Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health

OBJECTIVE: The aging population of European countries highlights the need for extended working lives. This study aims to investigate facilitators and barriers for working beyond the statutory pension age (SPA). METHODS: Using data from waves 1, 2, 4-9 of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) (2004-2022), we followed 9131 workers with a mean age of 56.9 [standard deviation (SD) 3.5] years from 26 European countries until they surpassed the SPA for their respective country, sex and year of participation...

OBJECTIVE: In this discussion paper, we provide a narrative review of past and present occupational cancer studies in the journal with a viewpoint towards future occupational cancer research. METHOD: We reviewed all references in the journal that mentioned cancer according to relevance to etiology, cancer type, agent type, study design, and study population. RESULTS: The Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health has published over 300 manuscripts on occupational cancer over the 50 past years...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate whether physical work demands modify the effect of the selfBACK app, which is designed to support self-management of low-back pain. METHODS: In a secondary analysis of the selfBACK trial with 346 employed participants, we stratified into low (N=165) and high physical work demands (N=181). Outcomes included the Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire (0-24), a numeric rating scale for low-back pain intensity (0-10), the Pain Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (0-60), and work ability (0-10)...

OBJECTIVES: We investigated associations between bioaerosol exposures and work-shift changes in lung function and inflammatory markers among recycling workers. METHODS: Inhalable dust was measured with personal samplers and analyzed for endotoxin, bacteria, and fungi (incubated at 25 °C and 37 °C) levels. Lung function (FEV1, FVC) was measured before and after work-shifts and serum concentrations of inflammatory markers (CRP, SAA, CC16, IL1B, IL2, IL4, IL5, IL6, IL8, IL10, IL13, and TNF) after the shift...

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to prospectively investigate associations of working night shifts with weight gain in the Nightingale Study, a large cohort of female nurses. METHODS: This study included 36 273 registered nurses, who completed questionnaires in 2011 and 2017. Cumulative number of nights, mean number of nights/month and consecutive number of nights/month in 2007-2011 were assessed. We used Poisson regression to estimate multivariable-adjusted incidence rate ratios (IRR) of >5% weight gain from 2011 to 2017 among all participants and assess risk of development of overweight/obesity (BMI≥25 kg/m2 ) among women with healthy baseline body mass index...

OBJECTIVE: This study evaluated the effectiveness of the promotion of postural shift intervention using a dynamic seat cushion on the 6-month incidence of neck and low-back pain among high-risk office workers. METHODS: In a cluster-randomized controlled trial (RCT), 133 office workers were randomly assigned, at cluster level, to intervention (N=67) and control (N=66) groups. The intervention group received a dynamic seat cushion to encourage postural shifts during sitting, while the control group received a placebo seat pad...

OBJECTIVES: In recent years, increased physician workload has led to higher levels of interference between work and private life with increasing stress and job discontent. The objective of this paper was to study if the experience of work-life interference (WLI) is associated with a high risk of burnout and discontent with work (turnover intention and job dissatisfaction) the following year among physicians in Sweden. METHODS: The study applied data for 2021 and 2022 from the Longitudinal Occupational Health survey for Health Care professionals in Sweden study...

OBJECTIVES: The association between occupational psychosocial factors and mental health has been studied in several systematic reviews. However, few systematic reviews exist that specifically address suicidal ideation. Therefore, this systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to examine the associations between long working hours, shift work, and suicidal ideation. METHODS: We systematically screened and collected studies published between January 1970 and September 2022 from three electronic databases and Google Scholar...

OBJECTIVE: This paper presents an overview of 50 years of research on psychosocial working conditions and health with regards to conceptualization, interventions and policy. We reflect on the promise of past and current research on psychosocial working conditions and, in addition, discuss current progress in translating this research into workplace practice and improvements in people's working lives. METHODS: We conducted a narrative review of meta-reviews and key publications on psychosocial working conditions and health...

OBJECTIVES: British Columbia (BC), Canada, experienced an unprecedented summer with record-breaking high temperatures in 2021. Yet the health impact has not been examined in occupational settings. This study aimed to characterize occupational heat-related illness (HRI) among BC workers estimated by incidence rates and associations between heatwaves and HRI, compare risks from 2021 and prior summers of 2001-2020, and assess differential impacts on worker groups by demographics and occupations...

OBJECTIVE: This study systematically reviewed and meta-analyzed the differential attrition and utilization of occupational mental health interventions, specifically examining delivery methods (internet-based versus in-person). METHODS: The research, with papers spanning 2010-2024, involved filtering criteria and comprehensive searches across PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science Core (PROSPERO registration n. CRD42022322394). Of 28 683 titles, 84 records were included in the systematic review, with 75 in meta-analyses...

OBJECTIVES: Return to work (RTW) of workers with mental disorders is often a process of gradually increasing work hours over time, resulting in a RTW trajectory. This study aimed to investigate 2-year RTW trajectories by mental disorder diagnosis, examining the distribution of age, sex and contracted work hours across the diagnosis-specific RTW trajectories. METHODS: Sickness absence episodes diagnosed within the ICD-10 chapter V (mental and behavioral disorders) and ICD-10 Z73...

OBJECTIVE: Occupational health has been influenced by societal and industrial changes. This study aimed to clarify topic trends in occupational health research in 1990-2022. METHODS: We conducted a text-mining-adjusted bibliometric study using research titles in occupational health. Data on research titles and the years of publication were collected from 26 peer-reviewed journals on PubMed. Using morphological and correspondence analyses in text mining, we structured research topics into multiple categories and visualized the relationship between all categories and publication years...

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to evaluate the independent and interactive effects of changes in overtime and night shifts on burnout among nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: Nurses working in an Italian university hospital (N=317) completed the Maslach Burnout Inventory in September 2019 and again in December 2020. Based on hospital administrative data, changes in overtime and night shifts in the same years were categorized into three groups each. Linear regressions were used to estimate 2020 burnout differences between exposure groups, controlling for 2019 burnout levels, demographic and work-related characteristics, and to test the interaction between the two exposures...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

OBJECTIVES: Quick returns (<11 hours of rest between shifts) have been associated with shortened sleep length and increased sleepiness, but previous efforts have failed to find effects on sleep quality or stress. A shortcoming of most previous research has been the reliance on subjective measures of sleep. The aim of this study was to combine diary and actigraphy data to investigate intra-individual differences in sleep length, sleep quality, sleepiness, and stress during quick returns compared to day-day transitions...

OBJECTIVES: This study examined the associations between implemented disability-related policies and practices (DPP) and sustained employment among partially disabled employees in The Netherlands. METHODS: Employer survey data on implemented DPP were linked to register data on employment outcomes of partially disabled employees (N=6103 employees from N=366 employers). DPP included six domains based on 48 elements: sick leave policy, occupational health and safety services (OHS), prevention policy, reintegration policy, reintegration practices within the current employer and reintegration practices towards another employer...

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate (i) the risk of work disability (>10-day sickness absence spell or disability pension) due to common mental disorders (CMD) among social workers compared with other health and social care, education, and non-human service professionals and (ii) whether the risk was mediated by job stress. METHODS: A cohort of 16 306 public sector professionals in Finland was followed using survey data from baseline (2004 or if not available, 2008) on job stress [job strain or effort-reward imbalance (ERI)] and register data on work disability due to CMD from baseline through 2011...