Comparison of stress levels among 8 different professions : reflections on variance in reported job-related stress: a comparative study based on Norwegian Nursing College teachers’ situation

The aim of this study is (1) to identify the most prominent stressor among teachers, and (2) to examine the stress level in three samples of teachers: Nursing teachers, primary school teachers and preparatory college teachers. Stress is measured using Cooper Stress Inventory. The three-factorial model is based on principal component analysis (N=278) and in-depth qualitative interviews (N=14). Time-pressure and relations between work and private-life play a prominent part in perception of stress in all teacher groups. The global stress level is considerably higher in nursing teachers compared to the other teachers groups. Lacking a common under standing and definition of the stressconcept hinders a meaningful discussion of whether stress levels are high for the group of employees or for teachers in general

The hospital anxiety and depression rating scale: A cross-sectional study of psychometrics and case finding abilities in general practice

BACKGROUND: General practitioners' (GPs) diagnostic skills lead to underidentification of generalized anxiety disorders (GAD) and major depressive episodes (MDE). Supplement of brief questionnaires could improve the diagnostic accuracy of GPs for these common mental disorders. The aims of this study were to examine the usefulness of The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Rating Scale (HADS) for GPs by: 1) Examining its psychometrics in the GPs' setting; 2) Testing its case-finding properties compared to patient-rated GAD and MDE (DSM-IV); and 3) Comparing its case finding abilities to that of the GPs using Clinical Global Impression-Severity (CGI-S) rating. METHODS: In a cross-sectional survey study 1,781 patients in three consecutive days in September 2001 attended 141 GPs geographically spread in Norway. Sensitivity, specificity, optimal cut off score, and Area under the curve (AUC) for the HADS and the CGI-S were calculated with Generalized Anxiety Questionnaire (GAS-Q) as reference standard for GAD, and Depression Screening Questionnaire (DSQ) for MDE. RESULTS: The HADS-A had optimal cut off ≥8 (sensitivity 0.89, specificity 0.75), AUC 0.88 and 76% of patients were correctly classified in relation to GAD. The HADS-D had by optimal cut off ≥8 (sensitivity 0.80 and specificity 0.88) AUC 0.93 and 87% of the patients were correctly classified in relation to MDE. Proportions of the total correctly classified at the CGI-S optimal cut-off ≥3 were 83% of patients for GAD and 81% for MDE. CONCLUSION: The results indicate that addition of the patients' HADS scores to GPs' information could improve their diagnostic accuracy of GAD and MDE

Disability pension dynamics in early adulthood: A two-decade longitudinal study of educational, work and welfare-state trajectories in Norway

Background: Since the 1990’s, structural transformations in the Norwegian economy have decreased employment opportunities for low-skilled young people lacking formal education credentials. In parallel with these economic changes, there has been a strong increase in the proportion of young disability pensioners. Preventing labour market exit requires a thorough understanding of the disability process. We aim to 1) identify the most typical trajectories into disability pension for young Norwegian inhabitants between 1993 and 2014 and 2) investigate if the trajectories and composition of young disability pensioners changed over time. Methods: Using high-quality Norwegian registry data, we established two population-based cohorts of Norwegian inhabitants aged 29–39 years in either 2003 (cohort 1) or 2014 (cohort 2) who were not disability pensioners during the first month of their cohort period but had been granted a disability pension by the cohort end-date. Cohort 1 was followed from the beginning of 1993 through 2003, cohort 2 from 2004 through 2014. We used sequence and cluster analyses to identify typical disability pension trajectories and investigate how they changed overtime. Results: The majority follow trajectories characterised by little or no previous work participation. Both the trajectories and composition of young disability pensioners changed overtime. Between the two cohorts there was 1) a doubling in the probability of following ’precarious income trajectories’, 2) a decrease in the probability of following ‘work and/or education trajectories’ and 3) an increase in the proportion of early school leavers. Conclusion: Current initiatives such as the Norwegian Inclusive Workplace Agreement (IA) focus on preventing transitions from employment to disability benefits. However, such initiatives have little relevance for young disability pensioners as the majority have weak labour market attachment. Policymakers should therefore consider placing more emphasis on non-workplace interventions

Kosthold og psykisk helse Oppfølging av punkt 5.5 i Nasjonal handlingsplan for bedre kosthold (2017–2021)

Source at https://www.fhi.no/.Dette notatet er Folkehelseinstituttets svar til Helse- og omsorgsdepartementets oppdrag om å synliggjøre gjeldende kunnskap om sammenhengen mellom kosthold og psykisk helse. I Nasjonal handlingsplan for bedre kosthold (2017–2021) utgitt mars 2017 (Regjeringen, 2017) ble betydningen av kosthold, mat og måltider for psykisk helse og livskvalitet satt på dagsorden. Hensikten med notatet har vært å oppdatere status for gjeldende kunnskap om kosthold og psykisk helse og å gi råd for det videre arbeidet. Første utkast ble utarbeidet i 2019 og oppdatert i 2022. Forfatterne har valgt ut fem aktuelle spørsmål og besvart disse basert hovedsakelig på oppsummering av systematiske kunnskapsoppsummeringer. Anne Lise Brantsæter, seniorforsker, Avdeling for mattrygghet, og Arnstein Mykletun, seniorforsker og professor, Avdeling for forskning og analyse av helsetjenesten, har utarbeidet dette notatet. Anita Lill Hansen, professor ved Universitetet i Bergen, og Leif Edvard Aarø, seniorforsker og professor, FHI har fagfellevurdert dokumentet

