Health and productivity of older workers

Racial/Ethnic and Socioeconomic Disparities and Self-reported Work Productivity in Urinary Incontinence Females Using the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases Data

OBJECTIVE

To explore the relationship between racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities and self-reported work productivity in urinary incontinence females.

METHODS

This was a retrospective observational and secondary analysis of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases database trials. We included females with stress urinary incontinence and ≥21 years old. The primary outcome was self-reported work productivity evaluated using a proportional-odds regression model. A backward elimination method was utilized to create a final reduced model. The socioeconomic predictors were age, race/ethnicity, education, marital status, personal income, and language.

RESULTS

We included 1252 participants with a median age of 52 years old. Whites accounted for 76.2% of total participants, while Hispanics constituted 11.4% only. Work productivity of Hispanic or non-Hispanic other group was greatly affected compared to Whites (OR: 1.771, P value: .0008 and OR: 1.592, P value=.0231, respectively). Work productivity of patients with higher education was less affected compared to less educated patients. Married females were less likely to report being greatly affected in work productivity than nonmarried females (OR 0.663, P-value .0005). Age, income, and language were not predictive of the outcome variable in the final model.

CONCLUSION

Our finding showed that racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities play an important role in individuals' work productivity. Future research is needed to the influence of social determinants of health not captured by racial and socioeconomic factors.

Correlation among job-induced stress, overall well-being, and cardiovascular risk in Italian workers of logistics and distribution

Introduction

Work-related stress is an occupational risk that has been linked to the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD). While previous studies have explored this association in various work contexts, none have focused specifically on logistics and distribution personnel. These workers may be exposed to significant job stress, which potentially increases the risk of CVD.

Methods

In this study, we aimed to examine the relationship between work-related stress and cardiovascular risk in a sample of 413 healthy workers of a logistics and distribution company. To assess work-related stress and cardiovascular risk, we used the organisational well-being questionnaire proposed by the Italian National Anti-Corruption Authority, the Framingham Heart Study General Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) Risk Prediction Score and the WHO General Wellbeing Index (WHO-5).

Results

Our results revealed that individuals with low job support had a significantly higher CVD risk score and lower well-being index than those reporting high job support. Furthermore, workers with high-stress tasks showed higher well-being index scores than those with passive tasks. Approximately 58% of the subjects were classified as low CVD risk (CVD risk <10%), approximately 31% were classified as moderate risk (CVD risk between 10 and 20%) and 11% were considered high risk (CVD risk >20%). The overall median CVD risk for the population was moderate (6.9%), with individual scores ranging from 1 to 58%.

Discussion

Further analyses confirmed the protective effect of work support, also identifying physical inactivity, regular alcohol consumption and low educational level as factors contributing to an increased risk of CVD. Interestingly, factors such as job control and work support demonstrated a positive impact on psychological well-being. These results emphasise the importance of intervention strategies aimed at promoting health in the workplace. By addressing these combined factors, organisations can effectively reduce the risk of CVD and improve the general well-being of their workforce.

Work ability of Thai older Workers in Southern Thailand: a comparison of formal and informal sectors

BACKGROUND

Thai society is becoming an ageing society. Independent older persons need to be able to continue to work after retirement. The Work Ability Index (WAI) is an assessment tool for improving the health and work environment of the older workers. The objective of this study is to explore work ability and its related factors among older workers in formal and informal sectors in southern Thailand.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study with multistage sampling focused on 324 Thai older workers, aged between 45 and 70 years, working in Nakhon Si Thammarat province. Data on sociodemographic status, health history, and work-related factor questionnaires were collected, including anthropometric measures and the WAI instrument between March and September 2019. Descriptive and logistic regression analyses were used to examine associations.

