Sickness absence and workplace levels of satisfaction with psychosocial work conditions at public service workplaces

Abstract

Background The objective of this study was to examine the impact of psychosocial work conditions on sickness absence while addressing methodological weaknesses in earlier studies. Methods The participants were 13,437 employees from 698 public service workplace units in Aarhus County, Denmark. Satisfaction with psychosocial work conditions was rated on a scale from 0 (low) to 10 (high). Individual ratings were aggregated to workplace scores. Analysis ofvariance was used to compare the average number ofdays ofyearly sickness absence in three groups with different levels ofsatisfaction with psychosocial work conditions. Results Sickness absence was 30.8% lower in the most satisfied group (11.7 days/year (CI 95%: 10.2; 13.1)) than in the least satisfied group (16.9 days/year (CI 95%: 15.3; 18.6)) adjusted for the covariates included. Conclusions Satisfaction with psychosocial work conditions has a strong and independent impact on sickness absence. Am. J. Ind. Med. 52:153-161, 2009. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.