Work Ability and Work Nonparticipation: A Prospective Study of 2426 Participants in Germany

OBJECTIVE

The aim of the study is to examine the association between work ability and work nonparticipation, including long-term sickness absence (LTSA), unemployment (UE), and disability pension/early retirement (ER).

METHODS

We conducted a questionnaire-based 5-year follow-up study on a representative sample of the German working population (n = 2426). We used a two-part model to examine the association of continuous Work Ability Index (WAI) scores with the probability of events of work nonparticipation and the duration thereof.

RESULTS

Higher WAI scores were protective against total work nonparticipation (an index combining the three indicators), LTSA, ER and UE, the latter among males only. Higher WAI scores were protective also against duration of total work nonparticipation and LTSA, but not against duration of UE and ER among males and duration of UE among females.

CONCLUSIONS

Higher WAI scores have a protective role against work nonparticipation.

Associations between improvements in psychological variables and subsequent sick leave among persons receiving a multimodal intervention for exhaustion disorder

BACKGROUND

The incidence of sick leave due to stress-related disorders such as exhaustion disorder (ED) is high in many economically developed countries. Meanwhile, knowledge about facilitating return to work during clinical interventions for ED patients is still limited. The current study aimed to investigate if improvements in exhaustion symptoms, insomnia, perfectionistic behaviors, psychological flexibility, and perceived work ability during treatment of ED were associated with subsequent sick leave in the year following treatment.

METHODS

Using a cohort of 880 ED patients who had participated in a multimodal intervention based on Cognitive Behavior Therapy, we estimated the association between one standard deviation (SD) improvement in treatment-related variables and the rate of net days of sick leave one-year following treatment.

RESULTS

Our results showed that improvements in all treatment-related variables were associated with lower sick leave rates one year following treatment. Improvements in exhaustion symptoms (rate ratio (RR): 0.70 [95% CI 0.66; 0.75]) and self-perceived work ability (RR 0.56 [95% CI 0.50; 0.63]) showed the strongest associations to subsequent sick leave.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings suggest that interventions focusing on exhaustion symptoms, insomnia, perfectionistic behaviors, psychological flexibility, and perceived work ability can have a meaningful impact on ED patients' subsequent sick leave.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

Clinicaltrials.gov (Identifier: NCT03360136).

Relation of the work ability index to fitness for work in healthcare and public employees in a region of Northeastern Italy

PURPOSE

Work ability indicates an individual's capacity to match job demands according to his/her physical and mental conditions and work circumstances. Occupational physicians should take into consideration the global health status of a worker in order to correctly assess if he/she is fit for the job. The aim of this study was to verify the association between fitness for work evaluation and Work Ability Index scores, as well as individual factors (age, gender, and anthropometric characteristics) and work-related variables (job type, years of working duration).

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was conducted within the occupational health surveillance of health and public employers in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region (2018-2022). The participants voluntarily agreed to answer the standard Work Ability Index questionnaire. Data were investigated by univariable as well as multivariable regression analysis.

RESULTS

The Work Ability Index of the workers included in the study (N = 6893) resulted negatively associated with age, female sex, and body mass index. It was averagely lower in nurses and assistive personnel, and the highest in medical doctors and public employers. The fitness for work assessments was also statistically related to WAI scores. The results obtained from the univariable and the multivariable analysis were consistent.

CONCLUSIONS

The Work Ability Index is an efficient tool to measure an individual's capability to sustain job demands, and can be taken into account to produce a correct fitness for work evaluation and consequently preserve workers' health status.

Perceived work-ability and its associated factors among nurses working in the Northwest of Amhara regional state Referral Hospitals, Northwest Ethiopia, 2022

BACKGROUND

Nurses with reduced work ability had a high risk of disability pension, sickness absences, retirement intention, and leave their job and profession early. Nurses frequently suffer from job related stress, occupational fatigue and sleep problems, which can further compromise their work ability.

AIMS OF THE STUDY

The aim of this study was to assess perceived work ability and its associated factors among nurses working in the Northwest of Amhara regional state Referral Hospitals, Northwest Ethiopia, 2022.

METHODS

A multicenter, an institutional based, cross-sectional study was conducted among 410 nurses working in five selected Referral hospitals, found in the Northwest of Amhara regional state, Northwest Ethiopia, 2022. The data were collected using a structured, self-administered questionnaire and entered using Epi info version 7.2.5 software, analyzed using SPSS version 25. Summary statistics (median or IQR for continuous data and frequency and percentage for categorical variables) were used. The ordinal logistic regression was used to assess' the presence of association between dependent and independent variables.

RESULTS

The findings of this study revealed that 59.0% of nurses had poor level of work ability, whereas 34.4% and 6.6% of nurses had sub-optimal and optimal level of work ability respectively. Multivariable ordinal logistic regression revealed that being male [AOR = 2.43; 95% CI (1.52, 3.91)], being BSC nurse [AOR = 0.21; 95% CI (0.08, 0.51)], nurses who had poor sleep quality [AOR = 0.34; 95% CI (0.12, 0.98)] and nurses who had chronic disease [AOR = 0.18; 95% CI (0.08, 0.41)] were significantly associated with nurses' level of work ability, p-value < 0.05.

