Scandinavian journal of work, environment & health最新文献

Objective: Understanding employee workspace preferences is crucial for designing office work environments that meet their needs. This study investigated employee office design preferences within a mandated hybrid work model at a higher education institution.

Methods: In this discrete-choice experiment (DCE), operational support staff (N=433) at a university participated in evaluating 12 pairs of hypothetical office design options, each varying across seven workspace attributes from a DCE survey. Preference weights indicating the relative strength of preference for each workspace design attribute level were used to calculate the importance of each attribute, conditional on the range of levels considered and relative to all other attributes included in the survey. The conditional relative importance of each attribute was calculated as the difference in preference weights for the most- and least-preferred level of that attribute. Subgroup analysis was performed on predefined, mutually exclusive subgroups, with results reported only for those exhibiting statistically significant differences in preferences.

Results: The results showed that having a dedicated desk (ie, no desk sharing) was an important factor influencing preferences, followed by personalization and territoriality, opportunities for teamwork, and social interaction. Employees preferred having access to shared spaces for collaboration while also valuing dedicated desks for personal belongings. Private offices and quiet spaces were not strongly preferred. Preferences varied by demographic and work-related characteristics, including gender, age, commute distance, and home environment.

Conclusions: This study shows that operational support staff in higher education prefer office designs that provide a dedicated desk, emphasize personalization, and social interaction. The strong preference for control over workspace and social connection highlights the office`s role in supporting psychosocial well-being in flexible work arrangements. These findings are crucial for informing occupational health and safety strategies and designing workspaces that balance individual and collective requirements.

Objectives: Sleepiness is a specific aspect of fatigue and considered a key factor linking working time to health and safety outcomes, such as occupational injuries. Therefore, this meta-analysis synthesizes evidence on how specific work schedule characteristics relate to sleepiness. Specifically, we examine how sleepiness varies with: (a) shift type (eg, day versus night), (b) shift length, and (c) the number of consecutive shifts.

Methods: We conducted a systematic literature search across multiple platforms and databases. Only studies that measured sleepiness using the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale were included. Mean effect sizes (Hedges` g) were calculated using random-effects models.

Results: The analysis included 48 studies (28 on shift type, 30 on shift length, and 13 on shift number). Compared to day shifts, sleepiness was significantly higher during night shifts and lower during afternoon shifts. Sleepiness increased with shift length during night shifts but showed no consistent pattern during day shifts. Furthermore, sleepiness was highest on the first night shift and decreased over subsequent nights, whereas it remained relatively stable across consecutive day shifts. Due to the low number of studies, results on shift length and shift number were limited or unavailable for afternoon shifts.

Conclusions: Overall, this meta-analysis shows that sleepiness is most pronounced during night shifts, particularly the first in a block. These findings emphasize the importance of circadian and homeostatic factors in shift work. Therefore, shift schedules should be designed to mitigate these heightened risks, for example by allowing sufficient recovery time before and during the first night shift.

Objective: Health-related productivity losses impose a significant burden on health systems and economies. Occupational health interventions (OHI) are increasingly promoted as preventive strategies to reduce work-related illness and enhance productivity. However, their effectiveness often remains unclear, creating a lack of guidance to those deciding on their implementation. The aim of this review was to evaluate the effectiveness of OHI in reducing sickness absenteeism and generating economic returns, focusing on mental health, physical health, and workplace atmosphere interventions (eg, work climate enhancement, leadership training).

Methods: A systematic literature search following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) 2020 guideline was conducted throughout December 2024. Risk of bias was assessed with Joanna Briggs Institute checklists. A random-effects meta-analysis synthesized OHI effects on sick days and return on investment (ROI).

Results: Of 2624 identified studies, 68 across eight industries met eligibility criteria. From these, 23 were included in the meta-analysis: 11 reporting on sick days, and 12 on ROI. OHI were associated with a non-significant reduction in absenteeism [-0.18 days; 95% confidence interval (CI) -2.80-2.43; P=0.890] and a tendency of positive ROI (1.92; 95% CI -0.34-4.17; P=0.096), albeit with statistical uncertainty.

