Sickness absence and workplace levels of satisfaction with psychosocial work conditions at public service workplaces

TY - JOUR

T1 - Sickness absence and workplace levels of satisfaction with psychosocial work conditions at public service workplaces

AU - Munch-Hansen, Torsten

AU - Wieclaw, Joanna

AU - Agerbo, Esben

AU - Westergaard-Nielsen, Niels

AU - Rosenkilde, Mikael

AU - Bonde, Jens Peter

N1 - Keywords: Absenteeism; Adaptation, Psychological; Adult; Analysis of Variance; Confidence Intervals; Female; Humans; Job Satisfaction; Male; Mental Health; Middle Aged; Occupational Health; Psychometrics; Public Sector; Questionnaires; Risk Factors; Workplace

PY - 2009

Y1 - 2009

N2 - BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to examine the impact of psychosocial work conditions on sickness absence while addressing methodological weaknesses in earlier studies. METHODS: The participants were 13,437 employees from 698 public service workplace units in Aarhus County, Denmark. Satisfaction with psychosocial work conditions was rated on a scale from 0 (low) to 10 (high). Individual ratings were aggregated to workplace scores. Analysis of variance was used to compare the average number of days of yearly sickness absence in three groups with different levels of satisfaction with psychosocial work conditions. RESULTS: Sickness absence was 30.8% lower in the most satisfied group (11.7 days/year (CI 95%: 10.2; 13.1)) than in the least satisfied group (16.9 days/year (CI 95%: 15.3; 18.6)) adjusted for the covariates included. CONCLUSIONS: Satisfaction with psychosocial work conditions has a strong and independent impact on sickness absence. Am. J. Ind. Med. 52:153-161, 2009. (c) 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

AB - BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to examine the impact of psychosocial work conditions on sickness absence while addressing methodological weaknesses in earlier studies. METHODS: The participants were 13,437 employees from 698 public service workplace units in Aarhus County, Denmark. Satisfaction with psychosocial work conditions was rated on a scale from 0 (low) to 10 (high). Individual ratings were aggregated to workplace scores. Analysis of variance was used to compare the average number of days of yearly sickness absence in three groups with different levels of satisfaction with psychosocial work conditions. RESULTS: Sickness absence was 30.8% lower in the most satisfied group (11.7 days/year (CI 95%: 10.2; 13.1)) than in the least satisfied group (16.9 days/year (CI 95%: 15.3; 18.6)) adjusted for the covariates included. CONCLUSIONS: Satisfaction with psychosocial work conditions has a strong and independent impact on sickness absence. Am. J. Ind. Med. 52:153-161, 2009. (c) 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

U2 - 10.1002/ajim.20657

DO - 10.1002/ajim.20657

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 19016235

SN - 0271-3586

VL - 52

SP - 153

EP - 161

JO - American Journal of Industrial Medicine

JF - American Journal of Industrial Medicine

IS - 2

ER -