The Role of Workplace Bullying in Low Back Pain: A Study With Civil Servants From a Middle-Income Country

This is a cross-sectional study that analysed the association between workplace bullying and LBP. The participants were 894 judicial civil servants from Porto Alegre, southern Brazil. Workplace Bullying was measured by the Negative Acts Questionnaire (NAQ-r) and Low Back Pain by the Nordic Questionnaire for Musculoskeletal Symptoms (NQMS). Logistic Regression was used to analyse data and test hypotheses. The prevalence of LBP in the last 7 days was 50.1%, while the overall prevalence of Chronic LBP was 19.3%. Some psychosocial factors at work were strongly associated with both outcomes. Workplace bullying was strongly associated with LBP, even after adjustment for several covariates. The odds of LBP in the last 7 days among bullied workers was 1.89 (95% CI: 1.31-2.71) times higher, compared to non-bullied. Workplace bullying was also associated with chronic LBP after adjustment for sociodemographic, behavioural and some occupational factors (OR = 1.60; 95% CI: 1.05-2.44). Psychosocial factors at work, and particularly workplace bullying, were strong risk factors for LBP, in contrast to most individual factors, and dose-response patterns were showed. Positive associations between bullying and LBP raise hypotheses on causation, and the role of psychosocial factors at work are discussed. Further longitudinal studies should address these hypotheses, investigating causal paths, mechanisms and possible mediation. Perspectives: As a psychosocial risk, workplace bullying may play a role in low back pain and can be focus of interventions to prevent LBP. Dose-response patterns on the association between workplace bullying and low back pain are discussed and hypotheses are raised. The paper addresses different ways of measuring and categorising bullying at work, in order to study the relationship between bullying and pain.

More Than Just "Stressful"? Testing the Mediating Role of Fatigue on the Relationship Between Job Stress and Occupational Crashes of Long-Haul Truck Drivers

Introduction

Recent evidence consistently highlights the adverse work environment of long-haul professional drivers, whose task structure typically involves the performance of extensive shifts, driving under stressful working conditions. In this regard, job stress and fatigue - that are highly prevalent in this workforce - seem to play a crucial role in explaining this group's negative traffic safety outcomes. The aim of this study was to assess whether work-related fatigue is a mechanism that mediates the relationship between job stress, health indicators and occupational traffic crashes of long-haul truck drivers (LHTD).

Methods

The data used in this study were collected from 521 Spanish long-haul truck drivers (97% males) from all 17 regions of Spain, with a mean age of 47 years.

Results

Utilizing structural equation models (SEM), it was found that work-traffic crashes of long-haul truck drivers could be explained through work-related fatigue that exerts a full mediation between job stress (job strain), health-related factors and traffic crashes suffered during the previous two years.

Discussion

Overall, the findings of this research support that a) stressful working conditions and health issues of drivers have significant effects on traffic crashes, and b) fatigue is a mechanism relating stress-related factors and work-traffic crashes of long-haul drivers. This study highlights the need of stress- and fatigue-management policies and interventions, in order to reduce the crash risk of long-haul truck drivers.

Association between psychosocial factors at work and health outcomes after retirement: a protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis

INTRODUCTION

The world's population is rapidly ageing, and health among older people is thus an important issue. Several previous studies have reported an association between adverse psychosocial factors at work before retirement and postretirement health. The objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to examine the association between psychosocial factors at work and health outcomes after retirement, based on a synthesis of well-designed prospective studies.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

The participants, exposures, comparisons and outcomes of the studies in this systematic review and meta-analysis are defined as follows: (P) people who have retired from their job, (E) presence of adverse psychosocial factors at work before retirement, (C) absence of adverse psychosocial factors at work before retirement and (O) any physical and mental health outcomes after retirement. Published studies were searched using the following electronic databases: MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES and Japan Medical Abstracts Society. The included studies will be statistically synthesised in a meta-analysis to estimate pooled coefficients and 95% CIs. The quality of each included study will be assessed using the Risk Of Bias In Non-randomised Studies-of Interventions. For the assessment of meta-bias, publication bias will be assessed by using Egger's test, as well as visually on a funnel plot. Heterogeneity will be assessed using the χ² test with Cochran's Q statistic and I².

