Psychosocial factors at work and inflammatory markers: protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

IntroductionChronic inflammation may be a mediator for the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD), metabolic diseases and psychotic and neurodegenerative disorders. Meta-analytic associations between work-related psychosocial factors and inflammatory markers have shown that work-related psychosocial factors could affect the flexibility and balance of the immune system. However, few systematic reviews or meta-analyses have investigated the association between work-related psychosocial factors and inflammatory markers. Based on prospective studies, the present investigation will conduct a comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis of the association between work-related psychosocial factors and inflammatory markers.Methods and analysisThe systematic review and meta-analysis will include published studies identified from electronic databases (PubMed, EMBASE, PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, Web of Science and Japan Medical Abstracts Society) according to recommendations of the Meta-analysis of Observational Studies in Epidemiology guideline. Inclusion criteria are studies that: examined associations between work-related psychosocial factors and increased inflammatory markers; used longitudinal or prospective cohort designs; were conducted among workers; provided sufficient data for calculating ORs or relative risk with 95% CIs; were published as original articles in English or Japanese; and were published up to the end of 2017. Study selection, data extraction, quality assessment and statistical syntheses will be conducted by 14 investigators. Any inconsistencies or disagreements will be resolved through discussion. The quality of studies will be evaluated using the Risk of Bias Assessment Tool for Non-randomized Studies.Ethics and disseminationThe investigation study will be based on published studies, so ethics approval is not required. The results of this study will be submitted for publication in a scientific peer-reviewed journal. The findings may be useful for assessing risk factors for increased inflammatory markers in the workplace and determining future approaches for preventing CVD, metabolic diseases and psychotic and neurodegenerative disorders.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42018081553.

Effects of participatory workplace improvement program on stress-related biomarkers and self-reported stress among university hospital nurses: a preliminary study

“…Multiple lines of evidence suggest that high job stress is associated with increased levels of inflammatory markers such as CRP, IL-6, and TNF-α 25 , 29 ) . Such evidence supports that alleviating job stress may lead to a reduction in basal level of inflammatory markers.…”

“…A number of studies indicated that chronic psychosocial job stress elevates inflammatory markers such as C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin (IL)-6, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α 22 , 23 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 ) . These studies observed that workers with higher job stress (low organizational justice, increased job strain, or low social support) exhibited increased levels of CRP and IL-6 22 , 23 , 26 ) compared to the lower stress counterpart.…”

“…Furthermore, a potential criticism of these studies is that the evaluation of outcomes is mainly based on “self-reports” not validated by objective markers, for instance, biomarkers such as inflammatory markers and autonomic nervous activities, which may limit the generalizability and reproducibility of the results. Objective markers including the immune and autonomic nervous system indicators are known to reflect levels of stress and are helpful to evaluate stress objectively 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 ) .…”

Association of working conditions including digital technology use and systemic inflammation among employees: study protocol for a systematic review

“…In the light of the limitations of previous and current research attempts [30][31][32], our investigation aims at advancing knowledge on the association of working conditions and systemic inflammation among employees particularly by three contributions: (1) We will only incorporate prospective studies to draw our effect estimates upon on a study base with high level of evidence designs. (2) A criteria-based classification of working conditions based on prominent job stress models will be provided, and digital technology use will be considered as a particular type of exposure.…”

“…However, there is a paucity of reviews and meta-analyses examining systemic inflammatory processes due to working conditions and/or workrelated stress. Previous reviews and meta-analyses have focused on associations between workplace stress and immune function [30,31], and on work-related psychosocial factors and inflammatory markers [32]. However, to our knowledge, there are no systematic reviews and metaanalyses investigating the strength of the evidence on the prospective association of various modern working conditions including digital technology use and employees' systemic inflammatory markers.…”