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Heinrichs K, Schultz K, Hummel S, Jütjens O, Loerbroks A. Asthma self-management at work, asthma morbidity, and the subjective prognosis of gainful employment - the role of work engagement and overcommitment: a cross-sectional study. J Asthma 2021; 59:719-729. [PMID: 33600726 DOI: 10.1080/02770903.2021.1892751] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Work engagement is considered a constructive and satisfying state of mind promoting well-being, whereas overcommitment contributes to ill-health. We investigated if these psychosocial factors are related to asthma self-management at the workplace (i.e. physical activity, trigger avoidance, acute symptom management, communication), asthma control, asthma-specific quality of life, and the subjective prognosis of gainful employment among employees with asthma. METHODS Questionnaires were distributed in three pulmonary rehabilitation clinics (10/2017-05/2018) in Germany. Work engagement was measured by three items from the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire and overcommitment by six items from the effort-reward imbalance questionnaire. Asthma self-management was mainly assessed by self-developed items, asthma morbidity by the Asthma Control Test and the Marks Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire, and the subjective prognosis of gainful employment by a validated three-item scale. After dichotomization of all variables we ran Poisson regression analyses to calculate multivariable prevalence ratios with 95% confidence intervals. RESULTS The sample comprised 221 individuals with asthma. Low work engagement was related to physical inactivity. Low work engagement and high overcommitment were associated with inadequate trigger avoidance and acute symptom management, reduced asthma-specific quality of life, and a poor prognosis of gainful employment. No relationships were observed with communication or asthma control. CONCLUSIONS Our findings highlight the potential contribution of high levels of work engagement to adequate asthma self-management, good quality of life, and a positive subjective prognosis of gainful employment among employees with asthma. Overcommitment shows associations with those outcomes in the opposite direction, which suggests a detrimental role in asthma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katherina Heinrichs
- Institute of Occupational, Social, and Environmental Medicine, Centre for Health and Society, Faculty of Medicine, University of Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany.,Institute of Health and Nursing Science, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Konrad Schultz
- Klinik Bad Reichenhall der DRV Bayern Süd, Bad Reichenhall, Germany
| | | | - Olaf Jütjens
- Nordseeklinik Borkum der DRV Rheinland, Borkum, Germany
| | - Adrian Loerbroks
- Institute of Occupational, Social, and Environmental Medicine, Centre for Health and Society, Faculty of Medicine, University of Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
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Heinrichs K, Hummel S, Gholami J, Schultz K, Wild B, Li J, Sheikh A, Loerbroks A. Psychosocial working conditions and the subjective prognosis of gainful employment among employees with asthma: a cross-sectional study. Disabil Rehabil 2019; 43:1299-1306. [PMID: 31522569 DOI: 10.1080/09638288.2019.1662496] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE The present study set out to examine whether low job decision latitude (JDL, i.e., limited work autonomy) and low social support at work are related to a poor subjective prognosis of gainful employment (SPE) among working rehabilitants with asthma. METHODS JDL and support were assessed by the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire. The SPE was measured by a validated three-item scale. Separate logistic regression analyses were conducted for all variables to calculate odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). RESULTS Among the 221 participants (response rate = 29.3%), those reporting low JDL or low support had more than doubled odds of being unsure that they would be working until retirement age (OR = 2.28; 95% CI = 1.19-4.37; OR = 2.78; 95% CI = 1.43-5.40, respectively) and of considering their work ability permanently at risk due to ill-health (OR = 3.89; 95% CI = 2.03-7.46; OR = 2.05; 95% CI = 1.08-3.90, respectively) compared to those with good working conditions. The associations of JDL or support were weaker with one's consideration to apply for premature pension (OR = 1.54; 95% CI = 0.60-3.98; OR = 2.18; 95% CI = 0.83-5.77, respectively). Additional analyses identified job satisfaction as a possible explanatory factor for the observed relationships. CONCLUSIONS Adverse psychosocial working conditions are related to a poor SPE, and low job satisfaction may explain those relationships. Future prospective research is needed to confirm our findings.Implications for rehabilitationEarlier research suggested that asthma increases the risk of disability retirement and thus causes high direct and indirect costs.Prior findings showed that adverse psychosocial working conditions are related to poorer asthma self-management and increased asthma morbidity among rehabilitants with asthma.Consistent with earlier work the present study found that job decision latitude and social support at work are associated with the subjective prognosis of gainful employment among working rehabilitants with asthma.If the reported findings are confirmed by prospective studies, interventions could be developed to improve the working conditions for rehabilitants with asthma and to thereby reduce their risk of disability retirement.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katherina Heinrichs
- Institute of Occupational, Social, and Environmental Medicine, Centre for Health and Society, Faculty of Medicine, University of Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | | | - Jalal Gholami
- Nordseeklinik Borkum der DRV Rheinland*, Borkum, Germany
| | - Konrad Schultz
- Klinik Bad Reichenhall der DRV Bayern Süd*, Bad Reichenhall, Germany
| | - Burkhard Wild
- refonet - Rehabilitations-Forschungsnetzwerk der DRV Rheinland*, Bad Neuenahr, Germany
| | - Jian Li
- Institute of Occupational, Social, and Environmental Medicine, Centre for Health and Society, Faculty of Medicine, University of Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany.,Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Fielding School of Public Health; School of Nursing, University of California, Los Angeles, USA
