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Effort‐reward imbalance at work and weight changes in a nationwide cohort of workers in Denmark
Author(s) -
Nordentoft Mads,
Rod Naja Hulvej,
Bonde Jens Peter,
Bjorner Jakob Bue,
Cleal Bryan,
Larsen Ann Dyreborg,
Madsen Ida E.H.,
Magnusson Hanson Linda L.,
Nexo Mette Andersen,
Pedersen Line Rosendahl Meldgaard,
Sterud Tom,
Xu Tianwei,
Rugulies Reiner
Publication year - 2020
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.23110
Subject(s) - medicine , body mass index , confidence interval , demography , cohort , cohort study , logistic regression , population , environmental health , sociology
Objective To investigate the relation between effort‐reward imbalance (ERI) at work and subsequent weight changes. Methods We included participants from a population‐based cohort of workers in Denmark (mean age = 47 years, 54% women) with two (n = 9005) or three repeated measurements (n = 5710). We investigated the association between (a) ERI (ie, the mismatch between high efforts spent and low rewards received at work) at baseline and weight changes after a 2‐year follow‐up (defined as ≥5% increase or decrease in body mass index (BMI) vs stable), and (b) onset and remission of ERI and subsequent changes in BMI. Using multinomial logistic regression we calculated risk ratios (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI), adjusted for sex, age, education, cohabitation, migration background, and follow‐up time. Results After 2 years, 15% had an increase and 13% a decrease in BMI. Exposure to ERI at baseline yielded RRs of 1.09 (95% CI: 0.95‐1.25) and 1.04 (95% CI: 0.90‐1.20) for the increase and decrease in BMI, respectively. There were no differences between sex and baseline BMI in stratified analyses. The onset of ERI yielded RRs of 1.04 (95% CI: 0.82‐1.31) and 1.15 (95% CI: 0.84‐1.57) for subsequent increase and decrease in BMI. The RRs for the remission of ERI and subsequent increase and decrease in BMI were 0.92 (95% CI: 0.71‐1.20) and 0.78 (95% CI: 0.53‐1.13), respectively. Of the ERI components, high rewards were associated with a lower risk of BMI increase. Conclusion ERI was not a risk factor for weight changes. Future studies may investigate whether this result is generalizable to other occupational cohorts and settings.