Out of sight but not out of mind: Home countries’ macroeconomic volatilities and immigrants’ mental health

We provide the first empirical evidence that better economic performances by immigrants’ countries of origin, as measured by lower CPI or higher GDP, improve immigrants’ mental health. We use an econometrically-robust approach that exploits exogenous changes in macroeconomic conditions across immigrants’ home countries over time and controls for immigrants’ observable and unobservable characteristics. The CPI effect is statistically significant and sizeable. Furthermore, the CPI effect diminishes as the time since emigrating increases. By contrast, home countries’ unemployment rates and exchange rate fluctuations have no impact on immigrants’ mental health

The importance of job control for workers with decreased work ability to remain productive at work

Purpose: Workers with decreased work ability are at greater risk of reduced productivity at work. We hypothesized that work-related characteristics play an important role in supporting workers to remain productive despite decreased work ability. Methods: The study population consisted of 10,542 workers in 49 different companies in the Netherlands in 2005-2009. Productivity loss at work was defined on a 10-point scale by asking how much work was actually performed during regular hours on the last regular workday when compared with normal. Independent variables in the logistic regression analysis were individual characteristics, work-related factors, and the work ability index. Additive interactions between work-related factors and decreased work ability were evaluated by the relative excess risk due to interaction (RERI). Results: The odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the likelihood of productivity loss at work were 2.03 (1.85-2.22), 3.50 (3.10-3.95), and 5.54 (4.37-7.03) for a good, moderate, and poor work ability, compared with an excellent work ability (reference group). Productivity loss at work was associated with lack of job control, poor skill discretion, and high work demands. There was a significant interaction between decreased work ability and lack of job control (RERI = 0.63 95% CI 0.11-1.16) with productivity loss at work. Conclusion: The negative effects on work performance of decreased work ability may be partly counterbalanced by increased job control. This suggests that interventions among workers with (chronic) disease that cause a decreased work ability should include enlargement of possibilities to plan and pace their own activities at work

Unemployment and disability pension-an 18-year follow-up study of a 40-year-old population in a Norwegian county

<p>© 2012 Støver et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.</p><p>This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.</p

Development and validation of the Multi-dimensional University Research Workplace Inventory (MDURWI)

WOS:000454839600005This study describes the development and validation of an instrument aimed toward measuring organizational features of an academic research workplace. The question pool was developed based on data from a pilot study (N = 43). The survey was deployed to academic researchers in the field of higher education research worldwide (N = 850). An exploratory factor analysis conducted on 36 questions, followed by confirmatory factor analysis, which lead to a final pool of 27 questions in five subscales, one of which divided into three lower-order factors. The final model exhibited very good fit (X2/df = 2.561; CFI = 0.972; PCFI = 0.784; RMSEA = 0.043; P[rmsea ? 0.05] < 0.001; AIC = 891.018; BCC = 987.839) and psychometric properties, in the form of factorial, convergent, and discriminant validity, as well as reliability and sensitivity. Implications of this instrument for research and policymaking are discussed, as well as future research directions.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Abordagem multifatorial do absenteísmo por doença em trabalhadores de enfermagem

