Productivity and employee well-being in manufacturing process development - Comparison study of two departments.

Manufacturing companies constantly seek opportunities to improve operational efficiency without compromising employee well-being. Ergonomics can contribute to both goals, but its role is often limited to well-being. This longitudinal corporate case study followed retrospectively the effects of work development for five years in a manufacturing company's assembly line and welding unit.

COVID-19 infection and later risk of sickness absence by socioeconomic status: a cohort study.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic was a significant health risk and resulted in increased sickness absence during the pandemic. This study examines whether a history of COVID-19 infection is associated with a higher risk of subsequent sickness absence.

Methods: In this prospective cohort study, 32,124 public sector employees responded to a survey on COVID-19 infection and lifestyle factors in 2020 and were linked to sickness absence records before (2019) and after (2021-2022) the survey.

Associations Between Active Commuting and Sickness Absence in Finnish Public Sector Cohort of 28 485 Employees.

Active commuting can be beneficial for health. We examined whether active commuting by walking or cycling was associated with a lower risk of sickness absence in a Finnish public sector cohort of 28 485 employees. We used negative binomial regression to test associations of weekly active commuting in kilometers (no, low, moderate, and high dose) with all-cause sickness absence.

Psychosocial risks and resources at work and employee wellbeing in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic: time series of cross-sections.

Objective: We examined the relationships between psychosocial factors and employee wellbeing in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: Survey data were from Finnish public sector employees from 2018 (T1 = before), 2020 (T2 = during), and 2022 (T3 = after the pandemic) (n = 29,360). Employee wellbeing was measured with self-rated health, work ability, and recovery from work.

Trajectories of work ability and associated work unit characteristics from pre-COVID to post-COVID pandemic period.

Objectives: To identify trajectories of work ability from pre-COVID to post-COVID-19 pandemic period and to examine work unit characteristics associated with these trajectories.

Methods: The study population was a cohort of Finnish public sector employees (n=54 651) followed from 2016 until 2022. We used trajectory analysis to identify trajectories of work ability and multinomial regression to examine their associations with prepandemic work unit characteristics and pandemic-related changes at workplaces.

Psychometric Evaluation of a Measure of Evidence-Based Practice in Occupational Health.

Background: Occupational Health Services (OHS) are obliged to follow the principles of evidence-based medicine. However, there needs to be tools to measure this. Therefore, we developed and validated a questionnaire for evaluating OHS practitioners' attitudes, competence, and organisational support to perform evidence-based practice (EBP-OHS) following the JBI Model of Evidence-Based Healthcare.

Does job stress mediate the risk of work disability due to common mental disorders among social workers compared with other health and social care, education, and non-human service professionals? A prospective cohort study of public sector employees in Finland.

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. A Cox proportional hazards model was used to analyze the risk of work disability due to CMD between three occupation-pairs in a counterfactual setting, controlling for age, sex, job contract, body mass index, alcohol risk use, smoking, and physical inactivity.

The effect of improving psychosocial stressors on psychological distress: a quasi-experiment of Finnish health and social care workers.

Aims: To examine how a positive change in one to three psychosocial stressors (job demands, job rewards, and workplace social capital) influenced psychological distress.

Methods: The analysis included 3605 Finnish health and social services workers who completed surveys in 2019, 2020 and 2021. A logistic regression model was used to estimate the propensity score of experiencing a positive change in one to three psychosocial stressors between 2019 and 2020.

How does lowering psychosocial risks influence sickness absence? A prospective cohort study analyzed as a quasi-experiment.

Background: We examined how reducing work-related psychosocial stressors affected long-term sickness absence of younger and older employees.

Methods: We used data from 43 843 public sector employees in Finland who participated in surveys in 2018 and 2020. We assessed psychosocial factors, such as job demands, job control, work effort, job rewards and worktime control.

Changes in active commuting and changes in health: Within- and between-individual analyses among 16 881 Finnish public sector employees.

Background: Active commuting, such as walking or cycling to work, can be beneficial for health. However, because within-individual studies on the association between change in active commuting and change in health are scarce, the previous results may have been biased due to unmeasured confounding. Additionally, prior studies have often lacked information about commuting distance.

Associations between commute mode use and self-rated health and work ability among Finnish public sector employees.

Aim: To determine the extent to which level of active commute mode use is associated with self-rated health and work ability.

Methods: The data were sourced from the Finnish Public Sector Study survey in 2020 ( = 38,223). The associations between active commuting - assessed with the frequency of using active commute modes - and self-rated health and work ability were examined with negative binomial regression analyses.

Long-term and recent trends in survival and life expectancy for people with type 1 diabetes in Finland.

