Organisational downsizing and musculoskeletal problems in employees: a prospective study

Objectives: To study the association between organisational downsizing and subsequent musculoskeletal problems in employees and to determine the association with changes in psychosocial and behavioural risk factors. Methods: Participants were 764 municipal employees working in Raisio, Finland before and after an organisational downsizing carried out between 1991 and 1993. The outcome measures were self reports of severity and sites of musculoskeletal pain at the end of 1993 and medically certified musculoskeletal sickness absence for 1993-5. The contribution of changes in psychosocial work characteristics and health related behaviour between the 1990 and 1993 surveys was assessed by adjustment. Results: After adjustment for age, sex, and income, the odds ratio (OR) for severe musculoskeletal pain between major and minor downsizing and the corresponding rate ratios for musculoskeletal sickness absence were 2.59 (95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.5 to 4.5) and 5.50 (3.6 to 7.6), respectively. Differences between the mean number of sites of pain after major and minor downsizing was 0.99 (0.4 to 1.6). The largest contribution from changes in work characteristics and health related behaviour to the association between downsizing and musculoskeletal problems was from increases in physical demands, particularly in women and low income employees. Additional contributory factors were reduction of skill discretion (relative to musculoskeletal pain) and job insecurity. The results were little different when analyses were confined to initially healthy participants. Conclusions: Downsizing is a risk factor for musculoskeletal problems among those who remain in employment. Much of this risk is attributable to increased physical demands, but adverse changes in other psychosocial factors may also play a part

Association of inflammation with specific symptoms of depression in a general population of older people: The English Longitudinal Study of Ageing

Elevated levels of inflammatory markers, such as C-reactive protein, are well documented in people with depression. Few studies have examined whether the association between inflammation and depression is symptom specific, and differs according to antidepressant treatment. Using data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (N=5909), cross-sectional analyses revealed a significant dose-response association between C-reactive protein and the symptoms of fatigue (P<0.001), restless sleep (P=0.03), low energy (P=0.02) and feeling depressed (P=0.04), but not other symptoms. These associations were absent in users of anti-depressant medication. Our findings suggest the C-reactive protein-depression association is symptom-specific and modified by antidepressant treatment

S 2p photoabsorption of the SF5CF3 molecule: Experiment, theory and comparison with SF6

The S 2p core excitation spectrum of the SF5CF3 molecule has been measured in the total ion yield mode. It resembles a lot the analogous spectrum of SF6, also recorded in this study, displaying intense transitions to the empty molecular orbitals both below and above the S 2p ionization potential (IP) and weak transitions to the Rydberg orbitals. The S 2p photoabsorption spectra of SF6 and SF5CF3 have been calculated using time-dependent density functional theory, whereby the spin–orbit coupling was included for the transitions below the S 2p IP. The agreement between experiment and theory is good for both molecules, which allows us to assign the main S 2p absorption features in SF5CF3

Use of pain medication before and after inpatient musculoskeletal rehabilitation: longitudinal analysis of a nationwide cohort

The objective of this study was to identify subgroups among the participants in inpatient multidisciplinary musculoskeletal rehabilitation based on the differences in the shapes of trajectories of pain medication consumption during the 9 years around the time of intervention. A register-based study among 4578 public sector employees was conducted. Group-based trajectory analysis was done on the purchase of prescribed pain medications during the 9 years around the time of rehabilitation. The participants were on an average 50.7 (SD=6.6) years of age, and 2955 (86%) were women. Average yearly purchase of pain medications increased during the follow-up period from 73.4 (SD=193.0) to 163.3 (SD=295.7) defined daily doses. The analysis suggested six-cluster model. The shapes of the trajectories of three clusters did not show any steep slopes, one trajectory demonstrated nonstop rising through the entire follow-up, and one trajectory was closed to the trajectory average of medication use. One trajectory (11% of the sample) demonstrated a steep growth before the intervention and steep drop after it. When comparing this cluster with all other clusters combined, odds ratios were 0.40 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.19-0.85] for age group (older vs. younger), 0.78 (95% CI: 0.61-1.01) for sex (women vs. men), and 1.44 (95% CI: 1.09-1.90) for occupational status (lower vs. higher). In other words, the participants belonged to this cluster were younger employees with a lower occupational grade. It seems that younger employees in manual jobs benefitted of the studied multidisciplinary musculoskeletal rehabilitation the most, especially when the timing of intervention is bounded to the substantial rise of pain severity

Cumulative meta-analysis of interleukins 6 and 1β, tumour necrosis factor α and C-reactive protein in patients with major depressive disorder