OBJETIVO: Analisar fatores associados ao absenteísmo por doença autorreferido em trabalhadores de enfermagem. MÉTODOS: Estudo transversal com 1.509 trabalhadores de três hospitais públicos no município do Rio de Janeiro, RJ, em 2006. O absenteísmo foi classificado em três níveis: nenhum dia, poucos dias (um a nove dias) e muitos dias (>; 10 dias), a partir da resposta a uma pergunta do questionário de avaliação do índice de capacidade para o trabalho. As análises de regressão logística levaram em conta um modelo conceitual com base em determinantes distais (condições socioeconômicas), de níveis intermediários I (características ocupacionais) e II (características do estilo de vida), e proximais (doenças e condições de saúde). RESULTADOS: As frequências de absenteísmo por doença foram de 20,3% e 16,6% para poucos e muitos dias, respectivamente. Aqueles que referiram mais de um emprego, doenças osteomusculares e avaliaram sua saúde como ruim ou regular apresentaram chances mais elevadas de absenteísmo. Comparados aos enfermeiros, os auxiliares tiveram menor chance de referir poucos dias e os técnicos, maiores chances de apresentar muitos dias de ausência. Chances mais elevadas de referir muitos dias de ausência foram observadas entre os servidores públicos em relação aos contratados (OR = 3,12; IC95% 1,86;5,22) e entre os casados (OR = 1,73; IC95% 1,14;2,63) e separados, divorciados e viúvos (OR = 2,06; IC95% 1,27;3,35), comparados aos solteiros. CONCLUSÕES: Diferentes variáveis foram associadas às duas modalidades de absenteísmo, o que sugere sua determinação múltipla e complexa, relacionada a fatores de diversos níveis que não podem ser explicados apenas por problemas de saúde.OBJETIVO: Analizar factores asociados al ausentismo por enfermedad auto referida en trabajadores de enfermería. MÉTODOS: Estudio transversal con 1.509 trabajadores de tres hospitales públicos en Rio de Janeiro, Sureste de Brasil, en 2006. El ausentismo fue clasificado en tres niveles: ningún día, pocos días (uno a nueve días) y muchos días (>;10 días), a partir de la respuesta a una pregunta de cuestionario de evaluación del índice de capacidad para el trabajo. Los análisis de regresión logística tomaron en cuenta un modelo conceptual con base en determinantes distales (condiciones socioeconómicas), de nivel intermedio I (características ocupacionales) y II (características de estilo de vida) y, proximales (enfermedades y condiciones de salud). RESULTADOS: Las frecuencias de ausentismo por enfermedad fueron de 20,3% y 16,6% para pocos y muchos días, respectivamente. Aquellos que mencionaron más de un empleo, enfermedades osteomusculares y evaluaron su salud como mala o regular presentaron chances más elevados de ausentismo. En comparación con los enfermeros, los auxiliares tuvieron menor chance de relatar pocos días y los técnicos, mayores chances de presentar muchos días de ausencia. Chances mas elevados de mencionar muchos días de ausencia fueron observados entre los servidores públicos con relación a los contratados (OR=3,12; IC95% 1,86;5,22) y entre los casados (OR= 1,73; IC95% 1,14;2,63) y separados, divorciados y viudos (OR= 2,06; IC95% 1,27;3,35), en comparación con los solteros. CONCLUSIONES: Diferentes variables fueron asociadas con las dos modalidades de ausentismo, lo que sugiere su determinación múltiple y compleja, relacionada con factores de diversos niveles que no pueden ser explicados sólo por problemas de salud.OBJECTIVE: To analyze factors associated with self-reported sickness absenteeism among nursing workers. METHODS: Cross-sectional study with 1,509 workers from three public hospitals in the city of Rio de Janeiro (Southeastern Brazil) in 2006. Absenteeism was classified in three levels: no day, a few days (1-9 days) and many days (>; 10 days), based on the answer to a question of the work ability index questionnaire. The logistic regression analysis considered a conceptual model based on distal (socioeconomic status), intermediate I (occupational characteristics), intermediate II (lifestyle characteristics), and proximal (diseases and health conditions) determinants. RESULTS: The frequencies of sickness absenteeism were 20.3% and 16.6% for a few days and many days, respectively. Those who reported more than one job, musculoskeletal diseases and rated their health as poor or regular had higher odds of absenteeism. Compared to nurses, nursing assistants were less likely to mention a few days, and technicians were more likely to have many days of absence. Higher odds of mentioning many days of absence were observed among public servants, compared to contract workers (OR = 3.12; 95%CI 1.86;5.22), and among married (OR = 1.73; 95%CI 1.14;2.63) and separated, divorced and widowed individuals (OR = 2.06, 95%CI 1.27;3.35), compared to singles. CONCLUSIONS: Different variables were associated with the two forms of absenteeism, which suggests its multiple and complex determination related to factors from different levels that cannot be exclusively explained by health problems

Relationship between e-cigarette point of sale recall and e-cigarette use in secondary school children: a cross-sectional study

Background There has been a rapid increase in the retail availability of e-cigarettes in the UK and elsewhere. It is known that exposure to cigarette point-of-sale (POS) displays influences smoking behaviour and intentions in young people. However, there is as yet no evidence regarding the relationship between e-cigarette POS display exposure and e-cigarette use in young people. Methods This cross sectional study survey was conducted in four high schools in Scotland. A response rate of 87% and a total sample of 3808 was achieved. Analysis was by logistic regression on e-cigarette outcomes with standard errors adjusted for clustering within schools. The logistic regression models were adjusted for recall of other e-cigarette adverts, smoking status, and demographic variables. Multiple chained imputation was employed to assess the consistency of the findings across different methods of handling missing data. Results Adolescents who recalled seeing e-cigarettes in small shops were more likely to have tried an e-cigarette (OR 1.92 99% CI 1.61 to 2.29). Adolescents who recalled seeing e-cigarettes for sale in small shops (OR 1.80 99% CI 1.08 to 2.99) or supermarkets (OR 1.70 99% CI 1.22 to 2.36) were more likely to intend to try them in the next 6 months. Conclusions This study has found a cross-sectional association between self-reported recall of e-cigarette POS displays and use of, and intention to use, e-cigarettes. The magnitude of this association is comparable to that between tobacco point of sale recall and intention to use traditional cigarettes in the same sample. Further longitudinal data is required to confirm a causal relationship between e-cigarette point of sale exposure and future use in young people.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe