P rospective studies with a follow-up time stretching from midlife to old age have shown that lower socioeconomic status, as indicated by lower education level or occupational grade, predicts a decline in health and functioning in the working population.1-4 This association is similar, if not more pronounced, in old age.
5-7Higher levels of work-related mental and physical strain increase the risk of early retirement and predict a decline in health and an increase in mortality among the working population. 3,[8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] However, the association between the demands of the work in conjunction with inadequate mental or physical resources (i.e., work ability) 16 and health and functioning in old age has not been studied.17 Using a population-based 28-year follow-up study involving middle-aged municipal employees, we investigated whether work ability in midlife predicts the risk of death and disability during old age among white-collar and blue-collar employees.
Methods
Participants and designThe Finnish Institute of Occupational Health's Finnish Longitudinal Study on Municipal Employees (FLAME) targeted 7344 individuals aged 44-58 years at baseline in 1981.18 The participants had been chosen at random from members of all municipal professions in Finland. The baseline cohort consisted of 6257 employees (44.7% men), for a response rate of 85.2%. The first questionnaire, which explored work, health and lifestyle factors, was sent out in 1981, and follow-up data were collected in 1985, 1992, 1997 and 2009. Data on work ability were missing for 199 women and 87 men. The analyses in this study are based on the responses of 5971 Work ability in midlife as a predictor of mortality and disability in later life: a 28-year prospective follow-up study Mikaela B. von Research CMAJ Background: Poor work ability correlates with increased morbidity and early retirement from the workforce, but the association in old age is not known. We investigated work ability in midlife among white-collar and blue-collar employees as a predictor of mortality and disability 28 years later.
Background and aims: A narrative review of quantitative population-based longitudinal studies was conducted to examine the association of formal voluntary work and personal well-being among older people doing the voluntary work and those being served. Methods: To be included, the study had to be published in a peer-reviewed journal, written in English and conducted in Western countries, participants were at least 60 years of age, the study employed a longitudinal or experimental design, the methodology and outcomes were explicitly described, and voluntary work quantified as visits or hours within a certain time frame. Results: Sixteen studies out of 2897 met the inclusion criteria for the review reporting on benefits of volunteering for those doing the voluntary work. Outcomes were collapsed into three categories of personal well-being: physical health, mental health, and psychosocial resources. All included studies came from the United States and showed that volunteering in old age predicted better self-rated health, functioning, physical activity and life satisfaction as well as decreased depression and mortality. However, it did not decrease the risk of chronic diseases or nursing home admission in old age. Only one study which met the inclusion criteria on the benefits of volunteering for older recipients was identified. Conclusions: Studies mainly used data from large datasets with only limited information about volunteering, which limits more detailed analyses. Randomized controlled trials are needed to study the effect of voluntary work on those being served, as well as to reveal the healthy participant effect among volunteers.
Findings suggest that LPA and OPA in midlife have independent, inverse effects on mobility in old age in terms of a harmful effect of vigorous OPA and a protective effect of vigorous LPA.
ObjectivesTo investigate the effect of job demand, job control and job strain on total mortality among white-collar and blue-collar employees working in the public sector.Design28-year prospective population-based follow-up.SettingSeveral municipals in Finland.Participants5731 public sector employees from the Finnish Longitudinal Study on Municipal Employees Study aged 44–58 years at baseline.OutcomesTotal mortality from 1981 to 2009 among individuals with complete data on job strain in midlife, categorised according to job demand and job control: high job strain (high job demands and low job control), active job (high job demand and high job control), passive job (low job demand and low job control) and low job strain (low job demand and high job control).Results1836 persons died during the follow-up. Low job control among men increased (age-adjusted HR 1.26, 95% CI 1.12 to 1.42) and high job demand among women decreased the risk for total mortality HR 0.82 (95% CI 0.71 to 0.95). Adjustment for occupational group, lifestyle and health factors attenuated the association for men. In the analyses stratified by occupational group, high job strain increased the risk of mortality among white-collar men (HR 1.52, 95% CI 1.09 to 2.13) and passive job among blue-collar men (HR 1.28, 95% CI 1.05 to 1.47) compared with men with low job strain. Adjustment for lifestyle and health factors attenuated the risks. Among white-collar women having an active job decreased the risk for mortality (HR 0.78, 95% CI 0.60 to 1.00).ConclusionThe impact of job strain on mortality was different according to gender and occupational group among middle-aged public sector employees.
Organizational justice can help promote work ability in two ways--directly by supporting employees' mental resources and indirectly by facilitating the use of individual resource allocation strategies in the form of SOC behaviors.
This study investigated the relationships among company average age, company work ability, and company performance by examining (a) the effects of employee average use of selection, optimization, and compensation (SOC) personal strategies and high-involvement work practices (HIWPs) on employee work ability; (b) the buffering effects of both employee average use of SOC and HIWPs on the negative relationship between company-level average age of employees and employee work ability; and (c) the link between company average age and company performance as mediated by company work ability. Analysis was conducted on data from 70 Finnish companies in the retail and metal industries and their 889 employees. Results showed that company average age was negatively related to company work ability, which in turn was positively related to company performance assessed by company managers. HIWPs were positively related to company work ability. Employee average use of SOC strategies buffered the negative effect of company average age on company work ability. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.
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