CONCLUSIONS

In this study, the prevalence of poor level of work ability among nurses was high. Nurses with a female sex, nurses who had chronic disease, BSC holders and nurses who had poor sleep quality had a poor level of work ability. The federal Minister of health and the study hospitals collaborative with concerned stakeholders to design strategies to enhance work ability among nurses.

Presenteeism and work ability: development of the Persian version of the Stanford Presenteeism Scale (P-SPS-6) and measurement of its psychometric properties

Background

Presenteeism is recognized in Iran’s hospitals, however little research has been done to understand and tackle the phenomenon because of a lack of valid tools to measure presenteeism. This study aimed to develop a Persian version of the Stanford Presenteeism Scale (SPS-6) and measure its psychometric properties. Another goal was to examine the relationship between presenteeism and work ability using a sample of 250 nurses.

Methods

The forward–backward translation process and cross-cultural adaptation of the scale were performed according to a standard method. The psychometric properties of the scale were measured using face and content validity, construct validity based on confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and internal consistency. Work ability score (WAS) was used to assess discriminative validity and examine the relationship between presenteeism and work ability. Measures of Job Satisfaction and Emotional Exhaustion were used to assess convergent validity with the developed presenteeism scale.

Results

Mean content validity index and content validity ratio were 1 and 0.93 respectively. CFA verified the two-dimensional structure of the scale. Cronbach's alpha was 0.77. There were positive relationships between P-SPS-6 and Job Satisfaction, and P-SPS-6 and WAS. There was a significant negative relationship between P-SPS-6 and Emotional Exhaustion.

Conclusion

Our findings suggested that the P-SPS-6 had appropriate psychometric properties for studying presenteeism in employees using the Persian language. Given the negative relationship between presenteeism and work ability and the negative consequences associated with it, it is necessary to regularly evaluate this stressor and to emphasize purposeful intervention programs to control or reduce it.

Clinical Guidance to Optimize Work Participation After Injury or Illness: The Role of Physical Therapists

Work rehabilitation refers to the process of assisting workers to remain at work or return to work (RTW) in a safe and productive manner, while limiting the negative impact of restricted work, unemployment, and work disability. The primary purpose of this clinical practice guideline (CPG) is to systematically review available scientific evidence and provide a set of evidence-based recommendations for effective physical therapy evaluation, treatment, and management of individuals experiencing limitations in the ability to participate in work following injury or illness. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 2021;51(8):CPG1-CPG102. doi:10.2519/jospt.2021.0303.

Mediational Occupational Risk Factors Pertaining to Work Ability According to Age, Gender and Professional Job Type

The predictive value of work ability for several health and occupational outcomes is well known. Maintaining the ability to work of all employees has become an important topic in research although some evidence suggests that some groups of workers need greater attention than others. Healthcare workers (x¯ = 54.46 ± 5.64 years) attending routine occupational health checkups completed their work ability, occupational risk and sociodemographic measures. An analysis examined whether work ability differed according to gender, age and professional category. Mediation of these relationships by occupational risk variables, such as work–family conflict, was examined. Females and older adults had worse work ability than their counterparts. Professional group was not independently associated. Gender-related differences were mediated by current and historic ergonomic risk, psychosocial risk and work–family conflict. Age-related differences were mediated by violence/discrimination at work. All job risk variables, apart from current ergonomic risk, mediated associations between professional category and work ability. The present study identified the importance of risk variables for the work ability of health workers according to gender, age and professional job type. Perceptions of work–family conflict and violence–discrimination seem particularly important and should be considered when targeting improvements in work ability.

Strategy for finding occupational health survey participants at risk of long-term sickness absence

BACKGROUND

When resources are limited, occupational health survey participants are usually invited to consultations based on an occupational health provider's subjective considerations. This study aimed to find health survey participants at risk of long-term (i.e., ≥ 42 consecutive days) sickness absence (LTSA) for consultations with occupational health providers (OHPs).

METHODS

The data of 64 011 non-sicklisted participants in occupational health surveys between 2010 and 2015 were used for the study. In a random sample of 40 000 participants, 27 survey variables were included in decision tree analysis (DTA) predicting LTSA at 1-year follow-up. The decision tree was transferred into a strategy to find participants for OHP consultations, which was then tested in the remaining 24 011 participants.

RESULTS

In the development sample, 1358 (3.4%) participants had LTSA at 1-year follow-up. DTA produced a decision tree with work ability as first splitting variable; company size and sleep problems were the other splitting variables. A strategy differentiating by company size would find 75% of the LTSA cases in small (≤99 workers) companies and 43% of the LTSA cases in medium-sized (100-499 workers) companies. For large companies (≥500 workers), case-finding was only 25%.

CONCLUSIONS

In small and medium-sized companies, work ability and sleep problems can be used to find occupational health survey participants for OHP consultations aimed at preventing LTSA. Research is needed to further develop a case-finding strategy for large companies.