Health effects of job insecurity among employees in the Swiss general population.

This study looks at the health consequences of the social distress caused by perceived levels of job insecurity. Through interviews with full- and part-time employees drawn from a random sample (N = 2,024) of the Swiss general population, the authors measured prevalence rates of ten self-reported indicators of health and health-related behavior according to three levels of perceived job insecurity (low, middle, high), and estimated odds ratios using logistic regression adjusted for relevant respondent characteristics. The results show that the psychosocial stress induced by job insecurity (fear of unemployment) has a negative effect on these health indicators. Fear of unemployment had a stronger unfavorable effect on health for highly educated employees than for the less educated. The authors make some recommendations for raising awareness about the health effects of job insecurity and taking these effects into account in policies and legislation affecting the labor market and work environment.     

Job insecurity and health.

As employers respond to new competitive pressures of global capitalism through layoffs and the casualization of labor, job insecurity affects a growing number of workers. It appears to harm mental health, but less is known about its effects on physical health and health behaviors and the mechanisms through which it may act. The prevailing individual-centered conceptualization of job insecurity as the perception of a threat to job continuity precludes systematic investigation of the social patterning of its health effects. Analysis of data from a 1994 Canadian national probability sample of adults determined that high levels of job insecurity lowered self-rated health and increased distress and the use of medications, but had no impact on heavy drinking. The findings support one possible mechanism of action whereby job insecurity reduces feelings of control over one's environment and opportunities for positive self-evaluation; these psychological experiences, in turn, have deleterious health consequences. There is little evidence of social patterning of this relationship by gender, education, household income, age, marital status, and social support at work.     

企业员工工作满意度及影响因素分析

目的 了解企业员工工作满意度状况,探讨影响工作满意度的主要因素。方法 采用横断面调查,于2010年9月,随机抽取沈阳市某企业的1 000名员工进行问卷调查;采用明尼苏达满意度问卷(MSQ)测量工作满意度,付出-回报失衡问卷(ER I)测量职业紧张,组织支持感量表(POS)测量组织支持感。应用分层回归分析影响员工工作满意度的因素。结果 该企业员工总体满意度平均为(63.81±11.44),分层回归显示,工作状况变量、职业紧张变量及组织变量对工作满意度解释的变异量分别为15.7%、9.9%、8.6%。结论 该企业员工的总体满意度不高,主要影响因素为工作状况、职业紧张及组织支持感。     

Job stress, ill health and job satisfaction among health service employees.

The study examined the effects of occupational stressors, perceived locus of control, Type A behaviour pattern and use of coping strategies on well-being and job satisfaction of 1,176 health service employees. Several stressors were identified as having a negative impact on health and job satisfaction although these differed between the various occupational groups included in the study. The interactionist model of stress used in the study, and the diagnostic tool used (the Occupational Stress Indicator) proved to be useful in suggesting means of intervening to reduce ill health and increase job satisfaction among health service employees.     

Job insecurity,fear of litigation,and mental health among expatriate nurses

Abstract

The objective was to assess whether job insecurity and fear of litigation were correlates of depression, anxiety, and stress among expatriate nurses in Saudi Arabia. The participants included 977 expatriate nurses working in Al-Qassim, Saudi Arabia who completed an online survey that assessed depression, anxiety, and stress (using DASS-21) as well as demography, lifestyle, and job characteristics. Mean age was 32?years and 60% of nurses were from India/Pakistan. Twenty-four percent of nurses reported job insecurity, and 18% reported a fear of litigation. Severe depression, anxiety, and stress were significantly higher among nurses who always felt insecure about their job (compared to never) and among those who always feared litigation (compared to never). We concluded that job insecurity and fear of litigation were significant correlates of severe depression, anxiety, and stress among expatriate nurses.     

