title: Standardized assessment of psychosocial factors and their influence on medically confirmed health outcomes in workers: a systematic review.
abstract: Previous studies of psychosocial work factors have indicated their importance for workers' health. However, to what extent health problems can be attributed to the nature of the work environment or other psychosocial factors is not clear. No previous systematic review has used inclusion criteria based on specific medical evaluation of work-related health outcomes and the use of validated instruments for the assessment of the psychosocial (work) environment. The aim of this systematic review is to summarize the evidence assessing the relationship between the psychosocial work environment and workers' health based on studies that used standardized and validated instruments to assess the psychosocial work environment and that focused on medically confirmed health outcomes. A systematic review of the literature was carried out by searching the databases PubMed, B-ON, Science Direct, Psycarticles, Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection and the search engine (Google Scholar) using appropriate words for studies published from 2004 to 2014. This review follows the recommendations of the Statement for Reporting Systematic Reviews (PRISMA). Studies were included in the review if data on psychosocial validated assessment method(s) for the study population and specific medical evaluation of health-related work outcome(s) were presented. In total, the search strategy yielded 10,623 references, of which 10 studies (seven prospective cohort and three cross-sectional) met the inclusion criteria. Most studies (7/10) observed an adverse effect of poor psychosocial work factors on workers' health: 3 on sickness absence, 4 on cardiovascular diseases. The other 3 studies reported detrimental effects on sleep and on disease-associated biomarkers. A more consistent effect was observed in studies of higher methodological quality that used a prospective design jointly with the use of validated instruments for the assessment of the psychosocial (work) environment and clinical evaluation. More prospective studies are needed to assess the evidence of work-related psychosocial factors on workers´ health.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Susel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rosário
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto, Porto, Portugal ; CINTESIS - Centre for Research in Health Technologies and Information Systems and Information and Decision Sciences Department, Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal ; Allergy Unit, CUF Porto Institute & Hospital, Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: João A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Fonseca
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto, Porto, Portugal ; Institute for Health Service Research in Dermatology and Nursing (IVDP), Center of Excellence for Epidemiology and Health Service Research for Healthcare Professionals (CVcare), University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistraße 52, Hamburg, 20246 Germany ; Principles of Prevention and Rehabilitation Department (GPR), Institute for Statutory Accident Insurance and Prevention in the Health and Welfare Services (BGW), Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Albert
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nienhaus
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto, Porto, Portugal ; Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: José Torres
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: da Costa
keywords: Occupational health; Psychosocial factors; Psychosocial work environment; Risk assessment; Workers’ health