Understanding Work Ability in Employees with Pain and Stress-Related Ill-Health: An Explorative Network Analysis of Individual Characteristics and Psychosocial Work Environment.
Hedvig Zetterberg, Xiang Zhao, Sofia Bergbom and 3 others
PMID 38743130WHAT IT FOUND
Symptom catastrophizing and perceived stress were the strongest factors linked to other issues in employees with pain or stress.
Pain-disability risk was the only factor directly connected to work ability six months later. Work environment factors showed weaker links.
Key findings
01Symptom catastrophizing and perceived stress had the highest strength centrality, indicating they were the most influential nodes in the network of individual and work factors.
02Work ability at six-month follow-up showed a direct connection only to pain-disability risk (OMPSQ) in the network model.
03The path from perceived stress to work ability was mediated by symptom catastrophizing and pain-disability risk.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The sample was predominantly women (94.6%), so results may not generalize to men. The study included only public sector workplaces (healthcare, administration, schools), excluding industrial or construction settings. The number of participants at follow-up was low (87 out of 147), reducing power for prospective findings. Subgroup network analyses were unstable due to small sample sizes in each workplace type. The study did not include physical work characteristics, which are known to influence pain and disability. This is an exploratory network analysis, not an intervention study, so it cannot prove causality.
Declared interests
Funded by the Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare and Örebro University. No financial conflicts of interest were reported by the authors.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the network connections as proof that treating catastrophizing or stress will directly improve work ability. The study is exploratory and cross-sectional, and it did not test an intervention. Additionally, the sample was almost entirely women in public sector jobs, so these patterns may not apply to men or to employees in physically demanding industrial roles.