Cumulative meta-analyses are used to evaluate the extent to which further studies are needed to confirm or refute a hypothesis. We used this approach to assess observational evidence on systemic inflammation in individuals with major depressive disorder. We identified 58 studies of four common inflammatory markers in a literature search of PubMed, Embase and PsychInfo databases in May 2014. Pooled data from the earliest eight studies already showed an association between interleukin-6 concentrations and major depression; 23 more recent studies confirmed this finding (d=0.54, p<0.0001). A significant association between C-reactive protein levels and major depression was noted after 14 studies and this did not change after addition of six more studies (d=0.47, p<0.0001). For these two inflammatory markers, there was moderate heterogeneity in study-specific estimates, subgroup differences were small, and publication bias appeared to be an unlikely explanation for the findings. Sensitivity analyses including only high-quality studies and subjects free of antidepressant medication further verified the associations. While there was a link between tumour necrosis factor-α levels and major depression (d=0.40, p=0.002), the cumulative effect remained uncertain due to the extensive heterogeneity in study-specific estimates and inconsistencies between subgroups. No evidence was found for the association between interleukin-1β levels and major depression (d=-0.05, p=0.86). In conclusion, this cumulative meta-analysis confirmed higher mean levels of interleukin-6 and C-reactive protein in patients with major depression compared to non-depressed controls. No consistent association between tumour necrosis factor-α, interleukin-1β and major depression was observed. Future studies should clarify the specific immune mechanisms involved as well as continue testing anti-inflammatory therapies in patients suffering from major depression

Työntekijöiden kokemuksia organisaatioon sitoutumisesta IT-alan yrityksessä:johtajalta toivottavia toimia ja kehittämisehdotuksia sitoutumisen lisäämiseksi

Tiivistelmä. Tämän tutkimuksen tarkoituksena on tarkastella valitun IT-alan yrityksen työntekijöiden organisaatioon sitoutumisen kokemuksia organisaatioon sitoutumisen ja psykologisen sopimuksen teorioiden kautta. Tavoitteena oli tutkia osallistujien subjektiivisia kokemuksia organisaatioon sitoutumisesta ja luoda johtajille keinoja, joiden kautta edistää työntekijöiden organisaatioon sitoutumista. Lisäksi tavoitteena oli kartoittaa osallistujien vastauksissa ilmeneviä mahdollisia kehityskohteita esimerkiksi johtajan tai organisaation toimissa, jotka ovat yhteydessä osallistujien organisaatioon sitoutumiseensa. Tutkimus on monimenetelmäinen tapaustutkimus, johon osallistui 19 erään IT-alan yrityksen Pohjois-Suomessa sijaitsevan toimipisteen työntekijää. Tutkimusaineisto koostui sekä monimenetelmäisestä toteuttamastani kyselytutkimusaineistosta että valmiista kvantitatiivisesta yrityksen työntekijöiden organisaatioon sitoutumista mittaavasta Peakon-raportista, joka toimi tukena kyselyaineistolle. Tutkimuksen kvalitatiivisen osuuden aineisto analysoitiin aineistolähtöistä sisällönanalyysiä hyödyntäen ja kvantitatiivinen osuus prosenttiosuuksia, keskiarvoja ja keskihajontoja käyttäen. Tulokset osoittivat seitsemän organisaatioon sitoutumiseen yhteydessä olevaa teemaa, joihin liittyvät asiat joko tukivat tai heikensivät osallistujien sitoutumista: tunneperäiset asiat, osaamiseen ja kehittymiseen liittyvät asiat, työtehtäviin liittyvät asiat, palkkaan ja etuihin liittyvät asiat, työyhteisöön liittyvät asiat, johtamiseen liittyvät asiat sekä yritykseen ja strategiaan liittyvät asiat. Eniten osallistujien sitoutumista tuki työn joustavuus, mielipiteen ilmaisun mahdollisuus, työkaverit, työyhteisön ilmapiiri, kehittymismahdollisuudet sekä palkka. Osallistujien sitoutumista sen sijaan eniten heikensi seuraaviin asioihin liittyvät tekijät: palkka, yrityksen purpose, työskentelytilat, yrityskulttuuri, puutteet avoimuudessa ja tiedonkulussa sekä projektijohtaminen. Lisäksi tulokset osoittivat suoraan johtajalta toivottavia toimia, joiden avulla osallistujien organisaatioon sitoutuminen lisääntyisi. Näitä olivat työntekijöiden vastuun lisääminen, vuorovaikutuksen lisääminen, ajan antaminen työntekijöille, kiinnostuksen lisääminen työntekijöitä kohtaan sekä projektijohtamisen parantaminen. Tuloksista ilmeni myös yleisiä kehittämismahdollisuuksia osallistujien sitoutumisen lisäämiseksi, jotka olivat urakehityksen ja -suunnittelun selkeyttäminen, toimintatapojen selkeyttäminen ja yhtenäistäminen, roolien selkeyttäminen, avoimuuden ja sujuvamman tiedonkulun lisääminen, palkan ja kompensaation parantaminen, tuen ja ammattitaidon lisääminen, projektijohtamisen parantaminen, tehtävienhallinnan parantaminen, työn laadun parantaminen, työntekijöiden hyvinvointiin keskittyminen sekä työympäristön viihtyvyyden parantaminen. Tutkimustulokset antavat tärkeää tietoa työntekijöiden organisaatioon sitoutumista tukevista ja heikentävistä tekijöistä organisaatiossa sekä kohdeorganisaatiolle että yleisesti IT-alan yrityksille. Tutkimustulokset ovat tärkeitä organisaatioiden ja johtamisen kehittämisen kannalta, ja niitä voidaan hyödyntää paremman työelämän ja työntekijöiden organisaatioon sitoutumisen kehittämiseksi.Employee’s experiences of organizational commitment in an IT company : desirable actions for leader and development suggestions to increase commitment. Abstract. The purpose of this study is to examine the experiences of an IT company’s employees’ organizational commitment through the theories of organizational commitment and psychological contract. The aim was to examine the participants’ subjective experiences of organizational commitment and to create ways for leaders to promote employees’ organizational commitment. In addition, the aim was to identify possible areas for improvement in the participants’ responses, for example in the activities of the leader or the organization which are related to their organizational commitment. This study is a multi-method case study involving 19 employees of a Northern Finland office of an IT company. The research material consisted of both the multi-method questionnaire material I implemented and the completed Peakon report measuring the organizational commitment of the company’s employees, which served as support for the questionnaire material. The material of the qualitative part of the study was analyzed using material-driven qualitative content analysis and the quantitative part using percentages, means and standard deviations. The results identified seven themes related to organizational commitment where issues either supported or weakened participants’ commitment: emotional issues, skills and development issues, job issues, pay and benefits issues, work community issues, management issues and corporate and strategic issues. The commitment of the participants was mostly supported by job flexibility, the opportunity to express an opinion, co-workers, the atmosphere of the work community, development opportunities and salary and benefits. Participants’ commitment on the other hand was weakened most by factors related to the following issues: salary and benefits, corporate purpose, workspaces, corporate culture, transparency and information flow and project management. In addition, the results showed some desirable actions directly for leader to improve participants’ organizational commitment. These included increasing employee responsibility, increasing interaction, giving employees more time, increasing interest in employees and improving project management. The results also revealed general development opportunities to improve participants’ commitment, which were clarification of career development and planning, clarification and harmonization of policies, clarification of roles, more transparency and flow of information, better pay and compensation, more support and skills, better project management, improving management, improving the quality of work, focusing on employee well-being and improving the comfort of the work environment. The research results provide important information on the factors related to employees’ organizational commitment, both for the target organization and for IT companies in general. Research results are important for the development of organizations and management and can be used to develop a better working life and employees’ organizational commitment

