RESEARCH REPORTS

Job insecurity, chances on the labour market and decline in self-rated health in a representative sample of the Danish workforce

R Rugulies^1,2, B Aust¹, H Burr¹, U Bültmann^1,3

¹ National Research Centre for the Working Environment, Denmark
² Institute of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
³ Department of Health Sciences, University Medical Center, Groningen, University of Groningen, The Netherlands

Correspondence to:
Reiner Rugulies, National Research Centre for the Working Environment, Lerso Parkallé 105, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark; rer{at}nrcwe.dk

Objective: To investigate if job insecurity and poor labour market chances predict a decline in self-rated health in the Danish workforce.

Design: Job insecurity, labour market chances, self-rated health and numerous covariates were measured in 1809 women and 1918 men who responded to a questionnaire in 1995 and again in 2000. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to analyse the impact of job insecurity and labour market chances measured in 1995 on decline in health in 2000.

Setting: Prospective cohort study with a representative sample of the Danish workforce using the Danish Work Environment Cohort Study (DWECS). All participants were employed at baseline.

Main results: Women with job insecurity had an increased risk of a decline in health at follow-up, after adjustment for all covariates (OR = 1.78, 95% CI: 1.24 to 2.54). Effect estimates were strongest among women 50 years of age or younger with poor labour market chances (OR = 2.13, 95% CI: 1.32 to 3.45). Among men, there was no main effect for job insecurity. However, men aged 50 years or younger with poor labour market chances showed an OR of 1.64 (95% CI: 0.95 to 2.84) for a decline in health.

Conclusion: Job insecurity is a predictor for a decline in health in employed women in Denmark. Among men, a suggestive effect of job insecurity was found in employees aged 50 years or younger with poor labour market chances.

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