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

Results and findings will be submitted and published in a scientific peer-reviewed journal and will be disseminated broadly to researchers and policy-makers interested in the translatability of scientific evidence into good practices.

PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER

CRD42018099043.

Psychosocial factors at work and inflammatory markers: protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis

INTRODUCTION

Chronic inflammation may be a mediator for the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD), metabolic diseases and psychotic and neurodegenerative disorders. Meta-analytic associations between work-related psychosocial factors and inflammatory markers have shown that work-related psychosocial factors could affect the flexibility and balance of the immune system. However, few systematic reviews or meta-analyses have investigated the association between work-related psychosocial factors and inflammatory markers. Based on prospective studies, the present investigation will conduct a comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis of the association between work-related psychosocial factors and inflammatory markers.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

The systematic review and meta-analysis will include published studies identified from electronic databases (PubMed, EMBASE, PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, Web of Science and Japan Medical Abstracts Society) according to recommendations of the Meta-analysis of Observational Studies in Epidemiology guideline. Inclusion criteria are studies that: examined associations between work-related psychosocial factors and increased inflammatory markers; used longitudinal or prospective cohort designs; were conducted among workers; provided sufficient data for calculating ORs or relative risk with 95% CIs; were published as original articles in English or Japanese; and were published up to the end of 2017. Study selection, data extraction, quality assessment and statistical syntheses will be conducted by 14 investigators. Any inconsistencies or disagreements will be resolved through discussion. The quality of studies will be evaluated using the Risk of Bias Assessment Tool for Non-randomized Studies.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

The investigation study will be based on published studies, so ethics approval is not required. The results of this study will be submitted for publication in a scientific peer-reviewed journal. The findings may be useful for assessing risk factors for increased inflammatory markers in the workplace and determining future approaches for preventing CVD, metabolic diseases and psychotic and neurodegenerative disorders.

PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER

CRD42018081553.

Age-related effects of job characteristics on burnout and work engagement

BACKGROUND

In light of an ageing and age-diverse workforce, it is imperative to understand how psychosocial aspects of work might influence health throughout working life. Recently, there has been an implicit call to differentiate job characteristics beyond the two factors of job demands and job resources. As needs, abilities and motivation fluctuate with age, different job characteristics might yield differential benefits. Additionally, markers beyond chronological age should be considered.

AIMS

To explore systematically interactions between different job characteristics, age and age covariates (i.e. job tenure and position type) and their relationship with work-related health outcomes.

METHODS

An online survey of workers in Switzerland, Austria and Germany, recruited through a panel data service provider. We excluded participants working fewer than 30 hours a week, trainees, self-employed people and senior managers. We assessed seven areas of psychosocial risks at work, burnout, work engagement and demographics.

RESULTS

Of the 6000 workers contacted, 1916 responded (31%). After applying exclusion criteria, we analysed data from 1417 respondents. We found that age barely had a moderating effect between psychosocial factors and health outcomes, but its three-way interaction with age covariates had more explanatory potential. Young workers with high job tenure showed particular vulnerability to job demands and the lack of certain job resources. Older workers with managerial positions were more resilient.

CONCLUSIONS

Age and its covariates, such as job tenure and position type, should be considered in developing age-sensitive occupational health models.

Occupational accidents in the Netherlands: incidence, mental harm, and their relationship with psychosocial factors at work

This study investigated the incidence of mental harm due to occupational accidents and the relation between psychosocial factors at work and the occurrence of occupational accidents in the Netherlands for the construction industry and health and welfare sector. Analyses revealed that occupational accidents in the construction industry more often involved physical harm, whereas accidents in the health and welfare sector relatively more often resulted in mental harm, in comparison to other sectors. Results showed that psychosocial factors were associated with occupational accidents in both sectors. For the construction industry, high time pressure and exposure to violence and harassment by colleagues or supervisors were associated with occupational accidents. For the health and welfare sector, low autonomy and exposure to violence and harassment by colleagues or supervisors or by people outside the organization were associated with occupational accidents. The present paper stresses the importance of also taking psychological consequences and psychosocial factors at work into account in assessing the occurrence of occupational accidents.