Somatic symptoms beyond those generally associated with a whiplash injury are increased in self-reported chronic whiplash. A population-based cross sectional study: the Hordaland Health Study (HUSK)

Background Chronic whiplash leads to considerable patient suffering and substantial societal costs. There are two competing hypothesis on the etiology of chronic whiplash. The traditional organic hypothesis considers chronic whiplash and related symptoms a result of a specific injury. In opposition is the hypothesis that chronic whiplash is a functional somatic syndrome, and related symptoms a result of society-induced expectations and amplification of symptoms. According to both hypotheses, patients reporting chronic whiplash are expected to have more neck pain, headache and symptoms of anxiety and depression than the general population. Increased prevalence of somatic symptoms beyond those directly related to a whiplash neck injury is less investigated. The aim of this study was to test an implication derived from the functional hypothesis: Is the prevalence of somatic symptoms as seen in somatization disorder, beyond symptoms related to a whiplash neck injury, increased in individuals self-reporting chronic whiplash? We further aimed to explore recall bias by comparing the symptom profile displayed by individuals self-reporting chronic whiplash to that among those self-reporting a non-functional injury: fractures of the hand or wrist. We explored symptom load, etiologic origin could not be investigated in this study. Methods Data from the Norwegian population-based “Hordaland Health Study” (HUSK, 1997–99); N = 13,986 was employed. Chronic whiplash was self-reported by 403 individuals and fractures by 1,746. Somatization tendency was measured using a list of 17 somatic symptoms arising from different body parts and organ systems, derived from the research criteria for somatization disorder (ICD-10, F45). Results Chronic whiplash was associated with an increased level of all 17 somatic symptoms investigated (p<0.05). The association was moderately strong (group difference of 0.60 standard deviation), only partly accounted for by confounding. For self-reported fractures symptoms were only slightly elevated. Recent whiplash was more commonly reported than whiplash-injury a long time ago, and the association of interest weakly increased with time since whiplash (r = 0.016, p = 0.032). Conclusions The increased prevalence of somatic symptoms beyond symptoms expected according to the organic injury model for chronic whiplash, challenges the standard injury model for whiplash, and is indicative evidence of chronic whiplash being a functional somatic syndrome.publishedVersio

Turnover of IPS employment specialists: Rates and predictors

Background: There are anecdotal reports of high job turnover of Individual Placement and Support employment specialists. However, no studies have addressed this issue. Objective: To explore whether turnover rates among employment specialists are higher compared to public sector employees along with the correlates of turnover intentions. Methods: A repeated cross-sectional study collected data from 40 employment specialists in Norway using validated scales to measure job perceptions. Turnover intentions were the main outcome. Results: Turnover rate of employment specialists (45.0%) was significantly higher than the average turnover rate of other occupations in the public sector (27.1%) in the same geographical regions (x2 = 6.5, df = 1, p = 0.01). After adjusting for potential confounders, five factors remained significantly associated with turnover intentions in directions as expected: general job satisfaction (β= –0.33, p < 0.05), satisfaction with current work (β= –0.35, p < 0.05), satisfaction with supervision (β= –0.28, p < 0.05), work meaningfulness (β= –0.42, p < 0.05) and Negative emotionality personality trait (β= 0.58, p < 0.05). Conclusions: Addressing turnover will positively impact on productivity and job satisfaction of employment specialists along with continuity of employment support for people with mental health conditions.publishedVersio

Employment status and perceived health in the Hordaland Health Study (HUSK)

BACKGROUND: Most western countries have disability benefit schemes ostensibly based upon requiring (1) a work inhibiting functional limitation that (2) can be attributed to a diagnosable condition, injury or disease. The present paper examines to what extent current practice matches the core premises of this model by examining how much poorer the perceived health of disability benefit recipients is, compared to the employed and the unemployed, and further to examine to what extent any poorer perceived health among benefit recipients can be attributed to mental or somatic illness and symptoms. METHODS: Information on disability benefit recipiency was obtained from Norwegian registry data, and merged with health information from the Hordaland Health Study (HUSK) in Western Norway, 1997–99. Participants (N = 14 946) aged 40–47 were assessed for perceived physical and mental health (Short Form-12), somatic symptoms, mental health, and self reported somatic conditions and diseases treated with medication. Differences associated with employment status were tested in chi-square and t-tests, as well as multivariate and univariate regression models to adjust for potential confounders. RESULTS: Recipients of disability benefits (n = 1 351) had poorer perceived physical and mental health than employees (n = 13 156); group differences were 1.86 and 0.74 pooled standard deviations respectively. Self reported somatic diagnoses, mental health and symptoms accounted for very little of this difference in perceived health. The unemployed (n = 439) were comparable to the employed rather than the recipients of disability benefits. CONCLUSION: Recipients of disability benefits have poor perceived health compared to both the employed and the unemployed. Surprisingly little of this difference can be ascribed to respondents' descriptions of their illnesses and symptoms. Even allowing for potential underascertainment of condition severity, this finding supports the increasing focus on non-disease oriented contributing factors. Rehabilitation efforts aiming at return to work should have a strong focus on the patients' perceptions of their health in addition to symptom relief and social factors

Associations between delayed completion of high school and educational attainment and symptom levels of anxiety and depression in adulthood

Publisher's version, source: http://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-016-0765-1