| | - Aziz Sheikh
- Usher Institute of Population Health Sciences and Informatics, University of Edinburgh, Old Medical School, Teviot Place, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Adrian Loerbroks
- Institute of Occupational, Social, and Environmental Medicine, Centre for Health and Society, Faculty of Medicine, University of Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
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Heinrichs K, Li J, Loerbroks A. General practitioner visits and physical activity with asthma-the role of job decision authority: a cross-sectional study. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 2019; 92:1173-1178. [PMID: 31273499 DOI: 10.1007/s00420-019-01456-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2018] [Accepted: 06/30/2019] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE Psychosocial working conditions-in terms of job decision authority, among others-may influence asthma self-management at work and in leisure time, as recent qualitative research has shown. We sought to statistically investigate potential relationships between job decision authority and two types of self-management behaviours: physical activity (PA) and visits to the general practitioner (GP). METHODS We combined data from waves 1 and 2 of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) for cross-sectional analyses. The sample was restricted to participants who were employed and reported asthma but no other chronic lung disease (n = 387). The three key variables were each measured by one item. We estimated the prevalence ratios of adequate PA (i.e., more than once a week) and regular GP visits (i.e., ≥ 4 per year) according to job decision authority (low vs. high) using Poisson regression with the robust variance. RESULTS We found no evidence of a relationship between job decision authority and PA. However, employees with low levels of job decision authority had a higher prevalence of reporting that they consulted their GP at least four times per year (prevalence ratio = 1.30; 95% confidence interval = 1.03-1.65). CONCLUSIONS This study was the first to quantitatively investigate the relationship between job decision authority and PA specifically among individuals with asthma. Our results contradict prior epidemiological studies among general working populations, which reported a positive relationship between job decision authority and PA. Our results concerning the association between low job decision authority and more GP visits are inconsistent with our qualitative findings but supported by epidemiological studies among general occupational samples.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katherina Heinrichs
- Institute of Occupational, Social, and Environmental Medicine, Centre for Health and Society, Faculty of Medicine, University of Düsseldorf, Universitätsstr. 1, 40225, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Jian Li
- Institute of Occupational, Social, and Environmental Medicine, Centre for Health and Society, Faculty of Medicine, University of Düsseldorf, Universitätsstr. 1, 40225, Düsseldorf, Germany.,Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Fielding School of Public Health, School of Nursing, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095-1772, USA
| | - Adrian Loerbroks
- Institute of Occupational, Social, and Environmental Medicine, Centre for Health and Society, Faculty of Medicine, University of Düsseldorf, Universitätsstr. 1, 40225, Düsseldorf, Germany.
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Siegrist J, Wahrendorf M, Goldberg M, Zins M, Hoven H. Is effort-reward imbalance at work associated with different domains of health functioning? Baseline results from the French CONSTANCES study. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 2018; 92:467-480. [PMID: 30406331 DOI: 10.1007/s00420-018-1374-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2018] [Accepted: 10/28/2018] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE Despite its importance a comprehensive assessment of health functioning has rarely been included in epidemiological investigations of work-related health outcomes. In this study, we analyzed associations of a health-adverse psychosocial work environment with a comprehensive set of subjective and objective measures of health functioning that cover the three domains of affective, cognitive, and physical functioning. METHODS Baseline data from the French CONSTANCES cohort study were used with a sample of 24,327 employed men and women aged 45-60. Psychosocial work environment was measured by the short version of the effort-reward imbalance (ERI) questionnaire. Measures of health functioning were depressive symptoms, semantic fluency, verbal memory, walking speed, standing balance and lung function. RESULTS First, we replicated main psychometric properties of the ERI questionnaire in the French cohort. Second, ERI scales revealed consistent associations with depressive symptoms, but less consistent links to cognitive and physical function. Among men, we observed an association of stressful work with reduced lung function. CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrated consistent associations of stressful work in terms of effort-reward imbalance with affective functioning in a large sample of male and female employees. Relationships with physical functioning were less consistent and restricted to men, and cognitive functioning was only marginally associated with stressful work. We also established the psychometric properties of the French short version of the ERI questionnaire, thus offering a tool for guiding and harmonizing further research in this field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Johannes Siegrist
- Senior Professorship on Work Stress Research, Medical Faculty, University of Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Morten Wahrendorf
- Institute of Medical Sociology, Centre for Health and Society, Medical Faculty, University of Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Marcel Goldberg
- INSERM UMS 11, Paris, France
- Paris Descartes University, Paris, France
| | - Marie Zins
- INSERM UMS 11, Paris, France
- Paris Descartes University, Paris, France
| | - Hanno Hoven
- Institute of Medical Sociology, Centre for Health and Society, Medical Faculty, University of Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany.
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