Conclusion: We only found effect of OHI on ROI, however, absence effects on sick days do not necessarily imply a lack of effectiveness. We hypothesize that ROI benefits reflect improvements in presenteeism, although not directly measured. Overall, this review guides OHI selection and implementation, urges standardized evaluation, and prioritizes research on presenteeism measurement, non-OECD settings, and qualitative success factors.

Objectives: While extending working life is a key policy objective, its impact on population health is not fully understood. This study investigated the long-term effects of physical and psychological workloads as well as initial health-work status on healthy working life expectancy (HWLE), working life expectancy (WLE), and total life expectancy (TLE) at age 50.

Methods: Data were drawn from the Health and Retirement Study covering 1992-2022. The study population consisted of US adults aged ≥50 years. We implemented a multi-state life table approach based on continuous-time Markov models. Transition intensities between health and employment states were modeled to derive HWLE. Analyses were stratified by physical and psychological workload levels across three temporal cohorts.

Results: Over the study period, WLE increased significantly for both sexes, while TLE slightly declined. Conversely, HWLE decreased substantially across all groups and health states. Individuals in high physical workload groups experienced shorter WLE and HWLE compared to low workload groups. High psychological load was associated with a lower proportion of healthy working years, particularly among those with initial health limitations.

Conclusions: The extension of working lives is occurring at the cost of healthy years. Physical and psychological workloads exert distinct but equally detrimental effects on the sustainability of a healthy working life. These findings underscore the urgent need for targeted workplace interventions to protect worker health, particularly for vulnerable groups in high-stress or physically demanding jobs.

Objectives: This study investigates the association between precarious employment (PE) and mental well-being and examines the mediating role of five intrinsic quality of work (IQW) dimensions: autonomy, physical demands, work intensity, skill discretion, and social support. We distinguish between main (>24 hours/week) and supplementary (≤24 hours/week) gig workers.

Methods: Survey data from 397 Belgian gig workers were used to construct a multidimensional, gig-specific measure of PE (the Employment Precariousness Scale for gig work: 'EPRES-gw'). Structural equation modeling was applied to test mediation by IQW dimensions and examine differences between main and supplementary gig workers.

Results: PE was positively associated with poor mental well-being among main but not supplementary workers. Among main gig workers, the relationship was mediated by high work intensity, physical demands, and low social support. For supplementary workers, low autonomy mediated the association.

Conclusion: PE is particularly relevant for the mental well-being of main gig workers. The role of IQW is important, though the key dimensions differ by time spent in in gig work. These findings highlight the need for policy interventions and research addressing both employment rights and IQW-related psychosocial risks, with approaches tailored to the distinct challenges of main versus supplementary gig workers.

Objectives: Concerns about the health and well-being effects of high after-hours availability expectations and work-related connectivity have prompted calls for organizational and national disconnection measures, such as the right-to-disconnect legislation. However, the effectiveness of such measures remains unclear. This is the first systematic review that aims to evaluate interventions and policies designed to limit availability expectations and after-hours work connectivity.

Methods: We searched Embase, Medline, PsycINFO, and Web of Science for studies published (2004-2024) for peer-reviewed empirical studies. Two reviewers independently screened records extracted data and assessed study quality using the Effective Public Health Practice Project tool. The review was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42024599491). Effectiveness was assessed using a structured qualitative approach that accounted for various study design and methodological rigor across intervention types.

Results: Twelve studies (N=2306) were included: one national policy, three organizational disconnection guidelines, one supervisor-targeted program, and seven employee-focused programs. Half of the quantitative studies were randomized controlled trials; overall methodological quality was rated as weak. Most organizational and national-level policies showed limited or no effects, with benefits contingent on the person-environment fit and implementation quality. Supervisor-targeted and multi-component programs, particularly those allowing for flexibility and combining boundary management with other elements, showed significant modest effects on detachment, boundary control, and work-life balance, though effect sizes were generally small.

Conclusions: The evidence base is small, heterogenous, and methodologically limited. Policies alone are unlikely to reduce harmful connectivity without active organizational implementation and cultural change. Developing and testing rigorous, multi-level interventions that address norms and supervisory practices, as well as individual boundary preferences, are urgently needed.

