand, control, and support) in managers, and to quantify their risk of job strain (high job demand and low job control) and isostrain (job strain with low job support). METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study on workers from various French companies using the Wittyfit software. Job demand, control, and support were evaluated by self-reported questionnaires, as well as sociodemographic data. RESULTS: We included 9257 workers: 8488 employees (median age of 45 years, median seniority of 10 years, 39.4% women) and 769 managers (463 were more than 45 years old, 343 with more than 10 years of service, 33.3% women). Managers had higher mean ± SD levels than employees in job control (79.2 ± 14.9 vs. 75.4 ± 16.9) and job support (25.2 ± 5.1 vs. 24.0 ± 6.1) (p < 0.001). Compared to employees, managers had a 37% decreased risk of job strain (OR = 0.63, 95% CI 0.52 to 0.77) and a 47% decreased risk of isostrain (OR = 0.53, 95% CI 0.40 to 0.69) (p < 0.001). Workers over age 45 (OR = 1.26, 95% CI 1.14 to 1.40, p < 0.001) and women (OR = 1.12, 95% CI 1.01 to 1. 25, p = 0.03) were at greater risk of job strain. Furthermore, workers over age 45 (OR = 1.51, 95% CI 1.32 to 1.73, p < 0.001), workers with over 10 years of service (OR = 1.35, 95% CI 1.16 to 1.56, p < 0.001), and women (OR = 1.15, 95% CI 1.00 to 1.31, p = 0.04) were at greater risk of isostrain. CONCLUSIONS: Managers seem to have higher autonomy and greater social support and therefore are less at risk of job strain or isostrain than employees. Other factors such as age, seniority, and sex may influence this relationship. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinicaltrials.gov: NCT02596737.

Job demands and job control among occupational therapists in public sector in Finland.

BACKGROUND: Although health care professionals' increased job demands and strain have generated much public debate in recent years, the way in which occupational therapists' job strain has developed remains unknown. OBJECTIVE: To examine how Finnish occupational therapists working in municipalities experienced job demands and control in 2014-2018 compared with physiotherapists and registered nurses. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Occupational therapists (OT, n = 107), physiotherapists (PT, n = 331) and registered nurses (RN, n = 1389) responded to repeated surveys in the Finnish Public Sector Study in 2014-2018. We used the Job Content Questionnaire and analyzed the data using repeated measures analysis of variance and multiple linear regression with generalized estimating equations to identify the trends and differences. RESULTS: More OTs had lower job demands and higher job control than PTs and RNs in each year of study. These differences were statistically significant. Most OTs had low job strain. The changes in job control and job demands of participants in different years were not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: The OTs consistently experienced low job strain as compared to the PTs and RNs. Developing good practices in OT's work may be beneficial for improving employee health and well-being and high-quality client care.

Work-related stress assessment in an emergency department in French Guiana.

BACKGROUND: In emergency departments (EDs), the staff continually face stressful situations requiring staff to adopt various coping strategies. AIMS: The study aimed to assess work-related stress in ED during the COVID-19 outbreak. METHOD: The study was a monocentric investigation based on a questionnaire survey that elicits general information and uses the Karasek model to analyse the data. FINDINGS: A total of 117 forms were collected for analysis. The score for decision latitude (or autonomy and skills at work) was 70 (IQR: 64-74) and the score for psychological demand was 25 (IQR: 23-27). The score for social support by the management team was 11 (IQR: 9-12) and the score for social support by colleagues 12 (IQR: 10-12). Of the total number of respondents, job strain was assessed as affecting 24.8%. CONCLUSION: The study shows high levels of stress among the ED workforce. The findings indicate that it is imperative to develop simple management tools that are capable of measuring the internal causes of stress in order to develop an adapted wellness programme in ED.

Evolution of psychosocial factors at work in a French region.

BACKGROUND: Psychosocial factors at work (PFW) can be defined as all non-physicochemical occupational risks. Several epidemiological models have been proposed to measure PFW, but one of the most widely used is Karasek's model. AIMS: To determine whether psychosocial factors, evaluated by Karasek's questionnaire, had increased in a cohort of workers. METHODS: A random sample of workers in the Pays de la Loire region of France, who could be considered representative of the region's population of salaried workers, filled in a self-administered questionnaire, including Karasek's self-administered questionnaire, in 2002-05 and 2007-09. Karasek's questionnaire can be used to study three psychosocial dimensions (psychological demand, decision latitude and social support in the workplace) in workers in order to define two high-risk situations for their health: 'Job Strain' and 'Iso Strain'. Changes in job strain and iso strain among workers were studied according to the workers' sociodemographic characteristics and their working conditions. RESULTS: In this sample of 2049 workers, the proportion with iso strain increased between the two periods from 12 to 16%, P < 0.001, mainly among manual workers. Deterioration of Karasek indicators was mainly explained by an increase of the 'low social support' dimension (38 versus 49%, P < 0.001). Working conditions such as temporary employment of colleagues and high perceived physical exertion were associated with higher PFW. CONCLUSIONS: This study, based on a quantitative and collective model, showed deterioration of working team environments and increased risk for individual mental health in this cohort of French workers in recent years.