Work Ability

The present study aimed to compare the Work Ability Index (WAI) among academic female staff across different age groups-young, middle-aged, and senior in in polytechnic colleges Bhopal. Work ability is a crucial determinant of productivity and occupational well-being, especially in academic settings where mental and physical demands coexist. A total of ninety (N=90) academic female staff members were selected using purposive sampling, with 30 participants in each age group. The Work Ability Index questionnaire was used to assess work ability. Statistical techniques such as mean, standard deviation, and one-way ANOVA were employed to analyze the data. The findings revealed significant differences in WAI among the three age groups, indicating a decline in work ability with increasing age. The study highlights the need for age-specific interventions to maintain and improve work ability among academic female professionals.

İş yaşamı bağlamında bireyleri, grupları ve örgütleri ilgilendiren her bir hususun dikkate alınması, hem çalışanlara ve yöneticilere yol göstermek hem de bilimsel birikime katkı sağlamak açısından önem arz etmektedir. Bu bağlam içerisinde, çalışanların fizyolojik, psikolojik ve zihinsel sağlıklarının yaptıkları işin gereklerini yerine getirmeye uygunluk düzeyi iş yaşamını etkileyen önemli bir durumdur. Bu durum çalışma yeterliliği olarak kavramsallaştırılmış ve uluslararası yazında önemli ölçüde yer edinmiştir. Ancak, ulusal yazın bu konuda oldukça kısıtlı kalmıştır. Bu sebeple, bu araştırma ile çalışma yeterliliği kavramının içeriği ulusal yazına aktarılmaya çalışılmıştır. Bununla birlikte, çalışma yeterliliği kavramının kuramsal temelleri açıklanmıştır. Diğer yandan, çalışma yeterliliğinin ölçülmesini sağlayan ve sosyal bilimler alanında sıklıkla kullanılan ölçüm türlerine ve ölçüm düzeylerine göre farklı özelliklere sahip olan çalışma yeterliliği endeksi ile ilgili kuramsal bilgi...

Background: The high levels of sickness absence and disability pensioning experienced during the 1990's and 2000's have become both socially as well as financially burdensome for society. Sickness absence implies a costly loss of production for society and large groups of individuals are at risk of becoming marginalized on the labor market. Sickness absence is both a public health and an economic problem. Thus from both a human approach as well as from an economic perspective it is urgent to increase knowledge about what influences individual behaviour when it comes to sickness absence and return to work. Objectives: The overall aim of the thesis is to elucidate the decisive factors for explaining sickness absence. Three different aspects of sickness absence are considered, i.e. factors leading to sickness absence, factors preventing sickness absence and factors leading back to work ability and work when being sickness absent. This is done using a frame of reference involving broadly defined areas of work, health and social insurance related factors. Material and methods: Study I analyzes the outcome of unemployed sicklisted individuals. A total of 280 individuals from the county of Värmland were followed through register data between the years 2000 to 2001. Linear and logistic regression models were used to analyze the occurrence of short and long term economic incentives. Study II has a longitudinal design and explores determinants of return to work. Sick-listed individuals with a stress-related psychiatric diagnosis from the county of Värmland were analyzed over a period of three years (2000)(2001)(2002)(2003) using logistic regression. The data comprised 911 individuals. Study III is a cross-sectional study using questionnaire data from the county of Värmland from year 2004. A total of 3123 persons either working or being self employed were analyzed on determinants of work presence through logistic regression. Study IV had a cross-sectional design and used questionnaire data from five counties in central Sweden. The data, from 2004, comprised 10536 individuals being employed, i.e. not self-employed, and with self reported physical and mental medical conditions. Logistic regression was mainly used in the analysis and the focus was on risk factors for long term sickness absence. Study V comprises cross-sectional data retrieved at three separate occasions between 1991 and 1994. It includes 8839 individuals from five counties in western Sweden with sickness absence spells over 60 days. The data was analyzed through bi-variate probit regression with a focus on effects of vocational rehabilitation on return to work.

Purpose To examine the relationship between leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) and ability to meet different work requirements among adult working men with or without current depressive symptoms. Methods We measured LTPA with the long version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ). The Work Ability Index (WAI) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) were used to assess the work ability and depression of 921 Finnish employed male volunteers. Participants were divided into three groups according to the WAI for their work requirements: mental (MENT), physical (PHYS), and an equal amount of mental and physical work (BTH). Results When adjusted for age, BMI and employment years, there was a significant difference in weekly LTPA between WAI groups {p = 0.003, [F (2902) = 5.58]}, but not for depression. It appeared that participants with depressive symptoms scored lower WAI in each group regardless of LTPA. In addition, a linear relationship was found between higher LTPA and WAI in nondepressed workers in the PHYS [p = 0.011, β = 0.10 (95% CI 0.03-0.18)] and BTH [p = 0.027, β = 0.19 (95% CI 0.03-0.34)] groups. Among workers with depressive symptoms, similar linearity was found in BTH [p = 0.003, β = 0.20 (95% CI 0.03-0.55)]. In group-wise comparison, work requirements {p = 0.001, [F (2902) = 11.2]} and depressive symptoms {p < 0.001, [F (1902) = 177.0]} related with lower WAI. Conclusion Depressive symptoms were associated with lower work ability regardless of the job description. Therefore, higher levels of weekly LTPA was linked with better work ability among nondepressed working men. Workers with depressive symptoms in jobs that require extensive mental or physical work might need more than exercise to improve work ability.

