Non-Preferred Work and the Incidence of Spinal Pain and Psychological Distress—A Prospective Cohort Study

Eva Skillgate, My Isacson Hjortzberg, Petra Strömwall, Johan Hallqvist, Clara Onell, Lena W. Holm and Tony Bohman
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Eva Skillgate: Musculoskeletal & Sports Injury Epidemiology Center, Department of Health Promotion Sciences, Sophiahemmet University, 114 86 Stockholm, Sweden
My Isacson Hjortzberg: Musculoskeletal & Sports Injury Epidemiology Center, Department of Health Promotion Sciences, Sophiahemmet University, 114 86 Stockholm, Sweden
Petra Strömwall: Musculoskeletal & Sports Injury Epidemiology Center, Department of Health Promotion Sciences, Sophiahemmet University, 114 86 Stockholm, Sweden
Johan Hallqvist: Department of Public Health and Caring Sciences, Family Medicine, Uppsala University, 752 37 Uppsala, Sweden
Clara Onell: Musculoskeletal & Sports Injury Epidemiology Center, Department of Health Promotion Sciences, Sophiahemmet University, 114 86 Stockholm, Sweden
Lena W. Holm: Unit of Intervention and Implementation for Worker Health, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, 171 77 Stockholm, Sweden
Tony Bohman: Unit of Intervention and Implementation for Worker Health, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, 171 77 Stockholm, Sweden

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 19, 1-10

Abstract: Mental illness and psychological distress are global concerns. This study aimed to investigate the association between having non-preferred work and the incidence of spinal pain, psychological distress, and spinal pain with concurrent psychological distress, and if associations are modified by sleep disturbance. A prospective study of 4285 participants 23–62 years old was conducted, from years 2007 to 2010. Participants reported their work situation as preferred/non-preferred regarding profession/workplace with a high/low possibility to change. Psychological distress was measured with the General Health Questionnaire 12 and spinal pain with questions about neck/back pain. Binominal regression analyses calculated relative risk (RR) with 95% confidence interval (CI). Non-preferred work with a low possibility to change was associated with a higher incidence of spinal pain (RR 1.8; 95% CI 1.2–2.6) and psychological distress (RR 1.8; 95% CI 1.4–2.4) compared to preferred work. The RR was 1.4 (95% CI 0.9–2.1) for spinal pain and 1.3 (95% CI 1.0–1.7) for psychological distress among those with a high possibility to change. Non-preferred work yielded a higher incidence of spinal pain with concurrent psychological distress (RR 1.9; 95% CI 1.0–3.7). Sleep disturbance did not modify associations. A replication based on newer data is needed to confirm the results. In conclusion, non-preferred work is associated with a higher incidence of spinal pain and psychological distress, especially if the possibility to change job is low.

Keywords: occupational health; psychological distress; spinal pain; sleep (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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