| 1. |
- Heikkilä, Katriina, et al.
(author)
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Job strain and COPD exacerbations: an individual-participant meta-analysis
- 2014
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In: European Respiratory Journal. - : European Respiratory Society (ERS). - 0903-1936 .- 1399-3003. ; 44:1, s. 247-251
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- To the Editor:Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a major cause of mortality and disability worldwide (1). The clinical course of COPD is characterised by exacerbations, which can be minor and manageable at home or in primary care, or severe, leading to hospitalisation or even death. Known causes of exacerbations include tobacco smoke, air pollution, dusts and fumes, and respiratory infections (1, 2). One less well understood risk factor is stress, which could plausibly lead to COPD exacerbations as it can trigger inflammation (3, 4) and is associated with increased smoking (5), which are both implicated in COPD pathology (2). Work is an important source of stress in the age groups in which COPD is typically diagnosed (1, 6). However, we are not aware of previous investigations of work-related stress and the risk of COPD exacerbations.In this study, we examined the associations between job strain (the most widely studied conceptualisation of work-related stress) and severe COPD exacerbations using individual-level data from 10 prospective cohort studies from the Individual Participant Data Meta-analysis in Working Populations (IPD-Work) Consortium (7). Job strain is defined as a combination of high demands (excessive amounts of work) and low control (having little influence on what tasks to.
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| 2. |
- Westberg, Håkan, 1949-, et al.
(author)
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Mortality Among Hardmetal Production Workers : The Swedish Cohort
- 2017
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In: Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. - Philadelphia, PA, USA : Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. - 1076-2752 .- 1536-5948. ; 59:12, s. e263-e274
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BACKGROUND: The mortality pattern was determined in a cohort of 16,999 white and blue-collar workers in the Swedish hardmetal industry, particularly for cobalt exposure and lung cancer.METHODS: The mortality follow-up analysis in the Swedish Mortality register covered the period from 1952 to 2012. The exposure measures were ever/never exposed, duration of exposure, cumulative, and mean cobalt concentrations.RESULTS: The mortality of all causes was significantly increased, highly associated with the short-term employed workers. A negative exposure-response was found for lung cancer and duration of exposure. An exposure-response was determined for cumulative and mean cobalt exposures analyzed by quartiles, but not for exposure classes. Internal comparison analysis using proportional hazard showed no exposure-response.CONCLUSIONS: The cohort lung cancer mortality showed no correlation to cobalt, nickel, or tungsten exposure.
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| 3. |
- Wiitavaara, Birgitta, 1959-, et al.
(author)
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Psychometric testing of a short form questionnaire for measurement of health experiences among people with musculoskeletal disorders undergoing multimodal rehabilitation
- 2019
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In: BMJ Open. - : BMJ Publishing Group Ltd. - 2044-6055. ; 9:5
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- AimThe aim of present study was to assess if a previously suggested short-form questionnaire tested among women with non-specific neck-shoulder pain is suitable also for use among men and women with non-specific musculoskeletal disorders in any part of the body, by testing its construct validity by a confirmatory factor analysis. If not, the secondary aim was to investigate the evolving factor structure when performing an explorative factor analysis of data in the expanded sample.MethodsQuestionnaire data was collected in three different contexts, in primary care via eight different multimodal rehabilitation teams, in specialised care via two different specialist care centres. The sample consisted of 116 participants, male (n=29) and female (n=87) with non-specific musculoskeletal disorders.Data was analysed using confirmatory and exploratory factor analysis and a visual comparison between the result of the Principal Component Analysis in present study, and the results attained in a previous study with a similar aim and design.ResultsThe confirmatory factor analyses did not end up in a model with acceptable measures for validity. Three models were tested, none of them met the criterion for an acceptable model and the goodness-of-fit statistics were not fully acceptable. The exploratory factor analysis had an only partly comparable result, compared to previous study.ConclusionThe results of present study did not prove the suggested short form questionnaire to be suitable for evaluation of symptoms among men and women with non-specific musculoskeletal disorders in any part of the body. Further studies including larger samples are recommended.
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| 4. |
- Söderberg, Malin, et al.
(author)
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Women’s attitudes towards fertility and childbearing – A study based on a national sample of Swedish women validating the Attitudes to Fertility and Childbearing Scale (AFCS)
- 2015
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In: Sexual & Reproductive HealthCare. - : Elsevier BV. - 1877-5756 .- 1877-5764. ; 6:2, s. 54-58
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Objective: A delay in childbearing has been reported in high-resource countries. Factors reported to impact postponement include being mature enough, completing studies, and receiving a good salary. Other reasons are the partner relationship, efficient forms of contraception, value changes, housing conditions, and economic uncertainty. The aim of the study was to validate the previously developed instrument Attitudes to Fertility and Childbearing Scale (AFCS) in a sample of Swedish women and to relate the components to the women’s socio-demographic characteristics. Methods: Four hundred and twenty-four women, 20–30 years of age, who were not mothers answered and returned the questionnaire. Statistical analysis was conducted; construct validity using principal component analysis (PCA), Student’s t-test, and ANOVA was performed between the three components and women’s background characteristics. Results: The two components with highest loadings were Importance for future and Hindrance at present, indicating a time conflict. The third component was Female identity. The youngest women, single women, students, and women living in large cities were more likely to score high with the component Hindrance at present. Women having a partner were more likely to score high on Importance for future and Female identity. Conclusion: In this population, age, occupation, residential area, and civil (marital) status play a role in the attitudes towards fertility and childbearing. Fertility in relation to individual differences and age needs to be informed and discussed in society as well as in sexual and reproductive health care.
