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The relations between psychosocial factors at work and health status among workers in home care organizations

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Abstract

A considerable proportion of sickness absence and disability pension is caused by subjective health complaints, especially low back pain (LBP). In recent years focus has been on psychosocial characteristics of work as potential risk factors. The aim of this study is to examine the relations between psychosocial work aspects and subjective health complaints, LBP, and need for recovery. A total of 779 employees working in home care participated in a cross-sectional study. Higher psychological demands were associated with subjective health complaints and need for recovery. However, decision authority, skill discretion, and the 2 aspects of social support did not seem to be important factors. Higher psychological demands do not seem to be associated with severity of LBP, but does show an association with sick leave.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Education and Health Promotion, University of Bergen and Unifob Health, Christiesgt 13, N-5015, Bergen, Norway

    Hege R. Eriksen & Camilla Ihlebæk

  2. Department of Public Health, Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    Hege R. Eriksen, Jeroen P. Jansen & Alex Burdorf

Authors
  1. Hege R. Eriksen
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  2. Camilla Ihlebæk
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  3. Jeroen P. Jansen
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  4. Alex Burdorf
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hege R. Eriksen.

Additional information

This study was performed by Hege R. Eriksen while pursuing her MSc in Epidemiology at The Netherlands Institute for Health Sciences in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. We want to thank Linda Sandal and Nina Konglevoll for technical assistance.

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Eriksen, H.R., Ihlebæk, C., Jansen, J.P. et al. The relations between psychosocial factors at work and health status among workers in home care organizations. Int. J. Behav. Med. 13, 183–192 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327558ijbm1303_1

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