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Fractions of cardiovascular diseases and mental disorders attributable to psychosocial work factors in 31 countries in Europe

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A Correction to this article was published on 28 July 2020

This article has been updated

Abstract

Objectives

The aim of this study was to evaluate the fractions of cardiovascular diseases and mental disorders attributable to three psychosocial work factors, job strain, effort-reward imbalance (ERI) and job insecurity, in 31 countries in Europe.

Methods

The prevalence of exposure (Pe) to job strain, ERI and job insecurity was calculated using the sample of 29,680 workers from 31 countries of the 2005 European Working Conditions Survey. Relative risks (RR) were obtained from three published meta-analyses. Pe and RR estimates were used to calculate attributable fractions (AF).

Results

Pe estimates were 26.90, 20.44 and 14.11 % for job strain, ERI and job insecurity in Europe, and significant differences were observed between countries. The job strain and ERI AFs for cardiovascular diseases were, respectively, 4.46 % (significantly different from zero for Europe and all countries, but without any differences between countries) and 18.21 % (not significantly different from zero for Europe and without differences between countries). The significant job strain and job insecurity AFs for mental disorders were 18.16 and 4.53 % in Europe, without any significant difference between countries. The significant ERI AF for mental disorders was 14.81 %, and significant differences were found between countries; the 3 highest AFs were observed in Greece, Slovenia and Turkey, and the 3 lowest in Bulgaria, Ireland and Latvia.

Conclusion

This study is the first one to provide fractions of cardiovascular diseases and mental disorders attributable to three psychosocial work factors for the whole Europe and to explore the differences between 31 countries. These results may be useful to guide European and national prevention policies as well as to evaluate the economic costs of diseases attributable to these exposures.

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Change history

  • 28 July 2020

    Whilst working on an update of our study published in 2014 (orginal article), we have discovered an error in the measure of effort-reward imbalance (ERI) in this study, leading to errors in Table 3 for (1) the prevalence of exposure to ERI, and (2) the fractions of cardiovascular diseases and mental disorders attributable to ERI, attributable fractions (AF) being calculated from exposure prevalence and relative risk

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Funding

French Agence Nationale de Sécurité Sanitaire, de l’Alimentation, de l’Environnement et du Travail (ANSES, previously called AFSSET, Grant No 2009-1-43).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. INSERM, U1018, CESP Centre for Research in Epidemiology and Population Health, Epidemiology of Occupational and Social Determinants of Health Team, 16 Avenue Paul Vaillant Couturier, 94807, Villejuif Cedex, France

    Isabelle Niedhammer & Jean-François Chastang

  2. Univ Paris-Sud, UMRS 1018, Villejuif, France

    Isabelle Niedhammer & Jean-François Chastang

  3. Université de Versailles St-Quentin, UMRS 1018, Villejuif, France

    Isabelle Niedhammer & Jean-François Chastang

  4. European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, Dublin, Ireland

    Isabelle Niedhammer, Greet Vermeylen & Agnès Parent-Thirion

  5. Centre de recherche interdisciplinaire sur la biologie, la santé, la société et l’environnement (CINBIOSE), Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), Montréal, Canada

    Hélène Sultan-Taïeb

  6. Laboratoire d’Economie et Gestion, Université de Bourgogne, Dijon, France

    Hélène Sultan-Taïeb

Authors
  1. Isabelle Niedhammer
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  2. Hélène Sultan-Taïeb
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  3. Jean-François Chastang
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  4. Greet Vermeylen
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  5. Agnès Parent-Thirion
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Isabelle Niedhammer.

Appendix

Appendix

Summary of items used to measure psychosocial work factors (European Working Conditions Survey, 2005).

Job strain model factors

Psychological demands (5 items)

  • Working at very high speed

  • Working to tight deadlines

  • Not having enough time to get the job done

  • Pace of work dependent on the work of colleagues

  • Interrupting a task to take on an unforeseen task

Decision latitude (11 items)

Skill discretion (4 items)

  • Monotonous tasks

  • Learning new things

  • Applying own ideas in work

  • Opportunities to learn and grow

Decision authority (7 items)

  • Working hours entirely determined by oneself

  • Being able to choose or change your order of tasks

  • Being able to choose or change your methods of work

  • Being able to choose or change your speed or rate of work

  • Influence over the choice of your working partners

  • Being able to take a break when one wish

  • Being free to decide when to take holidays or days off

Effort-reward imbalance model factors

Effort (6 items)

  • Working at very high speed

  • Working to tight deadlines

  • Not having enough time to get the job done

  • Interrupting a task to take on an unforeseen task

  • People working under your supervision, for whom pay increases, bonuses or promotion depend directly on you

  • Long working hours

Reward (8 items)

Esteem (4 items)

  • Getting assistance from colleagues if needed

  • Getting assistance from your superiors/boss if needed

  • Getting external assistance if needed

  • Having very good friends at work

Job promotion (3 items)

  • Duties corresponding well with present skills

  • Being well paid for the work done

  • Job offering good prospects for career advancement

Job insecurity (1 item)

  • Fear to lose job in the next 6 months

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Niedhammer, I., Sultan-Taïeb, H., Chastang, JF. et al. Fractions of cardiovascular diseases and mental disorders attributable to psychosocial work factors in 31 countries in Europe. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 87, 403–411 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-013-0879-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-013-0879-4

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