Total workload, work stress and perceived symptoms in Swedish male and female white-collar employees

Krantz, Gunilla; Berntsson, Leeni; Lundberg, Ulf

doi:10.1093/eurpub/cki079

Cited by 205 publications

(154 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…In the present study household tasks are given the status of housework/unpaid work because of the assumption that work corresponds to any activity necessary for the maintenance of society (Waissmann, 2003). Our view is shared by other authors who consider both professional and domestic load in the analysis of females' health Bjorksten et al, 2001;Brisson et al, 1999;Krantz et al, 2005;Lundberg et al, 1994). In the context of those studies, our results are partly in accordance with those obtained using a white-collar sample by Krantz et al (2005) The authors found an interaction between work conditions and household only for female's health, while males responded more selectively to professional work hours.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

A gender approach to work ability and its relationship to professional and domestic work hours among nursing personnel

et al. 2008

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The association between working hours and work ability was examined in a cross sectional study of male (N=156) and female (N=1092) nurses in three public hospitals. Working hours were considered in terms of their professional and domestic hours per week and their combined impact; total work load. Logistic regression analysis showed a significant association between total work load and inadequate work ability index (WAI) for females only. Females reported a higher proportion of inadequate WAI, fewer professional work hours but longer domestic work hours. There were no significant differences in total work load by gender. The combination of professional and domestic work hours in females seemed to best explain their lower work ability. The findings suggest that investigations into female well-being need to consider their total work load. Our male sample may have lacked sufficient power to detect a relationship between working hours and work ability.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

A gender approach to work ability and its relationship to professional and domestic work hours among nursing personnel

et al. 2008

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“…The stress of unpaid work at home (eg, child care) may be particularly important for women because they still carry a larger share of the responsibility for doing domestic duties (50,51). For example, findings from the Whitehall II study suggest that low control at home predicts CHD among women but not among men (52), and a Swedish study showed that a combination of stressful conditions at work and at home predicted perceived symptoms among women, whereas, for men, symptoms were more strongly determined by work stress alone (53). Although the formal test of gender difference failed to reach statistical significance in this meta-analysis, it is possible that work stress is a less powerful predictor of CHD among women than among men.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Work stress in the etiology of coronary heart disease—a meta-analysis

Kivimäki¹,

Virtanen²,

Elovainio³

et al. 2006

Scand J Work Environ Health

766

561

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Kivimäki M, Virtanen M, Elovainio M, Kouvonen A, Väänänen A, Vahtera J. Work stress in the etiology of coronary heart disease-a meta-analysis. Scand J Work Environ Health 2006;32(6 special issue):431-442.Objectives This study focused on estimating the relative risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) in association with work stress, as indicated by the job-strain model, the effort-reward imbalance model, and the organizational injustice model. MethodsA systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies were carried out. Studies were eligible if they had published a quantitative estimate of the association between work stress and incident CHD or cardiovascular mortality by January 2006.Results Fourteen prospective cohort studies were identified. For a total of 83 014 employees, the age-and gender-adjusted relative ratio of CHD for high versus low job strain was 1.43 [95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.15-1.84], but the ratio decreased to 1.16 (95% CI 0.94-1.43) after adjustment for risk factors and potential mediators. The age-and gender-adjusted risk ratio for a combination of high efforts and low rewards was 1.58 (95% CI 0.84-2.97) for 11 528 employees, and no reduction in the risk ratio was seen after further adjustments. For organizational injustice, the age-and gender-adjusted, and multiple-adjusted relative risks were 1.62 (95% CI 1.24-2.13) and 1.47 (95% CI 1.12-1.95), respectively, for a population of 7246 men and women. There was little standardization in the assessment of work stress within all three stress models, and significant heterogeneity in the effects of stress was observed between studies. Few studies were available for female samples. ConclusionsObservational data suggest an average 50% excess risk for CHD among employees with work stress. Further research is needed to confirm that a reduction in work stress will lead to a reduction in CHD risk.Key terms cardiovascular disease; effort-reward imbalance; job strain; mortality; organizational justice; prospective cohort study; psychosocial factors; systematic review; working population. Activation of the stress system in the hypothalamus and the brain stem helps the body to overcome the influence of short-term physical stressors. However, prolonged overactivity of these systems may cause wear and tear and play a role in coronary heart disease (CHD), infection, and accelerated aging (1). The recognition that the physiological reactions to stress cannot only protect, but also damage the body has provided a basis for epidemiologic research on work stress.Three models for work stress and coronary heart disease Work-stress models aim at describing factors that are likely to elicit harmful stress at work in a large proportion of employees. These factors are conceptualized at a level of generalization that allows for their identification in a wide range of occupations. The stress model most often cited and most widely tested is the two-dimensional job-strain model (2-4) ( Work stress in the etiology of coronary heart disease strain model adds...

