The Impact of Quality of Work Organization on Distress and Absenteeism among Healthcare Workers

Abstract

The quality of work organization may be responsible not only for reduced productivity but also for an increased risk of mental and physical disorders. This study was aimed at testing this hypothesis. Workers of a local health unit in Italy were asked to fill out the Work Organization Assessment Questionnaire (WOAQ) during their periodic medical examinations in the second half of 2018. On the same occasion, they also completed the Demand/Control/Support (DCS) measure of job strain, the Effort/Reward Imbalance (ERI) questionnaire, and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ12) to assess psychological health. A total of 345 workers (85.8%) completed the survey. Linear regression analysis showed that the quality of work organization was inversely proportional to psychological health problems (p < 0.001). Occupational stress, measured both by job strain and ERI, was a moderating factor in this relationship. The relationship between the WOAQ and psychological health, moderated by job strain or ERI, remained highly significant even after adjustment for sex, age, social support, and overcommitment. Regression models explained over 40% of the shared variance of the association between quality of work organization and psychological health. The quality of work organization significantly predicted the risk of sickness absence for musculoskeletal disorders (OR = 0.984, CI95% 0.972–0.996) and for other health problems (OR = 0.977, CI95% 0.967–0.988). A continuous improvement of work organization must consider not only the clients’ or production needs but also the well-being of workers.

Moderating effects of perceived social support on self-efficacy and psychological well-being of Chinese nurses: a cross-sectional study

“…Medical professionals play a vital role in maintaining and improving the health of the population. They are often exposed to highly stressful work environments and are routinely confronted with illness, patient suffering, and life-threatening challenges (18). Therefore, it is crucial to evaluate the social support, self-efficacy, and depression and anxiety symptoms among healthcare workers to enhance their job satisfaction, reduce job stress, and boost their job effectiveness.…”

“…There is substantial evidence that shift work (SW), low organizational justice, high job stress, high effort/reward imbalance, and sleep disturbances may increase the risks of anxiety and depression among nurses (18), whereas social capital, resilience, and self-esteem may lead to positive mental health or prevent certain negative outcomes (19). Because anxiety and depression affect the mental and physical health of nurses, it is important to identify positive internal and external resources that counteract these negative effects.…”

Workplace Health Promotion Embedded in Medical Surveillance: The Italian Way to Total Worker Health Program

“…The results of each survey were reported to the companies, the corporate prevention service, and the workers’ safety representatives in order to contribute to the growth of the work culture. Besides offering workers advice and providing companies with useful indications, WHPEMS activities have enabled researchers to produce some scientific publications [ 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 ]. Furthermore, by annually reiterating surveys on the same cohorts of workers, it has been possible to carry out longitudinal studies to clarify the causal link between exposure to risk and damage to health [ 64 , 65 ].…”

Investigation of the Effect of Internal Marketing on Quality of Work-Life: Evidence from Sport Organizations

“…The literature shows that QWL perception has positive effects on employees. On the one hand, high QWL perception increases job performance (Tripathy, 2017), productivity (Nayeri et al, 2011), organizational commitment (Özgenel, 2021), and organizational citizenship behavior (Sumarsi & Alimuddin, 2022) of the employees, on the other hand, it decreases absenteeism (Magnavita et al, 2022) and turnover intention (Almalki et al, 2012). These results seen in studies show that a high QWL perception of employees is very important in terms of organizational performance and service quality.…”