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| 5. |
- Mohammad, Salahuddin, et al.
(author)
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Job satisfaction and job tenure of people with mental health disorders : a UK Biobank cohort study
- 2022
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In: Scandinavian Journal of Public Health. - : Sage Publications. - 1403-4948 .- 1651-1905.
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Aims:Job satisfaction plays an important role for the life quality and health of working individuals. While studies have shown that self-reported mental health conditions such as stress, anxiety and depression are associated with job satisfaction, a large population-based study exploring and comparing self-reported physician posed diagnosed conditions and their association with job satisfaction and job tenure is missing. This study addresses the gap along with exploring the impact of the neurotic personality trait and other possible contributing factors.Methods:Sixteen mental health disorders diagnosed by physicians, categorised into four major groups were investigated in relation to employment status (108,711 participants) and in relation to job satisfaction and job tenure (34,808 participants). Analyses were performed using linear regression adjusted for age, sex, townsend deprivation index, body mass index, education, physical activity, work hours and neuroticism.Results:Neurotic and stress disorders, eating disorders and other mental health disorders were strongly associated with lower job satisfaction and shorter job tenure in both unadjusted and adjusted analyses. Neuroticism was strongly linked to job satisfaction but was not associated with job tenure.Conclusions:Study findings clarify the complex relationship of mental health with job satisfaction and job tenure, which is very important to understand in designing measures to improve working life participation of individuals with mental health issues.
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| 6. |
- Rask-Andersen, Anna, 1952-, et al.
(author)
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Health-related quality of life as associated with asthma control, psychological status and insomnia
- 2022
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In: Upsala Journal of Medical Sciences. - Uppsala : Upsala Medical Society. - 0300-9734 .- 2000-1967. ; 127
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Asthma is associated not only with lower health-related quality of life (HRQL) but also with psychological health and insomnia. The aim of this study was to investigate associations between HRQL, asthma symptoms, psychological status and insomnia in adults from three Nordic countries.Methods: This study comprised 2,270 subjects aged 29–55 from Sweden, Iceland and Norway. HRQL was measured with the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36). The physical (PCS) and mental health (MCS) component scores were calculated with higher values, indicating better health status. Symptoms of depression and anxiety were measured using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Insomnia was assessed with the Basic Nordic Sleep Questionnaire. An asthma score consisting of a sum of the positive answers to five respiratory symptoms was used in the analysis. Spirometry and allergy tests were also performed.Results: High HADS and sleep disturbance scores were both related to a low PCS and MCS, respectively, after adjusting for confounders. High age and high body mass index (BMI) were associated with low scores on the PCS, whilst the opposite was found for the MCS. A higher asthma score was related to a low PCS. An interaction between the HADS and the asthma symptom score was observed for the PCS (P = 0.0002), where associations between psychological status and the PCS were more pronounced for individuals with more symptoms than for individuals without symptoms.Conclusions: In this study, we found that HRQL of life was independently related to the HADS, insomnia and asthma symptoms. Further prospective studies to identify the most efficient target for intervention in order to improve asthma control are needed.
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| 7. |
- Virtanen, Marianna, et al.
(author)
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Long working hours and alcohol use : systematic review and meta-analysis of published studies and unpublished individual participant data.