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“…Although the mechanisms by which female sex increases the risk of arthritis are unknown, they may be related to a combination of hormonal, heritability, and/or body habitus factors (13). However, differential variation in arthritis between the sexes when accounting for social disadvantage may also be partly explained by a potential doseresponse aspect of social capital, whereby the well-documented dual workload of women (34) may limit the amount of time spent interacting with their immediate neighborhood, and thus results in an increased likelihood of reporting ill health (34).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neighborhood disadvantage, individual‐level socioeconomic position, and self‐reported chronic arthritis: A cross‐sectional multilevel study

Brennan¹,

Turrell²

2012

Arthritis Care & Research

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Objective. To examine the association between individual-and neighborhood-level disadvantage and self-reported arthritis. Methods. We used data from a population-based cross-sectional study conducted in 2007 among 10,757 men and women ages 40 -65 years, selected from 200 neighborhoods in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia using a stratified 2-stage cluster design. Data were collected using a mail survey (68.5% response). Neighborhood disadvantage was measured using a census-based composite index, and individual disadvantage was measured using self-reported education, household income, and occupation. Arthritis was indicated by self-report. Data were analyzed using multilevel modeling. Results. The overall rate of self-reported arthritis was 23% (95% confidence interval [95% CI] 22-24). After adjustment for sociodemographic factors, arthritis prevalence was greatest for women (odds ratio [OR] 1.5, 95% CI 1.4 -1.7) and in those ages 60 -65 years (OR 4.4, 95% CI 3.7-5.2), those with a diploma/associate diploma (OR 1.3, 95% CI 1.1-1.6), those who were permanently unable to work (OR 4.0, 95% CI 3.1-5.3), and those with a household income <$25,999 (OR 2.1, 95% CI 1.7-2.6). Independent of individual-level factors, residents of the most disadvantaged neighborhoods were 42% (OR 1.4, 95% CI 1.2-1.7) more likely than those in the least disadvantaged neighborhoods to self-report arthritis. Cross-level interactions between neighborhood disadvantage and education, occupation, and household income were not significant. Conclusion. Arthritis prevalence is greater in more socially disadvantaged neighborhoods. These are the first multilevel data to examine the relationship between individual-and neighborhood-level disadvantage upon arthritis and have important implications for policy, health promotion, and other intervention strategies designed to reduce the rates of arthritis, indicating that intervention efforts may need to focus on both people and places.

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Total workload, work stress and perceived symptoms in Swedish male and female white-collar employees

Abstract: Working life and private circumstances and the interplay between them need to be taken into account to curb stress-related ill health in both men and women.

Cited by 205 publications

References 23 publications

A gender approach to work ability and its relationship to professional and domestic work hours among nursing personnel

A gender approach to work ability and its relationship to professional and domestic work hours among nursing personnel

Work stress in the etiology of coronary heart disease—a meta-analysis

Neighborhood disadvantage, individual‐level socioeconomic position, and self‐reported chronic arthritis: A cross‐sectional multilevel study

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