The role of genetics and environment in lifting force and isometric trunk extensor endurance.

Background and Purpose. Our understanding of what different back performance tests are measuring is limited. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relative contributions of genetics and unique and common environmental factors for 3 tests of back muscle performance in a classic twin analysis. Subjects. The subjects were a population-based sample of 122 monozygotic and 131 dizygotic male twin pairs aged 35 to 69 years (X̄=49.9, SD=7.7). Methods. Variance component analysis was applied to estimate genetic and environmental influences on isokinetic and psychophysical lifting and isometric trunk extensor endurance test performance. The Cholesky decomposition genetic factor model was u…

The effects of using participatory working time scheduling software on sickness absence: A difference-in-differences study.

Abstract Background Participatory working time scheduling is a collaborative approach to scheduling shift work. As a potential way of improving work time control, it may provide a means to reducing sickness absence in shift work. So far, experimental and quasi-experimental studies on the effects of increased work time control on sickness absence are lacking. Objective To investigate the effects of using digital participatory working time scheduling software on ward-level sickness absence among Finnish hospital employees. Participants and methods This quasi-experimental study compared the amount of sickness absence in hospital wards using a participatory working time scheduling software (n=1…

Factors influencing adjustment to remote work: Employees’ initial responses to the covid-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 crisis has disrupted when, where, and how employees work. Drawing on a sample of 5452 Finnish employees, this study explores the factors associated with employees’ abrupt adjustment to remote work. Specifically, this study examines structural factors (i.e., work independence and the clarity of job criteria), relational factors (i.e., interpersonal trust and social isolation), contextual factors of work (i.e., change in work location and perceived disruption), and communication dynamics (i.e., organizational communication quality and communication technology use (CTU)) as mechanisms underlying adjustment to remote work. The findings demonstrate that structural and contextual fac…

Organizational Initiatives for Promoting Employee Work-Life Reconciliation Over the Life Course. A Systematic Review of Intervention Studies

This review aimed to explore the initiatives, interventions, and experiments implemented by employing organizations and designed to support the work-life reconciliation at workplaces, and the effects of these actions on employees’ well-being at work. A systematic literature review was conducted on the basis of a search in PsycInfo, ERIC, and the ISI Web of Science database of Social Sciences between January 2000 and May 2015. Those studies were included in which either organizational or individual-level initiatives, interventions, or experiments were implemented by employers at workplaces in order to promote the work-life reconciliation of their employees. Work-life reconciliation was consi…

Understanding stressor-strain relationships during the COVID-19 pandemic : The role of social support, adjustment to remote work, and work-life conflict

This study investigates how the transition to remote work during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic is experienced by employees. We investigate to what extent perceived work stressors relate to psychological strain through perceptions of social support, work-life conflict, and adjustment to remote work. The findings expound the mechanisms underlying psychological strain in the context of sudden organizational change. Specifically, this study shows that both challenge stressors and hindrance stressors have negative impact on adjustment to remote work, whereas hindrance stressors are more strongly negatively related to social support. The study further demonstrates that there is hardly any…

Sustainable Working Life in a Swedish Twin Cohort—A Definition Paper with Sample Overview

Background: A unified or consensus definition of “sustainable working life” remains lacking, although studies investigating risk factors for labour market exit are numerous. In this study, we aimed (1) to update the information and to explore a definition of “sustainable working life” via a systematic literature review and (2) to describe the working life trajectories via the prevalence of sickness absence (SA), disability pension (DP), and unemployment in a Swedish twin cohort to provide a sample overview in our Sustainable Working Life-project. Methods: A systematic literature review was conducted to explore the studies with the search phrase “sustainable working life” in PubMed, PsycInfo…

Comparison of the roles of common constitutional and behavioural parameters in back performance estimates

Objective: To compare the associations between different physical activity histories and anthropometric measures in isokinetic lifting performance, isometric back extension endurance and psychophysical lifting tests. Background: The relative roles and interaction of these factors related to back function are largely unknown. Methods: The subjects consisted of a population-based sample of 210 working-age males. Paraspinal muscle cross-sectional areas were obtained by magnetic resonance imaging; anthropometric measures, isokinetic and psychophysical lifting capacity, and isometric back extension endurance tests were performed and current and physical activity histories and occupational loadin…

The role of heredity, other constitutional structural and behavioral factors in back function tests

The objectives were 1) to determine the reliability of the measures of back function related factors, 2) to investigate the possibilities to detect changes in paraspinal muscles, and 3) to study the relative effects of heredity, constitutional and behavioral factors on three back function tests. Paraspinal muscle cross-sectional areas were obtained by magnetic resonance imaging from a sample of 210 men; anthropometric measures, isokinetic and psychophysical lifting capacity, and isometric back extension endurance tests were performed and current and past physical activity during leisure-time and at work were ascertained from a structured interview from a total sample of 600 men who were 35 …

Työpaikkatason toimenpiteet työn ja muun elämän yhteensovittamisen tukemiseksi työuran eri vaiheissa: systemaattinen katsaus interventiotutkimuksista

The Time-Varying Effect of Participatory Shift Scheduling on Working Hour Characteristics and Sickness Absence: Evidence from a Quasi-Experiment in Hospitals.