The association between annually-repeated health screening and health behavior among company employees

Although several studies have been undertaken to evaluate the efficacy of health screening in causing changes in health-related behavior, there are few findings with respect to the efficacy of annually repeated health screening.Using cross-sectional data drawn from a population consisting of white-collar workers in Osaka, Japan, the relation between the results of annually repeated health screening and individual health behavior was examined.Several diseases were related to diet and alcohol consumption, but not to physical exercise habits. High γ-GTP or alcoholic liver damage and hypertension were related to moderate alcohol consumption (p<0.001 and 0.05). A high cholesterol level was related to a nutritionally balanced diet (p<0.05). However, there were no diseases related to increased physical exercise.Findings in the present study, in combination with the literature indicate the possibility that annually repeated health screening intervention has been effective in promoting positive lifestyle changes in diet and alcohol consumption among participants. However, to conclusively evaluate the effucacy of the annually repeated health screening, further study is necessary.     

Associations of psychosocial working conditions with self-rated general health and mental health among municipal employees

Objectives: To examine associations of job demands and job control, procedural and relational organizational fairness, and physical work load with self-rated general health and mental health. In addition, the effect of occupational class on these associations is examined. Methods: The data were derived from the Helsinki Health Study baseline surveys in 2001–2002. Respondents to cross-sectional postal surveys were middle-aged employees of the City of Helsinki (n=5.829, response rate 67%). Associations of job demands and job control, organizational fairness and physical work load with less than good self-rated health and poor GHQ-12 mental health were examined. Results: Those with the poorest working conditions two to three times more, often reported poor general and mental health than those with the best working conditions. Adjustment for occupational class weakened the associations of low job control and physical work load with general health by one fifth, but even more strengthened that of high job demands. Adjustment for occupational class clearly strengthened the associations of job control and physical work load with mental health in men. Mutual adjustment for all working conditions notably weakened their associations with both health measures, except those of job control in men. All working conditions except relational organizational fairness remained independently associated with general and mental health. Conclusions: All studied working conditions were strongly associated with both general and mental health but the associations weakened after mutual adjustments. Of the two organizational fairness measures, procedural fairness remained independently associated with both health outcomes. Adjustment for occupational class had essentially different effects on the associations of different working conditions and different health outcomes.     

Job satisfaction and its modeling among township health center employees: a quantitative study in poor rural China

Background  

Job satisfaction is important to staff management of township health centers (THCs), as it is associated with organizational performance, quality of care and employee retention. The purpose of this study was to measure job satisfaction level of THC employees in poor rural China and to identify relevant features in order to provide policy advice on human resource development of health service institutions in poor regions.     

Health-related behaviors moderate the association between age and self-reported health literacy among Taiwanese women

ABSTRACT

The role of health-related behaviors in the association between age and health literacy has not been well-elucidated. The present cross-sectional study evaluated the interactions between age and health-related behaviors in 942 women in Taiwan between February and October 2013. Women aged 18–78 years were randomly sampled and recruited from the national administrative system. Self-reported health literacy was measured by the European Health Literacy Survey Questionnaire (HLS-EU-Q47) in Mandarin, asking about sociodemographics and essential health-related behaviors (watching health-related television, community involvement). The interviews were conducted confidentially by well-trained interviewers after having participants’ consent. In multiple linear regression models adjusted for education attainment, self-perceived social status, ability to pay for medication, and health-related behaviors, health literacy was significantly negatively related to age (unstandardized regression coefficient, B = ?0.04; 95% confidence interval [CI] = (?0.07; 0.00); p = .03). The lower health literacy among older women was significantly modified by watching health-related television programs (from “rarely/not-at-all”, B = ?0.08 (?0.12, ?0.04), p < .001 to “often”; B = 0.10 (0.07, 0.12); p < .001) and community involvement (from “rarely/not-at-all”, B = ?0.06 (?0.10, ?0.03); p = .001 to “often”, B = 0.06 (0.03, 0.08); p < .001). Specific health behaviors were protective of older women’s health literacy and likely their health.     

Depression and painful conditions: patterns of association with health status and health utility ratings in the general population

Purpose

Preference-weighted HRQoL (utility) ratings are increasingly used to guide clinical and resource allocation decisions, but their performance has not always been adequately explored. We sought to examine patterns of health utility ratings in community populations with depressive disorders and painful conditions.

Methods

We used two Canadian cross-sectional health surveys that obtained Comprehensive Health Status Measurement System/Health Utilities Index Mark 3 (HUI3) ratings and identified people with painful conditions and major depression. We estimated the frequency of item endorsements and mean utility ratings in these groups.

Results

Interesting differences between health state ratings and diagnostic categories were noted. For example, 71 % of those professionally diagnosed with migraine reported that they usually have “no pain.” Despite this, utility ratings were lower in those respondents with depressive episodes and in those with painful conditions. Greater than additive reductions in HUI3 scores were noted in most instances where both depressive disorders and painful conditions were present.

Conclusions

Health utility ratings confirm the clinical impression that painful conditions and depressive disorders magnify each other’s impact. Despite weak alignment between the health state definitions incorporated into utility ratings and the diagnostic concepts examined, the HUI3 appeared to capture HRQoL decrements and negative synergies associated with the co-occurrence of depressive episodes and painful conditions.     

Job insecurity and health: A study of 16 European countries

Although the number of insecure jobs has increased considerably over the recent decades, relatively little is known about the health consequences of job insecurity, their international pattern, and factors that may modify them. In this paper, we investigated the association between job insecurity and self-rated health, and whether the relationship differs by country or individual-level characteristics. Cross-sectional data from 3 population-based studies on job insecurity, self-rated health, demographic, socioeconomic, work-related and behavioural factors and lifetime chronic diseases in 23,245 working subjects aged 45–70 years from 16 European countries were analysed using logistic regression and meta-analysis. In fully adjusted models, job insecurity was significantly associated with an increased risk of poor health in the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Israel, the Netherlands, Poland and Russia, with odds ratios ranging between 1.3 and 2.0. Similar, but not significant, associations were observed in Austria, France, Italy, Spain and Switzerland. We found no effect of job insecurity in Belgium and Sweden. In the pooled data, the odds ratio of poor health by job insecurity was 1.39. The association between job insecurity and health did not differ significantly by age, sex, education, and marital status. Persons with insecure jobs were at an increased risk of poor health in most of the countries included in the analysis. Given these results and trends towards increasing frequency of insecure jobs, attention needs to be paid to the public health consequences of job insecurity.     

Job insecurity as a risk factor for common infections and health complaints

The aim of this study was to investigate the cross-sectional and longitudinal effect of job insecurity on common infections and health complaints. Self-administered questionnaire data from the Maastricht Cohort Study (n = 12, 140) were used. We used Generalized Estimating Equations analyses to calculate pooled odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals. A cross-sectional relationship between job insecurity and common infections or health complaints was found. For the longitudinal relationship, the largest effect was found for flu-like illness (OR 1.39; CI = 1.22-1.57) and health complaints (OR 1.51; CI = 1.39-1.64). We additionally corrected for health behavior, the presence of a long-standing illness, and work-related demands, resulting in lower ORs. An increase in common infections or health complaints has a substantial impact on employee well-being and may result in economic consequences for the company.     

Pain and health related functioning among employees

STUDY OBJECTIVE: Although employees report high rates of pain, little is known about the effects of pain on health related functioning among them. This study examined the effects of pain on employees' health related functioning by bodily locations of pain, number of painful locations, and whether pain was acute or chronic. DESIGN: Cross sectional questionnaire survey. Data on pain and health related functioning as measured with the eight subscales of the short form 36 health survey (SF-36) were obtained in the years 2001 and 2002. SETTING: Municipal employees of the City of Helsinki, Finland. PARTICIPANTS: All employees who reached the age of 40, 45, 50, 55, and 60 years during each study year. Response rate was 66% (n = 5829). MAIN RESULTS: Compared with those reporting no pain, those with pain had considerably poorer functioning on all SF-36 subscales. The lowest scores for health related functioning were seen in the physical domain of health, whereas the mental domain was less affected. The association of pain with functioning was practically independent of the bodily location of pain. Whether pain was acute or chronic had only a modest effect on functioning. Widest variation in functioning was found by the number of painful locations. CONCLUSIONS: Among employees pain complaints, irrespective of the location, are associated with a decreased level of functioning. The number of painful locations is likely to be the most useful measure to identify employees with a high risk of poor functioning.     