RESULTS

The participants were predominantly general labourers (23.8%) and female (70.7%). Nearly half of them had noncommunicable chronic diseases (NCDs) (48.2%) and were obese (more than 60%). Approximately 60% (59.9%) engaged in safe working practices. The participants sometimes received occupational health services (51.9%) and frequently accessed health promotion services (78.1%). There was a significant difference in the total average WAI score of the formal and informal workers: 40.6 (S.D. = 4.6) and 37.5 (S.D. = 5.0), respectively. The multivariate analysis showed that workers aged 55 years and older (adj. OR = 1.45; 95% CI [1.21, 1.74]), those with NCDs (adj. OR = 2.85; 95% CI [1.69, 4.80]), and those who were exposed to unsafe working practices (adj. OR = 2.11; 95% CI [1.26, 3.55]) had a higher risk of a poor to moderate WAI.

CONCLUSIONS

Most of the older workers had good to excellent work ability. Older age and the presence of NCDs were negatively associated with good to excellent work ability. Safe working practices improved older workers' work ability. Integrated occupational health protections and health promotion programmes for older informal workers should be provided by community health services to improve work ability.

Employers' Adjustment to Longer Working Lives

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

The aging of the workforce and the trend toward longer working lives has substantial implications, not only for employees, but also for employers. The aim of this study is to quantitatively investigate the extent to which employers have implemented human resource (HR) practices in adjustment to longer working lives. We distinguish between information practices, health practices, and person-job fit practices.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

Data from 1,296 Dutch employers, collected in 2017, are used to study the ways in which employers have adjusted their HR practices. We estimate a structural equation model to identify predictors of implementing adjustment measures.

RESULTS

Employers have largely started to adjust their HR practices to make longer working lives more attainable. Especially larger organizations are highly active in using HR practices to enhance the long-term employment perspectives for their employees. Employers who are concerned about the mental fitness of their workforce in relation to longer working lives are especially likely to invest in information and health adjustment practices. Organizations with a high proportion of older workers are mostly focused on providing information.

DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS

The HR practices that are implemented by employers to facilitate longer working lives are different from those traditionally associated with an older workforce, implying a fundamental shift in employers' focus. Instead of promoting the exit of older workers and accommodating older workers specifically, employers are now moving toward providing information, promoting healthy habits, and improving long-term person-job fit, also targeting early- and mid-career workers.

Motor adaptation capacity as a function of age in carrying out a repetitive assembly task at imposed work paces

The working population is getting older. Workers must adapt to changing conditions to respond to the efforts required by the tasks they have to perform. In this laboratory-based study, we investigated the capacities of motor adaptation as a function of age and work pace. Two phases were identified in the task performed: a collection phase, involving dominant use of the lower limbs; and an assembly phase, involving bi-manual motor skills. Results showed that senior workers were mainly limited during the collection phase, whereas they had less difficulty completing the assembly phase. However, senior workers did increase the vertical force applied while assembling parts, whatever the work pace. In younger and middle-aged subjects, vertical force was increased only for the faster pace. Older workers could adapt to perform repetitive tasks under different time constraints, but adaptation required greater effort than for younger workers. These results point towards a higher risk of developing musculoskeletal disorders among seniors.

The relevance of socio-demographic and occupational variables for the assessment of work-related stress risk

BACKGROUND

Work-related stress is widely recognized as one of the major challenges to occupational health and safety. The correlation between work-related stress risk factors and physical health outcomes is widely acknowledged. This study investigated socio-demographic and occupational variables involved in perceived risk of work-related stress.

METHODS

The Italian version of the Health and Safety Executive Management Standards Indicator Tool was used in a large survey to examine the relationship between work-related stress risks and workers' demographic and occupational characteristics. Out of 8,527 questionnaires distributed among workers (from 75 organizations) 6,378 were returned compiled (74.8%); a set of mixed effects models were adopted to test single and combined effects of the variables on work-related stress risk.