Aims: Type 1 diabetes has been associated with a significant reduction in life expectancy. Major advances in treatment of type 1 diabetes have been associated with improved survival. However, life expectancy for type 1 diabetes under contemporary care is not known.

Changes in work-related stressors before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: differences by gender and parental status.

Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic changed people's working conditions worldwide and research suggests increases in work stressors. However, it is not known to what extent these changes differ by gender or parental status. In the present study, we investigate trends in work stressors and whether these differ by gender and parental status.

Synergistic Interaction between Job Stressors and Psychological Distress during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Psychosocial job stressors increase the risk of mental health problems for the workers in health and social services (HSS). Although previous studies suggest that the accumulation of two or more stressors is detrimental to mental health, few studies have examined the synergistic interaction of accumulating job stressors. We examined survey responses from 9855 Finnish HSS workers in a cross-sectional study design from 2021.

Psychosocial work environment as a dynamic network: a multi-wave cohort study.

While characteristics of psychosocial work environment have traditionally been studied separately, we propose an alternative approach that treats psychosocial factors as interacting elements in networks where they all potentially affect each other. In this network analysis, we used data from a prospective occupational cohort including 10,892 participants (85% women; mean age 47 years) and repeated measurements of seven psychosocial work characteristics (job demands, job control, job uncertainty, team climate, effort-reward imbalance, procedural justice and interactional justice) assessed in 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012. Results from multilevel longitudinal vector autoregressive models indicated that job demands as well as interactional and procedural justice were most broadly associated with the subsequent perceptions of the work-related psychosocial factors (high out-Strength), suggesting these factors might be potentially efficient targets of workplace interventions.

Hospital physicians´ working hour characteristics and sleep quality: a cross-sectional analysis of realized working hour and survey data.

Background: Hospital physicians' work includes on-call duties to provide 24/7 health care. Previous studies using self-reported survey data have associated long working hours and on-call work with sleep difficulties. To reduce recall bias, we complemented survey data with payroll-based objective data to study whether hospital physicians' realized working hours are associated with sleep.

Interventions to reduce the risk of mental health problems in health and social care workplaces: A scoping review.

Work in the health and social care sector is stressful, and work-related stress increases the risk of depression, anxiety, burnout, and sleep disorders. Although interventions to reduce stress and burnout at workplaces have been developed and studied, most studies have lacked the effectiveness to improve the situation. Thus, more knowledge on interventions and analysis of their mechanisms is needed to reduce the risk of more adverse mental health problems (MHP).

Return to work following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.

Background And Purpose: Amongst people of working age, the return to work (RTW) after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction is an important marker of success of surgery. We determined when patients are able to return to work after ACL reconstruction and identified factors that are associated with the timing of RTW.

Patients And Methods: We used logistic regression analyses to examine patient-related factors that may be associated with the length of RTW (above vs.

Working hours, on-call shifts, and risk of occupational injuries among hospital physicians: A case-crossover study.

Objective: To investigate the association of hospital physicians' working hours and on-call shifts with the risk of occupational injuries.

Methods: In this nested cohort study of 556 Finnish hospital physicians, we linked electronic records from working-hour and on-call duty payroll data to occupational injury data obtained from the Finnish Workers' Compensation Center for the period 2005-2019. We used a case-crossover design with matched intervals for a 7-day 'case window' immediately prior to occupational injury and a 'control window' 7 days prior to the beginning of the case window, and analyzed their associations using conditional logistic regression models.

The association between chronotype and sleep quality among female home care workers performing shift work.

There is a scarcity of evidence on the association between shift work, sleeping parameters, heart rate variability (HRV), and chronotype, i.e., morningness and eveningness.

Association of working hour characteristics and on-call work with risk of short sickness absence among hospital physicians: A longitudinal cohort study.

Physicians often work long hours and on-call shifts, which may expose them to circadian misalignment and negative health outcomes. However, few studies have examined whether these working hour characteristics, ascertained using objective working hour records, are associated with the physicians' risk of sickness absence. We investigated the associations of 14 characteristics of payroll-based working hours and on-call work with the risk of short sickness absence among hospital physicians.

Sickness absence and return to work among employees with knee osteoarthritis with and without total knee arthroplasty: a prospective register linkage study among Finnish public sector employees.

Objective: This study aimed to examine duration of sickness absence due to knee osteoarthritis (OA) and sustained return to work (RTW) among municipal employees, who had at least one compensated sickness absence period due to knee OA. The contribution of sociodemographic characteristics, diabetes and previous sickness absence were assessed. We differentiated between participants with and without total knee arthroplasty (TKA).