Quality of Sleep and Work Productivity among White-Collar Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Prevention of sickness absence through early identification and rehabilitation of at-risk patients with musculoskeletal disorders (PREVSAM): short term effects of a randomised controlled trial in primary care

PURPOSE

To evaluate short-term effects of the PREVention of Sickness Absence for Musculoskeletal disorders (PREVSAM) model on sickness absence and patient-reported health outcomes.

METHODS

Patients with musculoskeletal disorders were randomised to rehabilitation according to PREVSAM or treatment as usual (TAU) in primary care. Sickness absence and patient-reported health outcomes were evaluated after three months in 254 participants.

RESULTS

The proportion of participants remaining in full- or part-time work were 86% in PREVSAM vs 78% in TAU (p = 0.097). The PREVSAM group had approximately four fewer sickness benefit days during three months from baseline (p range 0.078-0.126). No statistically significant difference was found in self-reported sickness absence days (PREVSAM 12.4 vs TAU 14.5; p = 0.634), nor were statistically significant differences between groups found in patient-reported health outcomes. Both groups showed significant improvements from baseline to three months, except for self-efficacy, and only the PREVSAM group showed significantly reduced depression symptoms.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings suggest that for sickness absence, the PREVSAM model may have an advantage over TAU, although the difference did not reach statistical significance at the p < 0.05 level, and similar positive effects on patient-reported health outcomes were found in both groups. Long-term effects must be evaluated before firm conclusions can be drawn.

Poor sleep quality and its associated factors among working adults during COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia

Background

In Malaysia, a nationwide movement control order (MCO), implemented to curb the COVID-19 spread, impacted on the lives of the working population which could impair sleep quality.

Objective

This study aims to find the sleep quality status and its association with the socioeconomic, employment and lifestyle factors of working adults during the MCO period.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted among 500 eligible working adults. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire consisting of the Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index.

Results

The proportion of poor sleep quality is found to be 59.4%. Analysis shows that the use of electronic devices before sleep (OR = 2.33, 95% CI = 1.02-5.35, p-value = 0.046), increased amount of workload (OR = 0.45, p-value = 0.005), decreased in amount of workload (OR = 0.48, p-value = 0.003) and distracted while working (OR = 0.57, p-value = 0.014) are the factors significantly associated with and are predictors of poor sleep quality.

Conclusion

During crisis, there is a need for public health interventions for the working population to adopt a healthy lifestyle. Employers are recommended to support employees' well-being and to provide a healthy workplace during challenging times. Policy recommendations are also made to implement flexible working arrangements, workload management, workplace mental health support and legal protections on reasonable working hours, rest breaks and time off during crises.

Presenteeism and mental health of workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review

Background

A large number of workers attend work despite being ill. Attending work during sickness can have a number of consequences for the worker (e.g., worsening of physical and mental condition), for co-workers, and for the company, and for service users.

Objectives

The aim of this study was to assess the factors influencing presenteeism and mental health of workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods

A systematic review following the PRISMA format was conducted in the PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science (WoS), Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), PsycInfo, and ScienceDirect electronic databases in January 2023, using the following key words: Presenteeism, Mental Health, and COVID-19. The eligibility criteria applied were original articles published in English, Spanish, French, German, and Portuguese, workers during the COVID-19 pandemic (data collection date: January 01, 2020 - January 01, 2023), and articles assessing at least one measure of presenteeism and mental health status. Methodological quality was assessed using the critical appraisal tools of the Joanna Briggs Institute. The followed protocol is listed in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) with code CRD42023391409.

Results

A total of 25 studies were included in this review recruiting a total of 164,274 participants. A number of factors influencing mental health and sickness presenteeism were identified: (1) mental health-related factors (burnout [in 4 studies], stress [in 9 studies], depression [in 1 study], fear of COVID-19 [in 1 study], no well-being [in 2 studies], etc.); (2) individual factors (health status [in 1 study], being young [in 1 study], workers who experienced interrupted medical care [in 2 studies], having a chronic disease [in 1 study], etc.); (3) factors related to the situation caused by COVID-19 (confinement, symptoms, loss of contract, risk of bankruptcy, etc. [in 1 study each one]); and (4) factors derived from working conditions (organisational support [in 1 study], patient care [in 1 study], work functioning or task performance impairment [in 4 studies], work fatigue [in 2 studies], safety climate [in 1 study], workload [in 1 study], etc.).

Conclusion

Identifying the key determinants of presenteeism and understanding the phenomena and origins of sickness presenteeism will help to create a safe working environment and optimal organisational systems to protect vulnerable workers in a pandemic context.

Systematic review registration

The unique identifier is CRD42023391409.