RESULTS

Female workers reported lower scores on control and peer support and more negative perceptions of relationships and change at work than male workers, most of them with full-time contracts. Age, job seniority, and educational level appeared positively correlated with control at work, but negatively with job demands. Fixed-term workers had positive perceptions regarding job demands and relationships, but more difficulties about their role at work than permanent workers. A commuting time longer than one hour and shift work appeared to be associated with higher levels of risk factors for work-related stress (except for role), the latter having more negative effects, increasing with age.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings suggest that the assessment and management of work-related stress risk should consider specific socio-demographic and occupational risk factors such as gender, age, educational level, job status, shift work, commuting time, job contracts.

The United Kingdom government's ‘business case’ approach to the regulation of retirement

In the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006, the United Kingdom government set a ‘default’ retirement age of 65 years after which an employer can compulsorily retire workers, and made it obligatory for employers to consider the ‘business case’ for any employees' requests to continue in work after the default age. This is a ‘light touch’ approach to reducing age discrimination at the workplace and to changing the established ‘culture of retirement’. While encouraging productive staff to remain in post beyond 65 years of age, it leaves implementation of the policies and achievement of their goals to the discretion of employers. This article explores how British employers are adapting to the law, by drawing from interviews with 70 managers from a wide range of organisations. Overall the collected evidence shows the limits of a business case approach as a means of changing employers' practices. It was found that line managers, rather than senior managers or human resources specialists, generally decide which employees can stay employed after age 65 years. Consequently, the research suggests that opportunities for workers aged 65 or more years to stay employed are more the result of individual arrangements with their immediate managers than changes in an organisation's policies and practices. Altogether, the evidence suggests that consolidation rather than eradication of the established retirement culture has occurred.

The health behaviors of the older US worker

BACKGROUND

As the US workforce ages, lifestyle factors will increasingly affect their health, yet little information is available on their prevalence in older working populations.

METHODS

Using the nationally representative 1997-2003 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), reported current smoking, risky drinking and leisure-time physical activity behaviors of older workers (> or =65 years) were compared with older non-workers. These behaviors were evaluated by age, gender, race, ethnicity, and occupation, as well as prototype "healthy" and "risky" persons.

RESULTS

The study population of 4,946 older US workers and 38,313 older non-workers represented an estimated 3.9 million older workers and 28.9 million older non-workers annually. Relative to older non-workers, older workers reported more current smoking and risky drinking, but higher levels of leisure-time physical activity with variations by subpopulations.

CONCLUSIONS

Less than 4% of the older US worker population reported overall healthy behaviors. Certain occupations and other subpopulations can be targeted for age-appropriate behavioral interventions.

Health and safety of older nurses

The nursing workforce is aging at an unprecedented rate yet little is known about the health and safety of older registered nurses (RNs). The survey reported here examined the relationships between demographic variables, job attributes (job satisfaction, control over practice, and job demands) and the physical and mental health and job-related injuries and health disorders of 308 nurses over the age of 50. Findings indicate that nurses with higher job satisfaction, higher control over practice, and lower job demands experienced increased physical health. Increasing age was positively correlated with mental health. Almost a quarter of older RNs experienced a job-related injury within the past 5 years, and over a third experienced job-related health problems. Nurses with higher job demands and those employed in hospital settings were more likely to have an injury. Overall, older RNs reported higher levels of physical and mental health than the national norm. Efforts must be made to keep older RNs healthy so we can retain them in the workforce.

Gender differences in the association of age with physical workload and functioning

AIMS

To test whether (1) physically demanding work is less frequent for older than younger employees, and whether (2) the association of physically demanding work with decline of physical functioning is stronger for older employees than their younger counterparts. The gender differences in these associations were examined.

METHODS

Subjects of the study were 40-60 year old employees of the City of Helsinki. Data (n = 5802) were collected with mail questionnaires in 2000 and 2001. Functioning was measured with the Role Limitations due to Physical Health Problems scale of the SF36 health questionnaire. Logistic regression models were used to analyse the data.