- 2015
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In: BMJ (Clinical research ed.). - : BMJ. - 1756-1833 .- 0959-8138. ; 350, s. Art. no. g7772-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- OBJECTIVE: To quantify the association between long working hours and alcohol use.DESIGN: Systematic review and meta-analysis of published studies and unpublished individual participant data.DATA SOURCES: A systematic search of PubMed and Embase databases in April 2014 for published studies, supplemented with manual searches. Unpublished individual participant data were obtained from 27 additional studies.REVIEW METHODS: The search strategy was designed to retrieve cross sectional and prospective studies of the association between long working hours and alcohol use. Summary estimates were obtained with random effects meta-analysis. Sources of heterogeneity were examined with meta-regression.RESULTS: Cross sectional analysis was based on 61 studies representing 333 693 participants from 14 countries. Prospective analysis was based on 20 studies representing 100 602 participants from nine countries. The pooled maximum adjusted odds ratio for the association between long working hours and alcohol use was 1.11 (95% confidence interval 1.05 to 1.18) in the cross sectional analysis of published and unpublished data. Odds ratio of new onset risky alcohol use was 1.12 (1.04 to 1.20) in the analysis of prospective published and unpublished data. In the 18 studies with individual participant data it was possible to assess the European Union Working Time Directive, which recommends an upper limit of 48 hours a week. Odds ratios of new onset risky alcohol use for those working 49-54 hours and ≥55 hours a week were 1.13 (1.02 to 1.26; adjusted difference in incidence 0.8 percentage points) and 1.12 (1.01 to 1.25; adjusted difference in incidence 0.7 percentage points), respectively, compared with working standard 35-40 hours (incidence of new onset risky alcohol use 6.2%). There was no difference in these associations between men and women or by age or socioeconomic groups, geographical regions, sample type (population based v occupational cohort), prevalence of risky alcohol use in the cohort, or sample attrition rate.CONCLUSIONS: Individuals whose working hours exceed standard recommendations are more likely to increase their alcohol use to levels that pose a health risk.
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| 8. |
- Pasquini, Mirko, 1991
(author)
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Like ticking time bombs. Improvising structural competency to ‘Defuse’ the exploding of violence against emergency care workers in Italy
- 2023
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In: Global Public Health. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1744-1692 .- 1744-1706. ; 18:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- While violence against health care workers is being progressively recognised as a serious problem in the healthcare industry, it remains an under-studied area of enquiry in global public health. Anthropologists have long observed that violence toward patients is tied to institutional care practises in multiple ways, including repression, misrecognition and silencing. But research on health care staff’s experience of violence is still lacking. This article aims to address this literature gap by providing research on the daily experience of vulnerability to violence that health care providers face during their work. To do so, the paper ethnographically explores the effects and perception of violence against health care workers in an emergency department (ED) in northern Italy, a place with a dramatic escalation of violent incidents. The article illustrates how the ED staff attended to the experience of suffering of potentially violent patients. In so doing, ED professionals shifted the responsibility of violence against them from violent individuals to violent structures shaping health inequities. The paper thus argues that ED professionals display a structural competence perspective when dealing with violence.
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| 9. |
- Svedbo Engström, Maria, 1980, et al.
(author)
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A disease-specific questionnaire for measuring patient-reported outcomes and experiences in the Swedish National Diabetes Register: Development and evaluation of content validity, face validity, and test-retest reliability
- 2018
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In: Patient Education and Counseling. - : Elsevier BV. - 0738-3991 .- 1873-5134. ; 101:1, s. 139-146
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Objective: To describe the development and evaluation of the content and face validity and test-retest reliability of a disease-specific questionnaire that measures patient-reported outcomes and experiences for the Swedish National Diabetes Register for adult patients who have type 1 or type 2 diabetes. Methods: In this methodological study, a questionnaire was developed over four phases using an iterative process. Expert reviews and cognitive interviews were conducted to evaluate content and face validity, and a postal survey was administered to evaluate test-retest reliability. Results: The expert reviews and cognitive interviews found the disease-specific questionnaire to be understandable, with relevant content and value for diabetes care. An item-level content validity index ranged from 0.6-1.0 and a scale content validity/average ranged from 0.7-1.0. The fourth version, with 33 items, two main parts and seven dimensions, was answered by 972 adults with type 1 and type 2 diabetes (response rate 61%). Weighted Kappa values ranged from 0.31-0.78 for type 1 diabetes and 0.27-0.74 for type 2 diabetes. Conclusions: This study describes the initial development of a disease-specific questionnaire in conjunction with the NDR. Content and face validity were confirmed and test-retest reliability was satisfactory. Practice implications: With the development of this questionnaire, the NDR becomes a clinical tool that contributes to further understanding the perspectives of adult individuals with diabetes. (c) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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| 10. |
- Marsh, Gary M., et al.
(author)
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Mortality Among Hardmetal Production Workers : Pooled Analysis of Cohort Data From an International Investigation
- 2017
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In: Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. - Philadelphia, PA, USA : Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. - 1076-2752 .- 1536-5948. ; 59:12, s. e342-e364
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- OBJECTIVES: Based on a pooled analysis of data from an international study, evaluate total and cause-specific mortality among hardmetal production workers with emphasis on lung cancer.METHODS: Study members were 32,354 workers from three companies and 17 manufacturing sites in five countries. We computed standardized mortality ratios and evaluated exposure-response via relative risk regression analysis.RESULTS: Among long-term workers, we observed overall deficits or slight excesses in deaths for total mortality, all cancers, and lung cancer and found no evidence of any exposure-response relationships for lung cancer.CONCLUSIONS: We found no evidence that duration, average intensity, or cumulative exposure to tungsten, cobalt, or nickel, at levels experienced by the workers examined, increases lung cancer mortality risks. We also found no evidence that work in these facilities increased mortality risks from any other causes of death.
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