Breast cancer is the most common neoplasia in women worldwide. Medical advances in prognosis and treatments have improved survival rates, however, many women report physical and psychological problems derived from the impact and the administered treatments that can undermine breast cancer survivors' workability. Given that breast cancer occurs at working age (35-65 years) and due to the importance that work has in their recovery process, it is crucial to determine the psychological resources that breast cancer survivors may use to reestablish their ability to work. In this sense, resilience understood as the ability to successfully adapt in the face of stress and adversity may play an important role. Hence, the aim of this study is to explore resilience levels in breast cancer survivors and to study its relationship with workability. The sample was comprised of 44 breast cancer survivors of Spain, with a mean age of 51.93 (SD = 8.77). Participants completed the Wagnild and Young Resilience Scale (Spanish version adapted by and Work Ability Index (WAI, Tuomi et al., 1997). The results of the descriptive statistics revealed that breast cancer survivors displayed high lev-

For last decades, lifelong-learning has been receiving growing attention as playing a crucial role in active ageing social policies. Due to numerous controversial research findings regarding older employees’ continuous learning, our work focuses on comparing older vs. younger employees in terms of their motivation (willingness) to learn and outcomes that result from learning and training processes. Our results do not show statistically significant differences in learning results of both groups of employees, neither nor in general motivation for learning. However, the results show that older employees engage in learning less to fulfil their career goals and more to improve their work efficiency as well as facilitate knowledge transfer to the workplace. The crucial role of perceived organizational support for older employees’ continuous learning and training at workplace is further discussed. Key words: workforce aging, older employees, motivation for learning, age management.

Breast cancer is the most common neoplasia in women worldwide. Medical advances in prognosis and treatments have improved survival rates, however, many women report physical and psychological problems derived from the impact and the administered treatments that can undermine breast cancer survivors' workability. Given that breast cancer occurs at working age (35-65 years) and due to the importance that work has in their recovery process, it is crucial to determine the psychological resources that breast cancer survivors may use to reestablish their ability to work. In this sense, resilience understood as the ability to successfully adapt in the face of stress and adversity may play an important role. Hence, the aim of this study is to explore resilience levels in breast cancer survivors and to study its relationship with workability. The sample was comprised of 44 breast cancer survivors of Spain, with a mean age of 51.93 (SD = 8.77). Participants completed the Wagnild and Young Resilience Scale (Spanish version adapted by and Work Ability Index (WAI, Tuomi et al., 1997). The results of the descriptive statistics revealed that breast cancer survivors displayed high lev-

Breast cancer survivors (BCS) have identified attentional fatigue as a frequent and troublesome symptom during and following treatment. 1 -4 The ability to pay attention is necessary to complete tasks and activities, and problem solve. Attention requires ongoing mental effort. For BCS, the prolonged or intense use of attention to address the competing mental demands associated with illness, treatment and daily life activties, can lead to attentional fatigue and result in decreased effectiveness in activity. Attentional fatigue, a domain of cognitive function, is often used interchangeably with the terms cognitive dysfunction,cognitive impairment, cognitive fatigue or tiredness. Seminal research, however, delineates attentional fatigue from these other concepts by describing attentional fatigue as a measurable decrease in an individual's ability to focus and concentrate or to block out distractions when carrying out meaningful activities. Hallmark indicators of attentional fatigue are: increased distractibility, difficulty following a train of thought or carrying out usual day-to-day activities, lapses in working memory, and increased impatience or frustration in personal interactions. Although the two may coexist, physical and attentional fatigue differ in that an individual may not be physically tired but has a reduced ability to exert mental effort. Researchers have noted that BCS incur attentional fatigue more than age-matched controls 9 and prostate cancer patients. 10 Merriman and colleagues, 11 found that up to 63% of

Occupational Rehabilitation and Cognitive Functioning increased knowledge about all cognitive functions and should be specifically aware of the improvements in focused and sustained attention, while memory, executive function and emotion recognition remained unchanged. The results can be used as a motivation to tailor specific interventions to gain further improvements in all cognitive and emotional functions.

Occupational Rehabilitation and Cognitive Functioning increased knowledge about all cognitive functions and should be specifically aware of the improvements in focused and sustained attention, while memory, executive function and emotion recognition remained unchanged. The results can be used as a motivation to tailor specific interventions to gain further improvements in all cognitive and emotional functions.

Objectives The predictive ability of the STarT Back Tool (SBT) has not yet been examined among acute/subacute back and/or neck pain in a primary care setting in respect to health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and work ability outcomes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the SBT's predictive validity for HRQoL and work ability outcomes at long-term follow-up in a population with acute/subacute back and/or neck pain. setting Prospective data from 35 primary care centres in south Sweden during 2013. Participants Patients (n=329) with acute/subacute back and/or neck pain, aged 18-67 years, not on sick leave or <60 days of sick leave completed the SBT when applying for physiotherapy treatment. Long-term follow-up measures (median 13 months, range 11-27 months) of HRQoL (EQ-5D) and work ability (Work Ability Score) was completed by 238 patients (72%). Outcomes The predictive ability of the SBT for HRQoL and work ability outcomes was examined using Kruskal-Wallis test, logistic regression and area under the curve (AUC). results Based on SBT risk group stratification, 103 (43%), 107 (45%) and 28 (12%) patients were considered as low, medium and at high risk, respectively. There were statistically significant differences in HRQoL (p<0.001) and work ability (p<0.001) at follow-up between all three SBT risk groups. Patients in the high risk group had a significantly increased risk of having poor HRQoL (OR 6.16, 95% CI 1.50 to 25.26) and poor work ability (OR 5.08, 95% CI 1.75 to 14.71) vs the low risk group at follow-up. The AUC was 0.73 (95% CI 0.61 to 0.84) for HRQoL and 0.68 (95% CI 0.61 to 0.76) for work ability. Conclusions The SBT is an appropriate tool for identifying patients with a poor long-term HRQoL and/or work ability outcome in a population with acute/subacute back and/ or neck pain, and maybe a useful adjunct to primary care physiotherapy assessment and practice. trial registration number NCT02609750; Results.

