Health, job stress and psychological defense in physically active and inactive subjects

Defensive Functioning Moderates the Effects of Nondirective Meditation

We have recently found that nondirective meditation facilitates stress reduction. This supplementary study investigated whether defensive functioning would moderate these beneficial effects. We explored the occurrence of defense mechanisms and the impact of defensive functioning on the outcome of companies’ stress management programs regarding worries nervousness, mental distress, sleep problems, and muscle pain. The sample was a population of active, working professionals recruited from Norwegian companies (n = 105). The intervention group obtained significant benefits on all outcome measures, but there were no effects in the control group. We analyzed defensive functioning with the self-report questionnaire, Life Style Index, at four time points. The healthy adults who participated had a low level of defense scores at the outset. There was a significant reduction in the level of defenses in both groups over the study period, 6 months. Defensive functioning significantly moderated the change of the outcome measures from baseline to follow-up in the intervention group, but not in the control group.

A scoring system for subjective health complaints (SHC)

The aim of this study is to present a complete scoring system for subjective health complaints (SHC) as they are experienced by the lay population. The scoring system records the complaints, and does not map attributions or medical diagnoses. In all, 1,219 subjects (323 men, 896 women) from various occupations were tested with a scoring system, the SHC inventory, previously referred to as the Ursin Health Inventory (UHI). The SHC consists of 29 questions concerning severity and duration of subjective somatic and psychological complaints. The SHC inventory yields scores on single items and a total number of health complaints categorized into five factors: musculoskeletal pain (α=0.74), pseudoneurology (α=0.73), gastrointestinal problems (α=0.62), allergy (α=0.58) and flu (α=0.67). The SHC inventory is a systematic, easy, and reliable way to score subjective health complaints. The prevalence of these complaints is high, and should be considered before conclusions are reached about new diseases and new attributions of environmental hazards.

Musculoskeletal pain: concepts of disease, illness, and sickness certification in health professionals in Norway

Concepts of disease, illness (being ill), and criteria for issuing sickness certificate for musculoskeletal pain have been investigated by a postal survey based on case histories. Questionnaires were filled in by 898 individuals; 194 General Practitioners, 76 medical consultants working for the National Insurance Administration, 307 insurance clerks, and a representative sample (N = 321) of the general public. The concepts disease and illness are meaningful and used consistently by medical doctors for infectious disease and somatic problems. Discrepancies between the medical profession representatives and the general public were, in general, attributable to differences in information and knowledge about these somatic conditions. However, for musculoskeletal pain all groups had conceptual problems. In particular, there was a lack of consensus for issuing sickness certificates. For musculoskeletal pain conditions the doctors, as a group, seemed to score at random or 50-50 level for sickness certification. All groups, including medical doctors, were reluctant to accept depression and social problems as diseases, or to accept social problems as reasons for sickness certification. The decision criteria should be identified and systematized in order to establish whether it is possible to reach a consensus for subjective complaints.

Sports, physical exercise and use of alcohol

In a general population study comprising 994 women and 1,000 men (aged > or = 15 years), we investigated differences in consumed amounts of alcohol related to participation in sports and physical exercise. Compared with the controls, women engaged in sports drank significantly more beer and had higher total consumption of alcohol. The differences in consumption disappeared when controlled for age and education. Men engaged in team sports had elevated consumption of beer and liquor and had a higher total consumption. Controlled for age and education, only differences in total liquor consumption remained significant. Frequency of exercising, irrespective of type of sports, was related to increased use of wine among men and women. There were no significant differences in use of beer, liquor or in total yearly consumption of alcohol.