Work-related stress is associated with low work ability, but not with poor self-rated health: A cross-sectional study in primary healthcare.
Louise Danielsson, Anna Frantz, Kristina Holmgren
PMID 38189724WHAT IT FOUND
High work-related stress was associated with low work ability, but not with poor self-rated health.
Interference between work and leisure time showed the strongest link to reduced work ability. Clinicians should assess work-life balance and recovery needs in patients seeking care for stress-related symptoms.
Key findings
01High stress related to interference between work and leisure time and low influence at work was significantly associated with low work ability.
02None of the four domains of work-related stress were significantly associated with poor self-rated health.
03Adjusting for educational level strengthened the association between high stress and low work ability across all four stress domains.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The cross-sectional design prevents establishing causality between stress and work ability. Work ability was measured using a single-item WAI, which may have insufficient construct validity compared to the full index. Self-rated health was measured with a single generic question from the SF-36, which may not have captured mental distress or early signs of health deterioration. The sample was predominantly female (66%) and native-born Swedish, limiting generalizability to other genders and cultural backgrounds. Dichotomizing the stress and work ability variables may have resulted in lost information. The subgroup reporting high stress due to indistinct organization was small (21%), which may have affected the detection of significant associations in this domain.
Declared interests
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the lack of association between work-related stress and poor self-rated health as evidence that stress does not harm health. The single-item health measure may have failed to capture mental distress, and the study's primary finding is that stress significantly impacts work ability, a critical functional outcome.