Many work-related items are not included in the current classification of environmental factors from the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). Furthermore, personal factors are not classified and the ICF only provides a very limited list of examples. These facts make the ICF less useful for occupational health care and for research in the field of occupation and health. The objective of this discussion paper is to introduce an elaboration of contextual factors, focussing on factors that influence work participation. During the last 12 years, we developed two concept lists from the bottom up. These lists are based on our experiences in teaching and research, suggestions from students and other researchers, and factors found in the literature. In the fall of 2015 a scoping literature review was done to check for missing factors in these two concept lists. An elaboration of contextual factors, consisting of a list of work-related environmental factor...

W artykule wymieniono przyczyny i skutki niskiego poziomu aktywności zawodowej osób z niepełnosprawnością intelektualną (NI). Na podstawie sondażu przeprowadzonego z pracownikami otwartego rynku w Krakowie w 2018 r. zidentyfikowano bariery i szanse współpracy zawodowej osób w normie intelektualnej i osób z niepełnosprawnością intelektualną. Zaproponowano model edukacji i kontaktu młodzieży w normie intelektualnej z młodzieżą z NI, zwiększający szanse na otwarcie się rynku pracy na zatrudnianie osób z NI. Wykorzystując obserwację uczestniczącą zajęć przedsiębiorczości we wspólnej grupie, zaproponowano podejście integracyjne, tzw. inkluzji społecznej, w którym zasadniczą rolę podczas lekcji pełni trening kontaktów międzyludzkich (poznawczo-behawioralny) oraz nauczanie praktyczne – zewnętrzne (w rzeczywistych sytuacjach). Obserwacji poddani byli uczniowie ze Specjalnego Ośrodka Szkolno-Wychowawczego nr 3 w Krakowie oraz studenci Instytutu Geografii i Gospodarki Przestrzennej Uniwersyte...

Objective: In addition to acute health problems, various aspects of health behavior, workrelated and sociodemographic factors have been shown to influence the rate of sickness absence. The aim of this study was to concomitantly examine factors known to have an association with absenteeism. We hypothesized the prevalence of chronic diseases being the most important factor associated with sickness absence. Design: A cross-sectional study. Setting: Occupational health care in the region of Pori, Finland. Subjects: 671 municipal employees (89% females) with a mean age of 49 (SD 10) years. Information about the study subjects was gathered from medical records, by physical examination and questionnaires containing information about physical and mental health, health behavior, work-related and sociodemographic factors. The number of sickness absence days was obtained from the records of the city of Pori. Main outcome measures: The relationship of absenteeism rate with sociodemographic, healthand work-related risk factors. Results: In the multivariate analysis, the mean number of chronic diseases (IRR 1.24, 95% CI 1.13 to 1.36), work ability (IRR 0.83, 95% CI 0.76 to 0.91), and length of years in education (IRR 0.90, 95% CI 0.85 to 0.95) remained as independent factors associated with absenteeism. Conclusion: According to our results, chronic diseases, self-perceived work ability and length of years in education are the most important determinants of the rate of sickness absence. This implies that among working-aged people the treatment of chronic medical conditions is also worth prioritizing, not only to prevent complications, but also to avoid sickness absences. Various sociodemographic, health-and work-related risk factors have been shown to influence sickness absence. The study aimed to find the most important determinants of absenteeism among several known risk factors in Finnish municipal employees. Chronic diseases, self-perceived work ability and education years remained as the most important determinants of sickness absence rates. Treatment of chronic medical conditions should be prioritized in order to reduce sickness absence rate.

Objectives. The objective was to answer the following questions: What is the prevalence of potentially work-related diseases in the general practice population? What is the incidence of consulting a GP for a potentially work-related disease? What is the relationship between diseases seen in general practice and work ability? Methods. Cochrane standards and QUOROM principals were used. For this systematic review the available literature was identified in a computerized search of the bibliographical databases Medline, Embase and Osh-rom. A total of 22 publications (24 studies) met the inclusion criteria. Results. In the general practice population high prevalence rates of potentially work-related diseases were found for low back pain, neck pain and shoulder pain. Incidence rates of consulting a GP for a potentially work-related disease were high also. Musculoskeletal disorders were the main reasons for work-related consultations in general practice. Work-related diseases can affect work ability. Conclusions. Work-related diseases are common, given the high incidence and prevalence of potentially work-related diseases found in the general practice population and seen by the GP. This review underlines the important role of GPs in identifying and managing work-related diseases. GPs should consider the work factor and pay special attention to the effects of work on health, because patients often link their work with their illness.

