Justice at work and metabolic syndrome: the Whitehall II study.
OBJECTIVE
Growing evidence shows that high levels of justice are beneficial for employee health, although biological mechanisms underlying this association are yet to be clarified. We aim to test whether high justice at work protects against metabolic syndrome.


METHODS
A prospective cohort study of 20 civil service departments in London (the Whitehall II study) including 6123 male and female British civil servants aged 35-55 years without prevalent coronary heart disease at baseline (1985-1990). Perceived justice at work was determined by means of questionnaire on two occasions between 1985 and 1990. Follow-up for metabolic syndrome and its components occurring from 1990 to 2004 was based on clinical assessments on three occasions over more than 18 years.


RESULTS
Cox proportional hazard models adjusted for age, ethnicity and employment grade showed that men who experienced a high level of justice at work had a lower risk of incident metabolic syndrome than employees with a low level of justice (HR 0.75; 95% CI 0.63 to 0.89). There was little evidence of an association between organisational justice and metabolic syndrome or its components in women (HR 0.88; 95% CI 0.67 to 1.17).


CONCLUSIONS
Our prospective findings provide evidence of an association between high levels of justice at work and the development of metabolic syndrome in men.
Gimeno
David
D
Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, 1-19 Torrington Place, London WC1E 6BT, UK. d.gimeno@ucl.ac.uk
Tabák
Adám G
AG
Ferrie
Jane E
JE
Shipley
Martin J
MJ
De Vogli
Roberto
R
Elovainio
Marko
M
Vahtera
Jussi
J
Marmot
Michael G
MG
Kivimäki
Mika
M
D000328:Adult; D004651:Employment / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008131:London / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D016272:Occupational Health; D015279:Organizational Culture; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012935:Social Justice / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires