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Psychosocial work factors in new or recurrent injuries among hospital workers: a prospective study

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Abstract

Purpose

Accumulating evidence suggests an important role for psychosocial work factors in injury, but little is known about the interaction between psychosocial factors and previous injury experience on subsequent injury risk. We examined the relationships between psychosocial work factors and new or recurrent injury among hospital workers.

Methods

We studied 492 hospital workers including 116 cases with baseline injury and 376 injury-free referents at baseline over follow-up. Job strain, total support, effort–reward imbalance, overcommitment, and musculoskeletal injury at baseline were examined in logistic regression models as predictors of new or recurrent injury experienced during a 2-year follow-up period.

Results

The overall cumulative incidence of injury over follow-up was 35.6 % (51.7 % for re-injury among baseline injury cases; 30.6 % for new injury among referents). Significantly increased risks with baseline job strain (OR 1.26; 95 % CI 1.02–1.55) and effort–reward imbalance (OR 1.42; 95 % CI 1.12–1.81) were observed for injury only among the referents. Overcommitment was associated with increased risk of injury only among the cases (OR 1.58; 95 % CI 1.05–2.39).

Conclusions

The effects of psychosocial work factors on new or recurrent injury risk appear to differ by previous injury experience, suggesting the need for differing preventive strategies in hospital workers.

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Acknowledgments

The parent GROW study was funded by the US National Institute of Health, National Institute for Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (R01 AR47798). This study of secondary data analysis had no funding sources.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Soo-Jeong Lee, Marion Gillen & Paul D. Blanc

  2. University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA

    Doohee You

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  1. Soo-Jeong Lee
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  2. Doohee You
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Correspondence to Soo-Jeong Lee.

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Lee, SJ., You, D., Gillen, M. et al. Psychosocial work factors in new or recurrent injuries among hospital workers: a prospective study. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 88, 1141–1148 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-015-1038-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-015-1038-x

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