Supervision is very important for every job in the organization, because through supervision, various things that can harm the organization can be monitored, such as errors in the implementation of work, deficiencies and weaknesses in the implementation of work methods, as well as obstacles experienced. In addition to monitoring work ability, it also has a great influence on employee performance. The ability to work greatly determines the performance of employees in a company. The success and ability to carry out work in an organization is very dependent on employee's performance. So that the ability to work is important for an employee to be able to complete the job well. This study analized the effect of supervision and work ability on employee performance at PT. Widya Pratama Perkasa. This study uses a quantitative approach within questioner odata complation within 39 respondents. There are three variables in this study, they are supervision (X1) and work ability (X2) as independent variables and employee performance (Y) as a dependent variable. Based on data analysis, it was found that there is significant influence of supervision (X1) on employee performance (Y), and work ability (X2) on employee performance (Y). In general this research found an effect of supervision (X1) and work ability (X2) together on employee performance (Y). This study implied that supervision can be carried out more intensely and carried out by people who are competent in their fields and have good abilities.

Background: The unemployed have lower work ability and poorer health than the employed. This situation deteriorates when unemployment continues. The long-term unemployed often have co-morbidities and face many other challenges. This increases the need for a multidimensional assessment of work ability and functioning in different service settings. In this study, we describe the development and analyse the content validity of the Abilitator, a self-report questionnaire on work ability and functioning for those in a weak labour market position. Methods: The Abilitator was developed in 2014-2017. Its construct was assessed by members of academic expert panels (n = 30), practical expert panels of professionals (n = 700) and target group clients (n = 28). The structure and the content of the questionnaire was co-developed in 29 workshops and adjusted twice based on the expert panels' feedback. The Abilitator was also implemented among target group clients (n = 3360) in different services and projects. During its development the Abilitator was linked to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). The content validation process followed the guidelines recommended by the Consensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement Instruments (COSMIN) panel. Results: The construct of the Abilitator combines the multidimensional and biopsychosocial models of work ability and functioning. It also includes aspects of social inclusion and employability. It evaluates social, psychological, cognitive and physical functioning, and the ability to cope with everyday life. The content of these concepts was validated by the academic and practical expert panels. The Abilitator's 79 ICF codes covered 57% of the Generic, 77% of the Brief Vocational Rehabilitation, and 8% of the Minimal Environmental ICF Core Sets. When compared with the Work Ability Index (WAI) and the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS 2.0), the direct equivalences of the ICF codes were 36 and 44%, respectively. Conclusion: The Abilitator sufficiently comprehensively covers the relevant aspects to enable the assessment of the overall work ability and functioning of the population in a weak labour market position.

Nursing personnel is essential in hospital, health centers and enterprises and is the large work force in health system. A cross-sectional study was conducted in a large city in two public hospitals and five health centre with the objective of to evaluate the work ability and health aspects of nursing staff. The sample was composed by 570 workers. The Work Ability Index - WAI and a questionnaire with socio-demographic, health and life style data was applied. The majority of workers was women (83%), married (50.4%), and was working in night shift work (65.6%); 61.4% was auxiliary nursing, 22.3% was registered nurses (RN). The average age was 38.9 years (SD 7.8) and the Body Mass Index mean was 25.8 (SD 5.3). Only 17.2% referred to practice at least 150 minutes of physical exercise five times per week or more. 26.8% had a second job. The work ability mean was 39.3 (SD 5.3) points. Age had a negative correlation with WAI (p=0.0052). Public hospital and health centre workers had poor wo...

Violence against healthcare workers is a phenomenon of global proportions, which seems to be increasing at an alarming rate (Philips, 2016; Reddy, Ukrani, Indla, & Ukrani, 2019). Physical violence is more frequent in some departments, such as psychiatry and accident and emergency (

Aim To explore the relationship between the current work
ability index (WAI) and depressive and anxiety symptoms
in breast cancer (BC) patients and the role of depressive,
anxiety, and physical symptoms in mediating this relationship.
Methods This prospective study enrolled 83 employed
women with BC. At baseline assessment (in the first three
months following BC diagnosis) and follow-up assessment
(one year after baseline), participants completed the WAI,
Beck Depression Inventory-II, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory,
and the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of
Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire with a breast cancer-specific module. Mediation analyses were conducted to
explore the mechanism by which depressive, anxiety, and
physical symptoms influenced the relationship between
WAI and depressive and anxiety symptoms.
Results WAI was negatively associated with depressive
and anxiety symptoms. The effect of baseline depressive
and trait anxiety symptoms on WAI at follow-up was mediated by both depressive and trait anxiety symptoms, as
well as by physical symptoms at follow-up. The effect of
baseline state anxiety symptoms on WAI at follow-up was
mediated only by state anxiety symptoms at follow-up.
Conclusions Baseline depressive and anxiety symptoms
affect WAI at follow-up not only through persisting depressive and anxiety symptoms observed at follow-up but also
through physical symptoms at follow-up. This indicates
that efforts aimed at improving psychological health may
result in simultaneous improvements in both psychological and physical health, as well as the resulting WAI.

This article is focused on psychometric properties of Work Ability Index. The authors have undertaken this task in order to check whether WAI may be considered as a reliable, valid and universal measurement of ability to work in the nursing profession. As an empirical basis authors used the data set obtained from Nurses' Early Exit Study-coming from 10 European countries, an extensive international survey research, conducted on almost 40,000 nurses. As a measure of work ability, WAI may be treated as internally coherent, although one item seems to be meaningless and unnecessary. Additionally, WAI should be considered a very predictive and cross-nationally stable instrument.

