The Combined Effect of Poor Perceived Indoor Environmental Quality and Psychosocial Stressors on Long-Term Sickness Absence in the Workplace: A Follow-Up Study.

Publisher: MDPI Country of Publication: Switzerland NLM ID: 101238455 Publication Model: Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1660-4601 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 16604601 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Int J Environ Res Public Health Subsets: MEDLINE

Original Publication: Basel : MDPI, c2004-

Air Pollution, Indoor/*adverse effects ; Chronic Disease/*psychology ; Occupational Diseases/*etiology ; Occupational Diseases/*psychology ; Sick Leave/*statistics & numerical data ; Workplace/*psychology ; Workplace/*statistics & numerical data; Adult ; Female ; Finland/epidemiology ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Social Support ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Background: Poor perceived indoor environmental quality (IEQ) can generate conflicts and experiences of injustice in workplaces. Therefore we examined whether the combined effect of poor IEQ and self-reported psychosocial stressors (low social support from supervisors and experiences of injustice) increase the risk of employees' long-term sickness absence (more than 10 days) in comparison to employees who report only poor perceived IEQ and no psychosocial stressors.
Methods: Using negative binomial modelling, we analysed a representative sample of the working-age population in Finland (N = 16,084) from the Finnish Quality of Work Life Surveys (FQWLS) from 1997, 2003, 2008 and 2013, combined with register-based follow-up data on employees' long-term absences covering a period of one to three years after each FQWLS was collected.
Results: After background variables were included in the model, employees who reported poor IEQ and low social support had 1.18 (incidents rate ratios; 95% CI 1.05-1.33) higher rates of long-term absence than those who reported poor IEQ and high support. Similarly, employees who reported poor IEQ and experiences of injustice had 1.31(incidents rate ratios; 95% CI 1.15-1.48) higher rates of absence than those who reported poor IEQ and no injustice.
Conclusions: Employees who reported poor perceived IEQ and a psychosocial stressor had higher rates of long-term sickness absence one to three years later, in comparison with those who report only poor perceived IEQ and no psychosocial stressors. These findings demonstrate the importance of taking account of psychosocial stressors as well, when resolving indoor environmental problems.

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Keywords: discrimination; experiences of injustice; indoor environmental quality; occupational health; sickness absence; social support from supervisors

Date Created: 20191211 Date Completed: 20200402 Latest Revision: 20200402

20240628

PMC6950637

10.3390/ijerph16244997

31818010