RESULTS

There was a linear trend of less physically demanding work in older than in younger age groups. This trend was more marked for men than women. Age and physically demanding work were associated with poor functioning. In women the association of physically demanding work with poor functioning tended to be stronger for older than for younger age groups, while the opposite was observed in men.

CONCLUSIONS

Results suggest that physically demanding work causes more ailments in women of high age than men. It is possible that less men than women are still employed in physically demanding occupations at high age, even though direct evidence of exit from physically demanding work cannot be obtained from cross-sectional data. In these data the physically demanding occupations for men and women were largely different. High physical workload among women working in social and health care is likely to contribute to the gender differences.

Assessment of older drivers: relationships among on-road errors, medical conditions and test outcome

PROBLEM

It is essential that driver licensing authorities have a valid and reliable system for evaluating older drivers' continuing competency; road tests are usually required as part of such a system. This study sought to find information about the nature of driving errors made during license review tests, and about relationships between error type and test outcome for older drivers.

METHOD

Data from licensing authority files from 533 road tests during a 12-month period were analyzed; medical and other referral information was included. Average driver age was 76 years. Performance scores were generated for intersection negotiation, lane changing, low speed manoeuvres, positioning and speed control, safety margin, and car control.

RESULTS

Logistic regression analysis showed that test outcome was well predicted by a subset of driving performance scores; adding driver age to the model explained very little variance. Age alone was strongly associated with outcome. Relationships between referral information and test outcome are also reported.

IMPACT

Results highlight several factors relevant to the development of more valid and reliable road tests for older drivers.

Occupational slip, trip, and fall-related injuries--can the contribution of slipperiness be isolated?

To determine if the contribution of slipperiness to occupational slip, trip and fall (STF)-related injuries could be isolated from injury surveillance systems in the USA, the UK and Sweden, six governmental systems and one industrial system were consulted. The systems varied in their capture approaches and the degree of documentation of exposure to slipping. The burden of STF-related occupational injury ranged from 20 to 40% of disabling occupational injuries in the developed countries studied. The annual direct cost of fall-related occupational injuries in the USA alone was estimated to be approximately US$6 billion. Slipperiness or slipping were found to contribute to between 40 and 50% of fall-related injuries. Slipperiness was more often a factor in same level falls than in falls to lower levels. The evaluation of the burden of slipperiness was hampered by design limitations in many of the data systems utilized. The resolution of large-scale injury registries should be improved by collecting more detailed incident sequence information to better define the full scope and contribution of slipperiness to occupational STF-related injuries. Such improvements would facilitate the allocation of prevention resources towards reduction of first-event risk factors such as slipping.

Health effects of work schedules in healthcare professions

Increasing variety in working patterns and the appearance of new forms of shift schedules in the different occupational sectors, including health services, have raised great concern about the quality of working life and job performance. The aim of this paper is to present a systematic review of the literature on the effects on health of irregular schedules in healthcare professionals. Computer and manual searches of databases, and discussion with experts, were used to identify relevant studies. No conclusive evidence was found to favour any particular work system, although there is evidence that extended workdays (9-12 h) should be avoided as much as possible. There is need for carefully designed studies in order to evaluate the long-term consequences of work schedules in healthcare workers.

Senior workers in the Dutch construction industry: a search for age-related work and health issues

An increase in morbidity and disability rates in the Dutch construction industry is expected due to work force aging. In order to reduce these rates, an occupational health services instrument for senior construction workers will be developed to gather information on present problems in work and health, expectations for the future, and potential preventive policy measures. The aim of this study was to identify age-related work and health issues among construction workers that could be included in the new instrument. Questionnaire data on work and health from 1881 young (16-30 years) and 1946 old (45-64 years) construction workers were analyzed and a literature search was performed. Results show that health problems, in particular for musculoskeletal disorders, increase with advancing age, demonstrating the need for occupational health arrangements for the maintenance and improvement of work ability of senior construction workers.