RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Work stress and health in Western European and post-communist countries: an East–West comparison study
JF Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health
JO J Epidemiol Community Health
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
SP 57
OP 62
DO 10.1136/jech.2008.075978
VO 64
IS 01
A1 G Salavecz
A1 T Chandola
A1 H Pikhart
A1 N Dragano
A1 J Siegrist
A1 K-H Jöckel
A1 R Erbel
A1 A Pajak
A1 S Malyutina
A1 R Kubinova
A1 M Marmot
A1 M Bobak
A1 M Kopp
YR 2010
UL http://jech.bmj.com/content/64/01/57.abstract
AB Background: There is evidence that psychosocial factors at work influence the risk of poor health in Western societies, but little is known about the effect of work stress in the former communist countries. The aim of this paper is to compare the association of work stress with self-rated health in Western European and post-communist countries.Methods: Data from four epidemiological studies were used: the HAPIEE study (Poland, Russia and the Czech Republic), the Hungarian Epidemiological Panel (Hungary), the Heinz Nixdorf Recall study (Germany) and the Whitehall II study (UK). The overall sample consisted of 18 494 male and female workers aged 35–65 years.Results: High effort-reward imbalance at work was associated with poor self-rated health. The adjusted odds ratios for the highest versus lowest quartile of the effort-reward ratio were 3.8 (95% CI 1.9 to 7.7) in Hungary, 3.6 (95% CI 2.3 to 5.7) in the Czech Republic, 2.5 (95% CI 1.5 to 4.1) in the UK, 2.3 (95% CI 1.6 to 3.5) in Germany, 1.5 (95% CI 1.0 to 2.1) in Poland and 1.4 (95% CI 1.1 to 1.8) in Russia. The differences in odds ratios between countries were statistically significant (p<0.05). A similar pattern was observed for the effect of overcommitment on poor health.Conclusion: The association of effort-reward imbalance at work and of a high degree of work-related overcommitment with poor self-rated health was seen in all countries, but the size of the effects differed considerably. It does not appear that the effects in Eastern Europe are systematically stronger than in the West.