Are trends in work and health conditions interrelated? A study of Swedish hospital employees in the 1990s.
Swedish hospital personnel were followed over an 8-year period, characterized by staff redundancies and restructuring processes. Self-rated and administrative data sets from 1994 to 2001 allowed for studying long-term consequences of organizational instability for staff health and work conditions. The aim was to identify, on a work-unit level, trends in work and health conditions and their interdependence. Regression analysis showed a downward trend in mental health and an upward trend in long-term sick leave. Increasing trends of work demands were accompanied by deteriorating mental health, and decreasing time to plan work showed the strongest association with increasing long-term sick leave. Job satisfaction and support were decreasing. A stable short-term sick leave rate over years related to lack of support.
Petterson
Inga-Lill
IL
Department of Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. inga-lill.pettersson@sll.se
Hertting
Anna
A
Hagberg
Lars
L
Theorell
Töres
T
D000328:Adult; D004651:Employment / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000523:psychology*; D020415:Personnel Downsizing / Q000523:psychology; D010564:Personnel, Hospital / Q000523:psychology*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D018582:Sick Leave; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors; D016526:Workload / Q000523:psychology