Increasing work-place healthiness with the probiotic Lactobacillus reuteri: A randomised, double-blind placebo-controlled study

BACKGROUND: Short term illnesses, usually caused by respiratory or gastrointestinal diseases are disruptive to productivity and there is relatively little focus on preventative measures. This study examined the effect of the probiotic Lactobacillus reuteri protectis (ATCC55730) on its ability to improve work-place healthiness by reducing short term sick-leave caused by respiratory or gastrointestinal infections. METHODS: 262 employees at TetraPak in Sweden (day-workers and three-shift-workers) that were healthy at study start were randomised in a double-blind fashion to receive either a daily dose of 10(8 )Colony Forming Units of L. reuteri or placebo for 80 days. The study products were administered with a drinking straw. 181 subjects complied with the study protocol, 94 were randomised to receive L. reuteri and 87 received placebo. RESULTS: In the placebo group 26.4% reported sick-leave for the defined causes during the study as compared with 10.6% in the L. reuteri group (p < 0.01). The frequency of sick-days was 0.9% in the placebo group and 0.4% in the L. reuteri group (p < 0.01). Among the 53 shift-workers, 33% in the placebo group reported sick during the study period as compared with none in the L. reuteri group(p < 0.005)

Ett friskt arbetsliv Fysiska och psykosociala orsakssamband samt möjligheter till prevention och tidig rehabilitering

In an anthology the state of the art regarding mechanisms and relationships for health and illness in relation to work life factors of psychosocial, organisational and physical nature. Further more, the present knowledge regarding the effectiveness of different measures of vocational rehabilitation is presented. Finally a number of examples of different kinds of interventions with health consequences from the literature are presented. The most important conclusions are summarised in boxes at the beginning of the chapter.I en antologi redovisas kunskapsläget gällande mekanismer och samband för hälsa och ohälsa relaterade till arbetslivsfaktorer av psykosocial, organisatorisk och fysisk natur. Vidare redovisas dagsläget vad det gäller kunskaperna kring effektiviteten av olika insatser inom yrkesrehabilitering. Sammanställningen avslutas med ett antal exempel från litteraturen på interventioner av olika typer med relevans för arbetshälsan. De viktigaste slutsatserna sammanfattas inledningsvis i varje kapitel i ett antal faktarutor