Readability of health web pages for patients and readers among the general population

BACKGROUND: Internet is becoming now becoming one of the major healthcare information sources. Aside from this popularity, new questions are now coming to bear, such as the quality of the information provided or its ability to convey knowledge. The purpose of this study is that of gauging the degree of readability of this information for patients which is accessible on the Internet in Spanish. METHODS: A total of 112 webpages dealing with seven (7) chronic diseases were selected. Based on the Microsoft Word readability statistics, we recovered the data of the number of syllables and sentences in the first 100 words in each document. For calculating readability, we used the adaptation of the Flesch degree formula for the Spanish language devised by Fernández Huerta. RESULTS: The mean readability of the documents is 65.16 (+/- 14.75), thus corresponding to a standard level, in other words, a thirteen-year-old's reading level. CONCLUSIONS: Although the readability scores found for the documents analyzed are good, they are not optimum for the users searching for health-related information on the Internet. It is essential that these informative documents be adapted to these users' readability level.. The need for studies evaluating the consequences entailed in the low degree of health-related literacy entails the incorrect use of medications, mistakes in preparing for diagnostic tests and an increase in the costs of healthcare services.     

Comparison of nutrition knowledge among health professionals,patients with eating disorders and the general population

Aim: To investigate and compare the level of nutrition knowledge of health professionals, patients with eating disorders and individuals without an eating disorder as controls. Methods: Participants were recruited online through an Australian and New Zealand professional eating disorder organisation and community eating disorder organisations and a university in Australia. Assessment was conducted online using the General Nutrition Knowledge Questionnaire and SCOFF. Demographic data were also collected. Results: Dietitians had greater nutrition knowledge than all other health professionals, except medical doctors. Psychologists and dietitians had similar knowledge for choosing everyday foods. Dietitians had greater nutrition knowledge than eating disorder patients and controls in all areas of nutrition knowledge, while other health professionals had similar knowledge to patients. Patients with eating disorders had greater knowledge of sources of nutrients than controls. Conclusions: Australian health professionals exhibited higher levels of nutrition knowledge than health professionals in previous studies in other countries. However, non‐dietitian health professionals had similar levels of knowledge to individuals with eating disorders. Training and continuing education in nutrition is needed so health professionals can confidently identify when a patient has misleading information about nutrition and either correct the misinformation or refer the patient on to a qualified dietitian.     

Recall of tobacco pack health warnings by the population in Ukraine and its association with the perceived tobacco health hazard

Objectives  

After years of prevalence of smoking increase, Ukraine observes its decline. Recent tobacco control measures included smoke-free policies, new textual health warnings (THW) since late 2006, ban of outdoor tobacco advertising since January 2009 and tobacco tax increase since late 2008. The objective was to estimate potential contribution of THW to smoking decline process in Ukraine.     

Plant and animal protein intake and its association with overweight and obesity among the Belgian population

The objective of the present study was to assess animal and plant protein intakes in the Belgian population and to examine their relationship with overweight and obesity (OB). The subjects participated in the Belgian National Food Consumption Survey conducted in 2004. Food consumption was assessed by using two non-consecutive 24?h dietary recalls. About 3083 participants (?≥?15 years of age; 1546 males, 1537 females) provided completed dietary information. Animal protein intake (47?g/d) contributed more to total protein intakes of 72?g/d than plant protein intake, which accounted for 25?g/d. Meat and meat products were the main contributors to total animal protein intakes (53?%), whereas cereals and cereal products contributed most to plant protein intake (54?%). Males had higher animal and plant protein intakes than females (P?相似文献