Objective: This study analyzes the association between job insecurity, measured by cumulative unemployment, and the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) among middle-aged workers with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Methods: We utilized data from the National Health Insurance Service of Korea, focusing on patients with type 2 diabetes, aged 40-50 who were continuously employed in 2009-2010. Job insecurity was defined by cumulative unemployment in 2012-2016 and categorized as stable, partially stable, or unstable. Participants were followed until December 2023, with incident CVD as the primary outcome. Cox regression models estimated sex-stratified hazard ratios (HR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI), with additional subgroup and sensitivity analyses.

Results: Among 128 704 participants (107 071 males and 21 633 females; median age 51 years), CVD occurred among 6.1% of males and 3.9% of females. Job insecurity was associated with an increased risk of CVD [males: HR 1.12 (95% CI 1.05-1.19) for partially stable, HR 1.25 (95% CI 1.16-1.34) for unstable; females: HR 1.00 (95% CI 0.85-1.19) for partially stable, HR 1.33 (95% CI 1.13-1.57) for unstable]. Subgroup analyses showed particularly elevated risks among low-income males and high-income females. By age, males aged 40-49 in the partially stable and unstable groups had increased CVD risks, while those aged 50-59 had the highest risk in the unstable group. Among females, significant associations appeared only in the 40-49 age group.

Conclusions: Among middle-aged workers with type 2 diabetes, prolonged job insecurity was significantly associated with an increased risk of CVD.

Objective: Occupational exposures to dust have been associated with pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (PAP) in case series, but population-based epidemiological data are needed.

Methods: We identified 286 cases of PAP from the Swedish National Patient Register and the Cause-of-Death Register between 1991 and 2022. For the present analysis, we included 212 cases aged 20-65 years with available occupational information before the index date or within two years thereafter. Controls matched on age and sex were drawn from the population register and assigned the same index date as their corresponding case; of these, 1438 controls had available occupational information and were included in the analyses. We linked cases and controls to Swedish registries to obtain socioeconomic status and occupational data. We applied an established job-exposure matrix to characterize occupational exposure to inorganic dust, with the subset silica dust, fumes, vapors and gases and organic dust. We used adjusted conditional logistic analyses to estimate the odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the occupational exposures in the year before index date and PAP.

Results: None of the occupational exposures analyzed showed a statistically significant association to PAP. The OR for inorganic dust was 1.08 (95% CI 0.75-1.55); silica dust alone was 1.55 (95% CI 0.75-3.23) and organic dust was 1.48 (95% CI 0.92-2.38). Among men, however, exposure to organic dust was associated with PAP [OR 1.92 (95% CI 1.18-3.23)]. Among women, the results were inconclusive.

Conclusions: There were no associations between occupational exposure to fumes, vapors and gases and inorganic dust and risk of PAP. Among men, exposure to organic dust was associated with increased risk for PAP. Some occupational inhalants may increase the risk of PAP.

Objectives: Occupational health services (OHS) are an important resource within employers' preventive occupational health and safety management (OHSM). The aims of this study were to investigate employers' utilization of OHS in preventive OHSM and identify decisive contextual, structural and/or processual conditions in ensuring successful collaboration with OHS in preventive OHSM.

Methods: A total of 122 organizations within the Swedish welfare sector (education, social services and healthcare), of which 112 had access to OHS, responded to a quantitative survey on the organization and management of their preventive OHSM. Responses were investigated using both conventional descriptive analysis and configurational analysis.

Results: Only a third of the participating organizations utilized OHS to a high or very high degree within their preventive OHSM. Factors for successful collaboration with OHS within preventive OHSM included having a contract that made it possible to use OHS and having established routines for involving OHS in the early phases of preventive measures, especially when managing external demands and complex challenges.

Conclusions: The utilization of OHS within preventive OHSM is limited, and increased utilization may improve the ability of employers to successfully implement OHSM. The successful organization of OHSM practices and the OHS contract were key factors in a successful collaboration with OHS. Working together in preventive OHSM may also strengthen social capital for all stakeholders, which could further enhance collaboration.