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Work environment factors, health, lifestyle and marital status as predictors of job change and early retirement in physically heavy occupations
Author(s) -
Lund Thomas,
Iversen Lars,
Poulsen Kjeld B.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
american journal of industrial medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1097-0274
pISSN - 0271-3586
DOI - 10.1002/ajim.1084
Subject(s) - medicine , psychosocial , marital status , disability pension , sick leave , environmental health , job strain , gerontology , pension , cohort , underweight , occupational safety and health , cohort study , demography , physical therapy , population , body mass index , psychiatry , overweight , finance , pathology , sociology , economics
Background The aim was to assess the rate at which waste collectors and municipal workers leave their job, to establish the outcome and to identify associated risk factors within work environment, health, lifestyle and marital status. Methods A questionnaire‐based survey among a cohort of 2,918 waste collectors and municipal workers was performed in 1994, with follow‐up 2.5 years later. Results Twenty‐five percent had left the job at follow‐up. Of these, 31% had changed jobs (associated with low decision authority), 16% were unemployed (associated with low skill discretion, pushing heavy loads and extreme bending of back), 10% received Disability Pension/long‐term sick leave (associated with low skill discretion, prevalent diseases, underweight and smoking), and 12% received Early Retirement Pension (associated with extreme bending of back and marital status). Conclusions The study suggests a potential for preventing people from leaving physically heavy occupations by improving the physical and psychosocial work environment. Am. J. Ind. Med. 40:161–169, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.