How Are Techno-Stressors Associated with Mental Health and Work Outcomes? A Systematic Review of Occupational Exposure to Information and Communication Technologies within the Technostress Model

The technostress model has introduced different factors to consider when assessing how information and communication technologies impact individuals in different work settings. This systematic review gathers evidence regarding associations between occupational exposure to technostress and health or work outcomes. In addition, we highlight typical methodological constraints of the technostress model. We conducted electronic literature searches in June 2020 (PubMed, PubMed Central, Web of Science, Scopus, PsycInfo, PsycArticles) and independently screened 321 articles. We report on 21 articles meeting eligibility criteria (working population, technostress exposure, health or work outcome, quantitative design). The most frequently examined techno-stressors, i.e., factors of technostress, were techno-overload and techno-invasion. Techno-stressors were consistently associated with adverse health and work outcomes, apart from a positive impact on work engagement. However, studies may be subject to considerable conceptual overlap between exposure and outcome measures. Future technostress research would benefit from reducing heterogeneity in technostress measures, assessing their external validity and focussing on specific techno-stressors

Start moving - benefits of an onsite workplace health program in the age of digitalization

Background: The process of digitization should simplify our work and improve related processes (i.e. quality, transparency). Moreover, it enables the home office, which is greatly expanded due to the current pandemic. Regarding workplace health, it should be noted that with increasing digitization, physical activity decreases, and as a result, the number of work-related diseases will increase. On the other hand, increasing digitization also offers promising opportunities for new approaches to workplace health promotion. With these positive as well as negative effects in mind, we designed a workshop to increase physical activity at work. This protocol describes our approach to a live workshop concept. Methods: We use a randomized controlled trial with two intervention groups: a live workshop with and without additional reminders. The workshop intervention design consists of a baseline measurement, two workshops, and one follow-up measurement. Each workshop takes place in small groups (n < 11). We use a randomized allocation to both groups. To control for health-related effects and the expected behavior change we examine (i) physical activity (i.e. active time, taken steps, etc.) by a tracking device (ii) physical wellbeing, motivation, and volition by an online questionnaire, and (iii) participants also report physical activity by a diary. All measurements are taken one week before the respective workshop and 24 weeks after the initial baseline measures. Discussion: A live workshop offers advantages such as very personal interactions and a low technical effort. However, during the current pandemic, there are some limitations (i.e. small groups, pay attention to hygienic guidelines). Based on the upcoming experiences of this workshop, a web-based approach might offer some advantages (i.e. easier daily implementation, independent from a participant's location) regarding home office workplaces and the increasing digitization. On the other hand, there are also mandatory requirements as a stable internet connection and technical equipment (i.e. webcam, microphone). Overall, a step by step development of a web-based workshop, based on the experience of the live workshop, can be regarded as advantageous

The social and health implications of digital work intensification. Associations between exposure to information and communication technologies, health and work ability in different socio-economic strata

Purpose: Older employees are often thought to be vulnerable to negative effects of information and communication technology (ICT). Our study aims to examine associations between work-related ICT exposure (i.e. ICT use or digital work intensification), physical health, mental health and work ability (WA). We examine whether these associations are modified by socio-economic position (SEP). Methods: We analysed cross-sectional data from 3180 participants (born in 1959 and 1965) in wave 3 of the representative German lidA cohort study. We performed hierarchical multiple regression to assess the distinct associations of ICT use and digital work intensification with mental and physical health and WA. We stratified analyses by SEP and controlled for age, sex, and digital affinity. Results: 92% of participants reported ICT use at work. Almost 20% reported high levels of digital work intensification, while a similar proportion did not experience digital work intensification. In bivariate analyses, ICT use by itself was not significantly associated with mental health or WA in the total sample or when stratified. Digital work intensification displayed negative associations with mental health and WA. In hierarchical multiple regressions, digital work intensification showed consistently negative associations with mental health and work ability of similar strength across SEP. Conclusion: Our results suggest that ICT use, per se, does not negatively impact older workers. Digital work intensification may be associated with worse mental health and work ability. Research on health and social implications of work-related ICT should differentiate patterns of ICT exposure and assess modifications by SEP to better gauge the ambiguous effects of ICT

German S3 guideline "actinic keratosis and cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma" – long version of the update 2023

Actinic keratosis (AK) are common lesions in light-skinned individuals that can potentially progress to cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC). Both conditions may be associated with significant morbidity and constitute a major disease burden, especially among the elderly. To establish an evidence-based framework for clinical decision making, the guideline “actinic keratosis and cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma” was updated and expanded by the topics cutanepus squamous cell carcinoma in situ (Bowen’s disease) and actinic cheilitis. This guideline was developed at the highest evidence level (S3) and is aimed at dermatologists, general practitioners, ear nose and throat specialists, surgeons, oncologists, radiologists and radiation oncologists in hospitals and office-based settings, as well as other medical specialties, policy makers and insurance funds involved in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with AK and cSCC

Is There a Sampling Bias in Research on Work-Related Technostress? A Systematic Review of Occupational Exposure to Technostress and the Role of Socioeconomic Position

