title: Temporary employment and health: a review.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We aimed to review evidence on the relationship between temporary employment and health, and to see whether the association is dependent on outcome measure, instability of employment, and contextual factors.
  
  
  METHODS
  We systematically searched for studies of temporary employment and various health outcomes and critically appraised 27 studies.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The review suggests higher psychological morbidity among temporary workers compared with permanent employees. According to some studies, temporary workers also have a higher risk of occupational injuries but their sickness absence is lower. Morbidity may be higher in temporary jobs with high employment instability and in countries with a lower number of temporary workers and unemployed workers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The evidence indicates an association between temporary employment and psychological morbidity. The health risk may depend on instability of temporary employment and the context. Confounding by occupation may have biased some of the studies. Additional research to clarify the role of employment instability, hazard accumulation, and selection is recommended.
authors.affiliation: Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Helsinki, Finland. marianna.virtanen@occuphealth.fi
authors.forename: Marianna
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Virtanen
authors.forename: Mika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kivimäki
authors.forename: Matti
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Joensuu
authors.forename: Pekka
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Virtanen
authors.forename: Marko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Elovainio
authors.forename: Jussi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vahtera
mesh_terms: D000041:Absenteeism; D004651:Employment / Q000523:psychology*; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000209:etiology; D009017:Morbidity; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000209:etiology; D012107:Research Design; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000209:etiology; D014478:Unemployment