Objective: To study the trajectories of work ability and investigate the impact of multisite pain and working conditions on pathways of work ability over a six-year period. Methods: The longitudinal study was conducted with Finnish food industry workers (n = 866) with data collected every 2 years from 2003-2009. Questions covered musculoskeletal pain, physical and psychosocial working conditions (physical strain, repetitive movements, awkward postures; mental strain, team support, leadership, possibility to influence) and work ability. Latent class growth analysis and logistic regression were used to analyse the impact of multisite pain and working conditions on work ability trajectories (pathways). Results: Three trajectories of work ability emerged: decreasing (5%), increasing (5%), and good (90%). In the former two trajectories, the mean score of work ability changed from good to poor and poor to good during follow-up, while in the latter, individuals maintained good work ability during the follow-up. In the multivariable adjusted model, number of pain sites was significantly associated with higher odds of belonging to the trajectory of poor work ability (Odds ratio (OR) 4 pain sites 2.96, 1.25-7.03). Conclusions: A substantial number of employees maintained good work ability across the follow up. However, for employees with poor work ability, multisite musculoskeletal pain has an important influence, with effective prevention strategies required to reduce its prevalence.

Objective: Demographic changes involving western countries and later retirements due to the recent pension reforms induce a gradual aging of the workforce. This imply an increasing number of workers with health problems and a decreasing of ability to work. In this direction, the present study aims at examining the role of job and personal resources between age and work ability within nurses. Method: The study was cross-sectional and not randomized; data were collected by a self-report questionnaire during a multi-center survey conducted in two Italian hospitals in 2016. In this way, 333 nurses were reached. Results: Multiple linear regression showed that age is significantly and negatively associated to work ability, and that job resources (e.g., decision authority and meaning of work) and personal resources (e.g., hope and resilience) moderate the relationship between age and work ability. Discussion: These results highlight that investing in work and personal resources to support ...

PurposeThe study had three aims. We investigated, first, how six recovery experiences (i.e., detachment, relaxation, control, mastery, meaning, and affiliation) during off-job time suggested by the DRAMMA model (Newman et al. in J Happiness Stud 15(3):555–578.10.1007/s10902-013-9435-x, 2014) are related to well-being (i.e., vitality, life satisfaction, and work ability). Second, we examined how age related to these outcomes, and third, we investigated whether age moderated the relationships between recovery experiences and well-being outcomes.MethodsA sample of 909 Finnish teachers responded to an electronic questionnaire (78% women, average age 51 years). The data were analyzed with moderated hierarchical regression analyses.ResultsDetachment from work, relaxation, control, and mastery were associated with higher vitality. Detachment, relaxation, meaning, and affiliation were related to higher life satisfaction. Older age was related to lower work ability, but not to vitality or li...

Nursing personnel is essential in hospital, health centers and enterprises and is the large work force in health system. A cross-sectional study was conducted in a large city in two public hospitals and five health centre with the objective of to evaluate the work ability and health aspects of nursing staff. The sample was composed by 570 workers. The Work Ability Index-WAI and a questionnaire with socio-demographic, health and life style data was applied. The majority of workers was women (83%), married (50.4%), and was working in night shift work (65.6%); 61.4% was auxiliary nursing, 22.3% was registered nurses (RN). The average age was 38.9 years (SD 7.8) and the Body Mass Index mean was 25.8 (SD 5.3). Only 17.2% referred to practice at least 150 minutes of physical exercise five times per week or more. 26.8% had a second job. The work ability mean was 39.3 (SD 5.3) points. Age had a negative correlation with WAI (p=0.0052). Public hospital and health centre workers had poor work ability score when compared with workers from another branches. Public policies related to workplace health promotion need to be implemented in public hospital and health centre to improve the work ability.

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. Methods A questionnaire survey of postal employees aged ≥50 years was conducted in 2016 and followed up in 2018 (n = 1102). The data were divided into training and validation sets. The outcome was defined as whether the employees had an assured workability after 2 years or not. Multivariable log-binomial regression was used to calculate the SE index. The area under the curve (AUC) was calculated to assess the discriminative power of the index. Results The probability of assured workability increased with increasing quintiles of the SE index. The highest quintiles of the SE index showed the highest observed and expected assured workability in 2 years. The predictive ability, area und...

Netherlands advised the government to focus on interventions to support workers in prolonging their working lives as well as the improvement of implementation of these interventions. Considering the large diversity in health at higher age and between low-and high-educated people, it was further recommended to explore whether flexible pensions schemes better suit this diversity.

Aims: To obtain more insight into differences in sick leave assessments of workers with subjective health complaints, we studied sick leave assessments among Dutch occupational and insurance physicians, and explored possible determinants for these differences. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 50 occupational and 43 insurance physicians in the Netherlands. They all assessed sick leave (complete, partial or no) of nine video case vignettes of workers with subjective health complaints and gave their opinion on the complaints, sick leave and health status. Data were analyzed via a multinomial regression approach, using generalized estimating equations in SPSS. Results: Compared to occupational physicians, complete sick leave was less likely to be assessed by insurance physicians (odds ratio 0.74, 95% confidence interval 0.56-0.97). For occupational physicians, psychological diagnoses, private issues and reduced work ability had more influence on the outcome of the sick leave assessment than for insurance physicians. Conclusion: There are differences in sick leave assessments for workers with subjective health complaints between physicians working in the same occupational health system; insurance physicians are stricter in assessing complete sick leave than occupational physicians. These differences may be explained by differences in roles, tasks and perspectives of the physician in occupational health care. ä IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATION Sick leave assessments of workers with subjective health complaints. The current study showed that there are differences between occupational physicians and insurance physicians in sick leave assessments for workers with subjective health complaints. These differences may be based on different perspectives, roles and tasks of physicians. Physicians working in the rehabilitation and occupational health system should be more aware of the impact of these differences on their assessments and advices. Better communication and collaboration between physicians, and more insight into and clarification of the perspectives may result in more agreement between physicians' sick leave assessment and advice towards workers.

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). Employee’s intention to retire before statutory retirement was measured on a scale of 1–5 and dichotomized. The quality of work community was defined by four composite variables: equality at work, flexibility at work, supportive work environment and health or other reason and trichotomized by their tercile values. Odds ratio (ORs) and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for associations of quality of work community with intention to retire were calculated separately for men and women using log binomial regression models adjusted for potential confounders. Results About one-third of respondents intended to retire early with...

The congenital heart disease (CHD) population now comprises an increasing number of older persons in their 6th decade of life and beyond. We cross-sectionally evaluated patient-reported outcomes (PROs) in persons with CHD aged 60 years or older, and contrasted these with PROs of younger patients aged 40–59 years and 18–39 years. Adjusted for demographic and medical characteristics, patients ≥60 years had a lower Physical Component Summary, higher Mental Component Summary, and lower anxiety (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale-Anxiety) scores than patients in the two younger categories. For satisfaction with life, older persons had a higher score than patients aged 40–59 years. Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02150603.

The congenital heart disease (CHD) population now comprises an increasing number of older persons in their 6th decade of life and beyond. We cross-sectionally evaluated patient-reported outcomes (PROs) in persons with CHD aged 60 years or older, and contrasted these with PROs of younger patients aged 40–59 years and 18–39 years. Adjusted for demographic and medical characteristics, patients ≥60 years had a lower Physical Component Summary, higher Mental Component Summary, and lower anxiety (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale-Anxiety) scores than patients in the two younger categories. For satisfaction with life, older persons had a higher score than patients aged 40–59 years. Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02150603.

Background: Conflicting results have been reported regarding employment status and work ability in adults with congenital heart disease (CHD). Since this is an important determinant for quality of life, we assessed this in a large international adult CHD cohort. Methods: Data from 4028 adults with CHD (53% women) from 15 different countries were collected by a uniform survey in the cross-sectional APPROACH International Study. Predictors for employment and work limitations were studied using general linear mixed models. Results: Median age was 32 years (IQR 25-42) and 94% of patients had at least a high school degree. Overall employment rate was 69%, but varied substantially among countries. Higher education (OR 1.99-3.69) and having a partner (OR 1.72) were associated with more employment; female sex (OR 0.66, worse NYHA functional class (OR 0.67-0.13), and a history of congestive heart failure (OR 0.74) were associated with less employment. Limitations at work were reported in 34% and were associated with female sex (OR 1.36), increasing age (OR 1.03 per year), more severe CHD (OR 1.31-2.10), and a history of congestive heart failure (OR 1.57) or mental disorders (OR 2.26). Only a university degree was associated with fewer limitations at work (OR 0.62). Conclusions: There are genuine differences in the impact of CHD on employment status in different countries. Although the majority of adult CHD patients are employed, limitations at work are common. Education appears to be the main predictor for successful employment and should therefore be encouraged in patients with CHD.

SECTION 1 3.3.4 Cardiovascular conditions 3.3.5 Mental conditions 3.3.6 Sleep disorders 3.3.7 Estimated work impairment due to medical conditions 3.3.8 Summary SECTION RECOMMENDATIONS Health Work organisation Work environment Education and training Research Appendices Appendix 1 Responses to open-ended question (Sample 1) Appendix 2 Responses to open-ended question (Sample 2) REFERENCES List of Figures and Tables i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This study was made possible through a grant from the Australian Coal Association Research Program (ACARP). Thanks are extended to the nominated ACARP advisors, David Mellows (Group Safety Manager, Xstrata Coal) and Peter Tight (Corporate Manager, Workers' Compensation, Rio Tinto Coal Australia), for their continued input and support for the project. The following mining and contractor companies are acknowledged for their support of the research program and access to open-cut and underground mines within their operation:

Ongoing demographic changes and global population ageing require organisations to pay special attention to their employment policies. With working life extension and age management increasingly included in discussions about reactive versus proactive personnel policies, the term 'generativity' gains special importance as an approach to managing a generationally diverse workforce. Generativity can be understood as an attitude of openness towards the younger generations that focuses on exchanging values, knowledge, and experiences with them. It is a source of positive emotions and better social relationships, personal fulfilment, good energy, and aliveness. In the paper, generativity is discussed in the framework of two theories: the socio-emotional selectivity theory (SST) and successful ageing theory (SOC). The aim of this paper is to assess the relationship between generativity and individual work outcomes. We considered both in-role and extra-role outcomes analysed in the job context. Meta-analysis is conducted of studies that investigate generativity and its relationships with motivational outcomes (job satisfaction, engagement, work motivation, affective commitment, self-efficacy), cognitive outcomes (attitudes toward retirement, career success, self-control), personal outcomes (wellbeing, health, job strain), relational outcomes and extra-role behaviours (organisational citizenship behaviour and sustainable behaviour). The analysis examines 65 independent samples that included 30,540 individuals, and considers the role of three moderators-the cultural context, the measurement method and age. It demonstrates that generativity has significant and positive motivational, cognitive and extra-role behaviour outcomes for workers and that it improves their well-being.

Nurses belong to an occupational category which work processes exhausting both physically and mentally that can change the ability to work and contribute to sleep disturbances, psychological, cardiac and digestive as well as family and social changes. Objectives: Assess the ability to work in nurses working in shifts; check whether nurses who reported higher prevalence of diseases had lower capacity to work, sleep disorders, chronic fatigue, personality changes, interference in social life, domestic and non-domestic activities, cardiovascular symptoms and changes in health in general. Methods: This is a quantitative descriptive and explanatory cross-correlated study. We used the questionnaire “Work Ability Índex” to determine the work ability, to determine the consequences of shift work used the Portuguese version of “Survey of Shiftworkers”. We resorted to a non-probability convenience sample of 343 nurses to perform duties on health units in Nordeste Transmontano region. Results: ...

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. Methods A questionnaire survey of postal employees aged ≥50 years was conducted in 2016 and followed up in 2018 (n = 1102). The data were divided into training and validation sets. The outcome was defined as whether the employees had an assured workability after 2 years or not. Multivariable log-binomial regression was used to calculate the SE index. The area under the curve (AUC) was calculated to assess the discriminative power of the index. Results The probability of assured workability increased with increasing quintiles of the SE index. The highest quintiles of the SE index showed the highest observed and expected assured workability in 2 years. The predictive ability, area under the curve (AUC) for training was 0.79 (95% CI 0.75-0.83) and for validation data was 0.76 (95% CI 0.73-0.80). In the scoring tool, the self-rated health, workability, job satisfaction and perceived employment had the highest contribution to the index. Conclusions The SE index was able to distinguish the employees based on whether they had assured workability after 2 years. The scoring method could be used to calculate the potentiality of future employability among late midlife postal employees.

Objective: Organizations and state agencies that provide dental care continuously face various and novel demands related to the need for dental care. However, rearrangements of work tasks by reducing the number of tasks performed by dental personnel might make the work more monotonous, repetitive, and static within an organization. The aim of this study is to compare how two dental work organizations, with different staffing and clinic size, are perceived by dental personnel focusing on physical and psychosocial conditions, leadership, work ability and presenteeism in 2012 and 2014. Material and Methods: This repeated cross-sectional study included personnel from the Public Dental Service in Sweden. There were 282 dentists, dental hygienists, and dental nurses who answered a questionnaire 2012 and 299 in 2014. Results and conclusion: In 2012, nine per cent of medium clinics reported poor leadership compared with 27% in 2014. For large clinics, 17% perceived poor leadership in 2012 compared with 31% in 2014. A higher proportion of the employees reported presenteeism due to high physical load (43%) and high psychosocial load (21%) in 2014 compared with 31% and 13% in 2012. These results indicate the need for work place interventions promoting health among dental employees.

BackgroundMental disorders affect employment and the ability to work, and mental healthcare providers are important in the promotion of health and employment for affected individuals. The objective of this study is to explore the perspectives of mental healthcare providers on pathways to improved employment for persons with mental disorders in two lower middle-income countries.MethodsOur study participants included mental healthcare providers (psychiatrists, occupational physicians, psychologists, and social care workers) from Kenya and Nigeria. Qualitative interviews and a focus group discussion were conducted with 15 professionals in Kenya and online questionnaires were completed by 80 professionals from Nigeria.ResultsThe study participants suggested that work is important for the recovery and wellbeing of persons with mental disorders. A complex interplay of factors related to the health of persons with mental disorders and the socioeconomic system in their setting were identifi...

Background and aims: Musculoskeletal pain may negatively affect work ability, especially when work demands are high and/or physical capacity of the worker is low. This study investigated the association between intensity of musculoskeletal pain in multiple body regions and work ability among young and old workers with sedentary and physical demanding jobs. Methods: Currently employed wage earners (n = 10,427) replied to questions about pain intensity, work ability, and physical work demands. The odds ratio (OR) for having a lower level of work ability in relation to the physical demands at work were modeled using logistic regression controlled for various confounders. Results: The OR for lower work ability increased with higher pain intensity in all regions among workers with sedentary and physical work. The same pattern was observed among workers <50 years and ≥50 years in both work types. The association was quite consistent across age and work activity groups, although it tended to be more pronounced among those with physically demanding work in some of pain regions. Conclusions: This study shows that increasing pain intensity in multiple sites of the body is associated with lower work ability. This was seen for both younger and older workers as well as those with sedentary and physical work. Implications: Physical workers with multiple-site pain may especially be at increased risk of the consequences of reduced work ability. Therefore, extra attention is needed and this group may benefit from better targeted preventive measures.

Previous studies have shown that direct involvement in workplace conflicts may have a significant impact on individual well-being. We used survey and interview data from a large nongovernmental organization (NGO) to analyze both the relationships between direct and indirect involvement in workplace conflicts and individual and organizational well-being. Results show that unaddressed conflicts and nonresponsive or conflict-involved managers are problematic because they fuel already existing conflicts, and also pave the way for new ones. If conflicts are not handled at an early enough stage, they seem to "paralyze" the organization and serve as an interlocking mechanism that contributes to hindering the necessary action from management. In our case, one-fifth of the employees were directly involved in the conflicts, and two-thirds felt that their local working environment had been influenced negatively by the conflicts. The prevalence of mental health problems in the NGO was almost twice as high as in the general Norwegian population, and slightly more than one out of 10 reported reduced work ability. We conclude that individuals directly involved in the conflicts experience negative health consequences, and that this fact, in combination with organizational issues and a very high share of employees indirectly involved in the conflicts, affected the well-being of the whole organization.