Participatory shift scheduling for irregular working hours can influence shift schedules and sickness absence. We investigated the effects of using participatory shift scheduling and shift schedule evaluation tools on working hour characteristics and sickness absence. We utilized a panel data for 2015−2019 with 16,557 hospital employees (6143 in the intervention and 10,345 in the control group). Difference-in-differences regression with ward-level clustered standard errors was used to estimate the average treatment effect on the treated coefficients relative to timing of the intervention with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Using participatory scheduling tool increased long working hou…

Repeatability of lifetime exercise reporting

The purpose of the study was to determine the reliability of lifetime exercise data obtained through a structured interview. Interviews were conducted in 1992-1993 and repeated in 1997 in 150 monozygotic male twins, aged 35-69 years, from the population-based Finnish Twin Cohort. Exercise mode, frequency, duration, intensity and period of participation were solicited for each regularly performed exercise from 12 years of age to the present. Questions related to the most common exercise mode reported in the initial interview were repeated in all subjects and the entire exercise interview was repeated in a subgroup of 38 subjects. The repeatability was highest for exercise years and mean hour…

The effects of using participatory working time scheduling software on working hour characteristics and wellbeing : a quasi-experimental study of irregular shift work

Background: Studies in the health care sector indicate that good work time control is associated with better perceived wellbeing but also with non-ergonomic work schedules, such as compressed work schedules. Participatory working time scheduling is a collaborative approach to scheduling shift work. Currently, there is a lack of information on whether working hour characteristics and employees' wellbeing in irregular shift work change after implementing participatory working time scheduling. Objective: To investigate the effects of using digital participatory working time scheduling software on working hour characteristics and well-being among Finnish hospital employees. Participants and met…

Sustainable Working Life in a Swedish Twin Cohort : A Definition Paper with Sample Overview

Background: A unified or consensus definition of “sustainable working life” remains lacking, although studies investigating risk factors for labour market exit are numerous. In this study, we aimed (1) to update the information and to explore a definition of “sustainable working life” via a systematic literature review and (2) to describe the working life trajectories via the prevalence of sickness absence (SA), disability pension (DP), and unemployment in a Swedish twin cohort to provide a sample overview in our Sustainable Working Life-project. Methods: A systematic literature review was conducted to explore the studies with the search phrase “sustainable working life” in PubMed, PsycInfo…

Association between education and future leisure-time physical inactivity: a study of Finnish twins over a 35-year follow-up

Background: Education is associated with health related lifestyle choices including leisure-time physical inactivity. However, the longitudinal associations between education and inactivity merit further studies. We investigated the association between education and leisure-time physical inactivity over a 35-year follow-up with four time points controlling for multiple covariates including familial confounding. Methods: This study of the population-based Finnish Twin Cohort consisted of 5254 twin individuals born in 1945–1957 (59 % women), of which 1604 were complete same-sexed twin pairs. Data on leisure-time physical activity and multiple covariates was available from four surveys conduct…

Association of education with leisure-time physical inactivity in Finnish twins over 35 years

Sustainable Working Life Patterns in a Swedish Twin Cohort : Age-Related Sequences of Sickness Absence, Disability Pension, Unemployment, and Premature Death during Working Life

We aimed to investigate sustainable working life via age-related sequences of sickness absence (SA), disability pension (DP), unemployment (UE), premature death, and the influence of individual characteristics, accounting for familial confounding. The sample included monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) same-sexed twin pairs with register data (n = 47,450) that were followed for 10 years in four age cohorts: 26–35 (n = 9892), 36–45 (n = 10,620), 46–55 (n = 12,964) and 56–65 (n = 13,974). A sequence analysis was done in a 7-element state space: 1. “Sustainable working life”: SA/DP 0–30 days and UE 0–90 days; 2. “Unemployment >90 days”: SA/DP 0–30 days and UE > 90 days; 3. “Moderate SA/DP”: SA…