Occup Med (Lond)
February 2023
Background: Sustainable employability (SE) has become an important factor for keeping people in the labour market and enabling the extension of working life.
Aims: We developed and validated an SE index to predict assured workability in 2 years. Additionally, we developed a scoring tool to use in practice.
Aims: This study aimed to investigate occupational health (OH) primary-care patients' use of other health-care services and whether parallel use affects their likelihood to have sickness absences (SA) or disability pensions (DP).
Methods: Primary-care services in Finland are provided through three parallel health-care sectors, all available to the working population: public, private and OH sectors. Patients may also be referred to secondary care.
Int J Environ Res Public Health
September 2022
Work disability creates significant expenses for nations and causes human suffering by limiting patients' lives. International studies show that to enhance recognition of and support for work disability, cooperation, mutual trust, and information exchange between public primary health care and occupational health care must be strengthened. However, little is known of how health care professionals experience this cooperation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt Arch Occup Environ Health
March 2023
Background: We aimed to evaluate the impact of a workplace senior program intervention on early exit from labor market and on the disability retirement among older employees and work-related physical factors associated with it.
Methods: A total of 259 individuals aged 55 + years participated in the study (107 in intervention and 152 were controls). A questionnaire survey was conducted among Finnish food industry employees between 2003 and 2009 and the intervention "senior program" was provided between 2004 and 2009.
Objectives: To investigate occupational health frequent attenders' (FAs) use of other healthcare sector services and whether parallel use affects their likelihood to receive a disability pension.
Design: Longitudinal study combining routine medical record data with register data.
Setting: Primary care in Finland is provided through three parallel healthcare sectors, all available to the working population.
Purpose: To study the workers' perception of the quality of work community and its association with intention to retire early, separately among women and men working in Finnish postal service.
Methods: A questionnaire survey was sent to all Finnish postal services employees aged ≥ 50 years in 2016 and 44% (n = 2096) replied to the survey (mean age 56.3, 40% women).
Background: Work disability is a complex issue that requires preventive efforts from healthcare systems and individuals, and that too often results in disability pensions (DP). While many studies have attempted to characterize risk factors of work disability, many showing for example a link between socioeconomic positions, working conditions and frequent attendance to OH primary care it is not known if frequent attendance is associated with DP despite the sociodemographic factors. This study aims to address this gap and examine the association between frequent attendance to OH primary care and DP, when adjusted by sociodemographic factors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Environ Res Public Health
July 2019
Background: We investigated work ability and trajectories of work life satisfaction (WLS) as predictors of intention to retire (ITR) before the statutory age.
Methods: Participants were Finnish postal service employees, who responded to surveys in 2016 and 2018 (n = 1466). Survey measures included ITR, work ability and WLS.
Background: Work Ability Score (WAS) is a common instrument for assessing work ability but its validity in assessing presenteeism and productivity loss is unknown.
Aims: To validate a WAS-based measure, the Presenteeism Scale (PS), and to evaluate its accuracy as a presenteeism instrument among forestry employees.
Methods: This validation study was based on questions of perceived WAS assessed using the Work Ability-Personal Radar (WA-PR) instrument and on questions of perceived productivity loss and presenteeism assessed using a cross-sectional questionnaire survey.
Background: Compared with the public sector, the private sector is more susceptible to changes in the economic environment and associated threats of downsizing, outsourcing and transfers of production. This might be assumed to be associated with more restrictive sickness absence practices.
Aims: To investigate whether this difference is reflected in higher sickness absence rates in the public sector and to explore the potential of trajectory analysis in researching such absences.
Aim: To investigate single-site and multi-site musculoskeletal pain as predictors of future sickness absence due to musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) among blue-collar employees in food industry, and to study to what extent this relationship depends on physical loading at work.
Methods: Survey responses of 901 employees on working conditions and musculoskeletal pain during the past week were linked to their future sickness absence records obtained from the personnel register of a food industry company. Negative binomial regression models were computed to determine associations of pain in one and in multi-site with the number of sickness absence days due to MSD during a four-year follow-up.
This study hypothesized that in a longitudinal setting deteriorating physical working conditions increases the perceived physical and mental strain among food processing employees. The study was conducted in 2003 and 2007. It examined 248 blue-collar workers, all of whom were in the same occupation throughout the entire follow-up period.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: To analyze the association between changes in perceived physical and psychosocial working conditions and change of sickness absence days in younger and older (< 50 and ≥ 50 years) food industry employees.
Methods: This was a follow up study of 679 employees, who completed working conditions survey questionnaires in 2005 and 2009 and for whom the requisite sickness absence data were available for the years 2004 and 2008.
Results: Sickness absence increased and working conditions improved during follow-up.
Background: We investigated the separate and joint effects of multi-site musculoskeletal pain and physical and psychosocial exposures at work on future work ability.
Methods: A survey was conducted among employees of a Finnish food industry company in 2005 (n = 1201) and a follow-up survey in 2009 (n = 734). Information on self-assessed work ability (current work ability on a scale from 0 to 10; 7 = poor work ability), multi-site musculoskeletal pain (pain in at least two anatomical areas of four), leisure-time physical activity, body mass index and physical and psychosocial exposures was obtained by questionnaire.
Purpose: Musculoskeletal pain at multiple sites is common among working-age people and greatly increases work disability risk. Little is known of the work-related physical and psychosocial factors contributing to multi-site pain.
Methods: Survey responses from 734 employees (518 blue- and 216 white-collar; 65 % female) of a food processing company were collected twice, in 2005 and 2009.
Background: Multi-site pain is a common phenomenon among working-age people and it strongly increases work disability risk. Little is known about the impact of musculoskeletal pain on work ability.
Aims: To investigate whether the number of musculoskeletal pain sites predicts future poor work ability.
Occup Med (Lond)
December 2011
Background: The effects of workplace interventions on sickness absence are poorly understood, in particular in ageing workers.
Aims: To analyse the effects of a senior programme on sickness absence among blue-collar food industry workers of a food company in Finland.
Methods: We followed up 129 employees aged 55 years or older, who participated in a senior programme (intervention group), and 229 employees of the same age from the same company who did not participate (control group).
Objectives: The study explored whether differences in sickness absence between four factories of a food industry company were explained by common determinants of sickness absence, such as employee health, sociodemographic characteristics, and physical and psychosocial work conditions.
Methods: Survey responses of 582 employees were linked to the records of short-term (1-3 days) and long-term (>3 days) absence, as well as to records of absences due to musculoskeletal diagnoses. Multilevel models were applied in assessing the between-factory absence differences.
National treatment programmes for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have in the past few years increased the need for spirometry in Finland. The purpose of this study was to determine, by means of a national questionnaire survey, the quality and number of spirometric examinations performed in Finland in 1998, the year when the national COPD programme was initiated. We estimated that 395 000-425 000 spirometric examinations were performed in Finland in 1998.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFScand J Clin Lab Invest Suppl
October 1990
A recommendation concerning basic urine examinations and bacteriological cultures was published in 1983 in Finland including three clinical indication groups with different screening strategies. Close cooperation between laboratory experts and clinicians as well as much training in urine sediment cytology were essential before the new principle became widely accepted. Decreased workload in laboratories in clinically less significant cases was shown with the use of the full capacity and qualities of complete urinalysis when needed.
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