This is a cross-sectional study conducted with 258 teachers from nine state schools in two municipalities of São Paulo state with the purpose of assessing their work ability. A questionnaire with socio-demographic and health/work conditions data and the Work Ability Index (WAI) was performed. Most teachers were females, 41.9 yr old on average (SD 9.4), and with an undergraduate degree (95.7%). The work ability was considered good for 42.6% and moderate/low for 35.3%. In linear regressions models, which used the two domain model, the significant variables for a decrease in WAI were: individual perception of a worsening in the health situation (p<0001), having children (p=0.0003 / p=0.0001), difficulty in sleeping well at night (p=0.0009 / p=0.0014), history of physical pain in the previous six months (p<0.0001 / p<0.0001), being a teacher with a contract (p=0.0007) and working as a teacher for a longer time. (p=0.0183). Public investments on the work conditions of teachers are important to recover and to maintain their work ability.

Background: Work-life balance (WLB) is the extent to which individual's multiple life roles and demands carry over between each role. WLB can be divided into work interference with personal life (WIPL) and personal life interference with work (PLIW). This study aimed to investigate longitudinal associations between WIPL, PLIW and work ability outcomes. Methods: In this cohort study, 224 employees in the energy and water sector in Sweden were followed-up over 2 years. Three questions derived from the Work Ability Index were used for measuring work ability outcome: current work ability compared with lifetime best; work ability regarding physical; and mental demands. Logistic regression models were used to analyse longitudinal associations between work ability and WIPL and WIPL respectively, controlling for workplace (company), position at work, experience of leadership quality, demographics, and work ability. Results: Work ability compared to lifetime best were associated with WIPL in the adjusted logistic regression models (odds ratio (OR) 1.77, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.15-2.73), and PLIW (OR 3.34, 95% CI 1.66-6.74). Work ability regarding physical demands was associated with WIPL (OR 1.60, 95% CI 1.07-2.40). Work ability regarding mental demands was associated with WIPL (OR 1.59, 95% CI 1.03-2.44) and PLIW (OR 2.88, 95% CI 1.31-6.32). Conclusion: In this two-year longitudinal study, lower WIPL predicted good/excellent overall work ability compared with lifetime best, higher work ability regarding physical and mental demands, and lower PLIW predicted good/ excellent overall work ability compared with lifetime best and higher work ability regarding and mental demands.

Background: Conflicting results have been reported regarding employment status and work ability in adults with congenital heart disease (CHD). Since this is an important determinant for quality of life, we assessed this in a large international adult CHD cohort. Methods: Data from 4028 adults with CHD (53% women) from 15 different countries were collected by a uniform survey in the cross-sectional APPROACH International Study. Predictors for employment and work limitations were studied using general linear mixed models. Results: Median age was 32 years (IQR 25-42) and 94% of patients had at least a high school degree. Overall employment rate was 69%, but varied substantially among countries. Higher education (OR 1.99-3.69) and having a partner (OR 1.72) were associated with more employment; female sex (OR 0.66, worse NYHA functional class (OR 0.67-0.13), and a history of congestive heart failure (OR 0.74) were associated with less employment. Limitations at work were reported in 34% and were associated with female sex (OR 1.36), increasing age (OR 1.03 per year), more severe CHD (OR 1.31-2.10), and a history of congestive heart failure (OR 1.57) or mental disorders (OR 2.26). Only a university degree was associated with fewer limitations at work (OR 0.62). Conclusions: There are genuine differences in the impact of CHD on employment status in different countries. Although the majority of adult CHD patients are employed, limitations at work are common. Education appears to be the main predictor for successful employment and should therefore be encouraged in patients with CHD.

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. Mixture modelling was used to identify trajectories of WLS. A generalized linear model was used to determine the measures of association (Risk Ratios, RR; 95% Confidence Intervals, CI) between exposures (work ability and WLS) and ITR. Results: Approximately 40% of respondents indicated ITR. Four distinct trajectories of WLS were identified: high (33%), moderate (35%), decreasing (23%) and low (9%). Participants with poor work ability (RR 1.79, 95% CI 1.40–2.29) and decreasing WLS (1.29, 1.13–1.46) were more likely to indicate an ITR early compared to the participants with excellent/good work ability and high WLS. Job control mediated the relationship between ITR ...

Introduction: Different kinds of shared and activity-based offices are common today and employees' experiences, perceived health, well-being, satisfaction, and productivity have been studied in different types and sizes of environments. Objectives: In this study we aimed to determine employee satisfaction with a multispace office. We also aimed to find associations between satisfaction with working space and both individual and social well-being. Methods: A total of 91 employees from a multi-space office shared by six municipality-owned companies answered a self-administered questionnaire. Frequencies, percentages, averages, and minimum and maximum values are used to describe the results. We used cross-tabulation and Pearson's Chi-Square test to study the associations and linear regression analysis to create a model describing the variability of workspace satisfaction. Results: The employees were most satisfied with the workspace furniture (82% of respondents) and most dissatisfied with workspace acoustics (44%). Workspace satisfaction was associated with self-satisfaction, good self-perceived future work ability, and good recovery. As regards social factors, workspace satisfaction was associated with good atmosphere among colleagues and good social capital. Satisfaction with acoustics was also associated with good self-perceived future work ability, recovery, and good social capital. Social capital best explained the general variation in workplace satisfaction. Conclusions: Many individual-and social-related well-being outcomes, and especially social capital, were associated with workspace satisfaction. To maintain workplace satisfaction and well-being, attention should be paid to the design, functionality, and management of the used workspaces.