Technostress is a widespread model used to study negative effects of using information communication technologies at work. The aim of this review is to assess the role of socioeconomic position (SEP) in research on work-related technostress. We conducted systematic searches in multidisciplinary databases (PubMed, PubMed Central, Web of Science, Scopus, PsycInfo, PsycArticles) in June 2020 and independently screened 321 articles against eligibility criteria (working population, technostress exposure, health or work outcome, quantitative design). Of the 21 studies included in the narrative synthesis, three studies did not collect data on SEP, while 18 studies operationalised SEP as education (eight), job position (five), SEP itself (two) or both education as well as job position (three). Findings regarding differences by SEP are inconclusive, with evidence of high SEP reporting more frequent exposure to overall technostress. In a subsample of 11 studies reporting data on educational attainment, we compared the percentage of university graduates to World Bank national statistics and found that workers with high SEP are overrepresented in nine of 11 studies. The resulting socioeconomic sampling bias limits the scope of the technostress model to high SEP occupations. The lack of findings regarding differences by SEP in technostress can partly be attributed to limitations in study designs. Studies should aim to reduce the heterogeneity of technostress and SEP measures to improve external validity and generalisability across socioeconomic groups. Future research on technostress would benefit from developing context-sensitive SEP measures and quality appraisal tools that identify socioeconomic sampling biases by comparing data to national statistics

Is There a Sampling Bias in Research on Work-Related Technostress? A Systematic Review of Occupational Exposure to Technostress and the Role of Socioeconomic Position

Technostress is a widespread model used to study negative effects of using information communication technologies at work. The aim of this review is to assess the role of socioeconomic position (SEP) in research on work-related technostress. We conducted systematic searches in multidisciplinary databases (PubMed, PubMed Central, Web of Science, Scopus, PsycInfo, PsycArticles) in June 2020 and independently screened 321 articles against eligibility criteria (working population, technostress exposure, health or work outcome, quantitative design). Of the 21 studies included in the narrative synthesis, three studies did not collect data on SEP, while 18 studies operationalised SEP as education (eight), job position (five), SEP itself (two) or both education as well as job position (three). Findings regarding differences by SEP are inconclusive, with evidence of high SEP reporting more frequent exposure to overall technostress. In a subsample of 11 studies reporting data on educational attainment, we compared the percentage of university graduates to World Bank national statistics and found that workers with high SEP are overrepresented in nine of 11 studies. The resulting socioeconomic sampling bias limits the scope of the technostress model to high SEP occupations. The lack of findings regarding differences by SEP in technostress can partly be attributed to limitations in study designs. Studies should aim to reduce the heterogeneity of technostress and SEP measures to improve external validity and generalisability across socioeconomic groups. Future research on technostress would benefit from developing context-sensitive SEP measures and quality appraisal tools that identify socioeconomic sampling biases by comparing data to national statistics

New Work Poses New Challenges&mdash;The Importance of Work Design Competencies Revealed in Cluster Analysis

The continuous transformation process in the world of work, intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic, is giving employees more scope to shape their own work. This scope can be experienced as a burden or as a resource for employees. Work design competencies (WDC) describe employees&rsquo; experience of their scope for design. Our study draws on existing datasets based on two Germany-wide studies. We used hierarchical cluster analyses to examine patterns between WDC, the age of employees (range: 18&ndash;71 years), the amount of weekly work time working from home (WFH), and work ability. In total, the data of N = 1232 employees were analyzed, and 735 of them participated in Study 1. To test the validity of the clusters, we analyzed data from N = 497 employees in Study 2. In addition, a split-half validation was performed with the data from Study 1. In both studies, three clusters emerged that differed in age and work ability. The cluster with the highest mean of WDC comprised employees that were on average older and reported a higher mean of work ability. Regarding WFH, no clear patterns emerged. The results and further theoretical and practical implications are discussed. Overall, WDC appear to be relevant to work ability and, in a broader sense, to occupational health, and are related to sociodemographic factors such as age

Sirtuin1 single nucleotide polymorphism (A2191G) is a diagnostic marker for vibration-induced white finger disease

Abstract Background Vibration-induced white finger disease (VWF), also known as hand-arm vibration syndrome, is a secondary form of Raynaud’s disease, affecting the blood vessels and nerves. So far, little is known about the pathogenesisof the disease. VWF is associated with an episodic reduction in peripheral blood flow. Sirtuin 1, a class III histone deacetylase, has been described to regulate the endothelium dependent vasodilation by targeting endothelial nitric oxide synthase. We assessed Sirt1single nucleotide polymorphisms in patients with VWF to further elucidate the role of sirtuin 1 in the pathogenesis of VWF. Methods Peripheral blood samples were obtained from 74 patients with VWF (male 93.2%, female 6.8%, median age 53 years) and from 317 healthy volunteers (gender equally distributed, below 30 years of age). Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood mononuclear cells and screened for potential Sirt1single nucleotide polymorphisms. Four putative genetic polymorphisms out of 113 within the Sirt1 genomic region (NCBI Gene Reference: NM_012238.3) were assessed. Allelic discrimination was performed by TaqMan-polymerasechainreaction-based allele-specific genotyping single nucleotide polymorphism assays. Results Sirt1single nucleotide polymorphism A2191G (Assay C_25611590_10, rs35224060) was identified within Sirt1 exon 9 (amino acid position 731, Ile → Val), with differing allelic frequencies in the VWF population (A/A: 70.5%, A/G: 29.5%, G/G: 0%) and the control population (A/A: 99.7%, A/G: 0.3%, G/G: 0.5%), with significance levels of P U test (two-tailed) P t-test and Chi-square test with Yates correction (all two-tailed): P Conclusion We identified theSirt1A2191Gsingle nucleotide polymorphism as a diagnostic marker for VWF.</p