Work-unit social capital and long-term sickness absence: a prospective cohort study of 32 053 hospital employees

TY - JOUR

T1 - Work-unit social capital and long-term sickness absence

T2 - a prospective cohort study of 32 053 hospital employees

AU - Török, Eszter

AU - Clark, Alice Jessie

AU - Jensen, Johan Høy

AU - Lange, Theis

AU - Bonde, Jens Peter

AU - Bjorner, Jakob Bue

AU - Rugulies, Reiner

AU - Hvidtfeldt, Ulla Arthur

AU - Hansen, Åse Marie

AU - Ersbøll, Annette Kjær

AU - Rod, Naja Hulvej

PY - 2018/9

Y1 - 2018/9

N2 - OBJECTIVE: There is a lack of studies investigating social capital at the workplace level in small and relatively homogeneous work-units. The aim of the study was to investigate whether work-unit social capital predicts a lower risk of individual long-term sickness absence among Danish hospital employees followed prospectively for 1 year.METHODS: This study is based on the Well-being in HospitAL Employees cohort. The study sample consisted of 32 053 individuals nested within 2182 work-units in the Capital Region of Denmark. Work-unit social capital was measured with an eight-item scale covering elements of trust, justice and collaboration between employees and leaders. Social capital at the work-unit level was computed as the aggregated mean of individual-level social capital within each work-unit. Data on long-term sickness absence were retrieved from the employers' payroll system and were operationalised as ≥29 consecutive days of sickness absence. We used a 12-point difference in social capital as the metric in our analyses and conducted two-level hierarchical logistic regression analysis. Adjustments were made for sex, age, seniority, occupational group and part-time work at the individual level, and work-unit size, the proportion of female employees and the proportion of part-time work at the work-unit level.RESULTS: The OR for long-term sickness absence associated with a 12-point higher work-unit social capital was 0.73 (95% CI 0.68 to 0.78). Further, we found an association between higher work-unit social capital and lower long-term sickness absence across quartiles of social capital: compared with the lowest quartile, the OR for long-term sickness absence in the highest quartile was 0.51 (95% CI 0.44 to 0.60).CONCLUSION: Our study provides support for work-unit social capital being a protective factor for individual long-term sickness absence among hospital employees in the Capital Region of Denmark.

AB - OBJECTIVE: There is a lack of studies investigating social capital at the workplace level in small and relatively homogeneous work-units. The aim of the study was to investigate whether work-unit social capital predicts a lower risk of individual long-term sickness absence among Danish hospital employees followed prospectively for 1 year.METHODS: This study is based on the Well-being in HospitAL Employees cohort. The study sample consisted of 32 053 individuals nested within 2182 work-units in the Capital Region of Denmark. Work-unit social capital was measured with an eight-item scale covering elements of trust, justice and collaboration between employees and leaders. Social capital at the work-unit level was computed as the aggregated mean of individual-level social capital within each work-unit. Data on long-term sickness absence were retrieved from the employers' payroll system and were operationalised as ≥29 consecutive days of sickness absence. We used a 12-point difference in social capital as the metric in our analyses and conducted two-level hierarchical logistic regression analysis. Adjustments were made for sex, age, seniority, occupational group and part-time work at the individual level, and work-unit size, the proportion of female employees and the proportion of part-time work at the work-unit level.RESULTS: The OR for long-term sickness absence associated with a 12-point higher work-unit social capital was 0.73 (95% CI 0.68 to 0.78). Further, we found an association between higher work-unit social capital and lower long-term sickness absence across quartiles of social capital: compared with the lowest quartile, the OR for long-term sickness absence in the highest quartile was 0.51 (95% CI 0.44 to 0.60).CONCLUSION: Our study provides support for work-unit social capital being a protective factor for individual long-term sickness absence among hospital employees in the Capital Region of Denmark.

U2 - 10.1136/oemed-2017-104954

DO - 10.1136/oemed-2017-104954

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 29875292

SN - 1351-0711

VL - 75

SP - 623

EP - 629

JO - Occupational and Environmental Medicine

JF - Occupational and Environmental Medicine

ER -