Do Work Characteristics Predict Health Deterioration Among Employees with Chronic Diseases?
Astrid de Wind, Cécile R L Boot, Ranu Sewdas and 3 others
PMID 28660365WHAT IT FOUND
Work characteristics did not predict health deterioration in employees with chronic diseases.
The only signal was that high mental demands might worsen health in those with psychological disorders, but this finding was weak and did not reach standard significance.
Key findings
01The study found no evidence that work characteristics predict health deterioration among employees with chronic diseases over three years.
02High mental demands showed a tendency toward predicting health deterioration in employees with psychological disorders, but the result was not statistically significant.
03Perceiving more social support from colleagues or supervisors was associated with health deterioration in crude analyses, but this association disappeared after adjusting for confounders.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The study population consisted of older employees (45–64 years) who had already managed to stay in the workforce, creating a 'healthy worker effect' where more vulnerable individuals had likely already left work. Health deterioration was defined as any drop on a five-point self-report scale, which may be too sensitive or arbitrary to capture clinically meaningful decline. All data, including the presence of chronic diseases and work characteristics, relied on self-reports without clinical verification. Work adjustments and accommodations were controlled for, but participants may have already optimized their work environment to match their health before the study began, masking the true impact of work demands.
Declared interests
No specific funding sources or author conflicts of interest were declared in the provided text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that work environment has no impact on the health of employees with chronic diseases. The null findings likely reflect a 'healthy worker effect,' where the study population consisted of resilient older workers who had already adapted their jobs or left unsuitable roles, rather than proof that adverse work conditions are harmless.