Association of changes in work due to COVID-19 pandemic with psychosocial work environment and employee health: a cohort study of 24 299 Finnish public sector employees

OBJECTIVES: To examine the associations of COVID-19-related changes in work with perceptions of psychosocial work environment and employee health. METHODS: In a cohort of 24 299 Finnish public sector employees, psychosocial work environment and employee well-being were assessed twice before (2016 and 2018=reference period) and once during (2020) the COVID-19 pandemic. Those who reported a change (='Exposed') in work due to the pandemic (working from home, new tasks or team reorganisation) were compared with those who did not report such change (='Non-exposed'). RESULTS: After adjusting for sex, age, socioeconomic status and lifestyle risk score, working from home (44%) was associated with greater increase in worktime control (standardised mean difference (SMD)Exposed=0.078, 95% CI 0.066 to 0.090; SMDNon-exposed=0.025, 95% CI 0.014 to 0.036), procedural justice (SMDExposed=0.101, 95% CI 0.084 to 0.118; SMDNon-exposed=0.053, 95% CI 0.038 to 0.068), workplace social capital (SMDExposed=0.094, 95% CI 0.077 to 0.110; SMDNon-exposed=0.034, 95% CI 0.019 to 0.048), less decline in self-rated health (SMDExposed=-0.038, 95% CI -0.054 to -0.022; SMDNon-exposed=-0.081, 95% CI -0.095 to -0.067), perceived work ability (SMDExposed=-0.091, 95% CI -0.108 to -0.074; SMDNon-exposed=-0.151, 95% CI -0.167 to -0.136) and less increase in psychological distress (risk ratio (RR)Exposed=1.06, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.09; RRNon-exposed=1.16, 95% CI 1.13 to 1.20). New tasks (6%) were associated with greater increase in psychological distress (RRExposed=1.28, 95% CI 1.19 to 1.39; RRNon-exposed=1.10, 95% CI 1.07 to 1.12) and team reorganisation (5%) with slightly steeper decline in perceived work ability (SMDExposed=-0.151 95% CI -0.203 to -0.098; SMDNon-exposed=-0.124, 95% CI -0.136 to -0.112). CONCLUSION: Employees who worked from home during the pandemic had more favourable psychosocial work environment and health, whereas those who were exposed to work task changes and team reorganisations experienced more adverse changes