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Biomedical subjects

Dag Bruusgaard

Publications and source records attributed to Dag Bruusgaard.

14 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

The impact of psychosocial and organizational working conditions on the mental health of female cleaning personnel in Norway.

BACKGROUND: This study examined the association between psychosocial and organizational work conditions and mental health among women employed in the cleaning profession in Norway. METHODS: Self-report questionnaires were mailed to 661 cleaning staff personnel from seven cleaning organizations in seven different cities across Norway. The response rate was 64%, of which 374 (88%) respondents were women. The questionnaires assessed socio-demographic information and employment history, work organization, and psychosocial working conditions. The Hopkins Symptoms Checklist (HSCL-25) was included to assess mental health. RESULTS: On average, respondents were 43 years old and reported 10.8 years of experience working in the cleaning industry. The proportion of women scoring a HSCL-25 equal to or above 1.75 was 17.5%, which was higher than the average prevalence of mental health problems among working Norwegian women (8.4%). A factor analysis of the questions specific to the psychosocial work environment identified the following four underlying dimensions: leadership, co-workers, time pressure/control, and information/knowledge. Two of these, poor satisfaction with leadership (OR = 3.6) and poor satisfaction with co-workers (OR = 2.3), were significantly related to mental health. In addition, having contact with colleagues less than once a day (OR = 2.4) and not being ethnically Norwegian (OR = 3.0) increased the risk for mental health problems. CONCLUSION: Mental health problems are frequent among female cleaning professionals in Norway. Our results indicate that quality of leadership, collaboration with co-workers, and ethnicity were significantly associated with mental health.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2005

[Biomedical model of disease and criteria of distributive justice in disability pension cases].

As an expert in disability pension cases, the physician lays down important premises for the distribution of financial resources in society. The aim of this article is to present the material criteria of distributive justice of the Norwegian National Insurance Act and to carry out a constructive critique of how physicians are supposed to objectively evaluate their patients in light of these criteria. The form "Medical assessment of work disability" of the National Insurance Administration and central legal texts have been examined by using the method of text analysis. The material criteria of the Norwegian National Insurance Act, the criterion of need, of equality and of effort, are all implicitly contained in the form "Medical assessment of work disability". According to the form, the situation of the claimant should, in the light of these criteria, be evaluated by means of the biomedical model of disease. The central criterion of objectivity when applied in light of this model proves to be the ontological concept of objectivity, i.e. what exists as "objective findings". Our analysis indicates that a description and an evaluation of the claimant's situation in relation to the criteria of need, equality and vocational rehabilitation, when combined with the ontological concept of objectivity, tends to become arbitrary, insufficient and inaccurate. It is considered as problematic and unjust that little attention is given to the criterion of equality, defined as equal right for all citizens to the same actual possibilities of participation in the society, working life included, by an evaluation of disability based exclusively on the classical biomedical model of disease. The medical model of national insurance and of medicine should become more coordinated. Moreover, more weight should be given to impartial, varied and accurate evaluation according to an epistemological concept of objectivity. In this way the disability claimant's individual needs can be better clarified.

Disability Evaluation↗
PubMed2003

Back to work: predictors of return to work among patients with back disorders certified as sick: a two-year follow-up study.

STUDY DESIGN: A 2-year follow-up study of patients with back disorders certified as sick. OBJECTIVES: To identify predictors of return to work. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Back disorders are common health problems and the most important disorders associated with absence from work in the welfare states. Predictors of future absence may be of help in allocating rehabilitation efforts to such patients. Possible predictors include demographic and medical factors, the patients' functional status, and former absence. METHODS: For this study, 190 patients certified as sick who attended a back disorder outpatient clinic from September 1997 to December 1998 answered a questionnaire. Demographic data, medical factors, self-assessed function, and absence data were recorded. Return to work, defined as returning to work for at least 60 consecutive calendar days, was used in Cox regression analyses. RESULTS: According to multiple Cox regression analyses, age of 40 to 49 years (HR, 0.52; 95% confidence interval [95%CI], 0.29-0.94), high pain intensity (HR, 0.30; 95%CI, 0.17-0.55), low self-assessed work ability (HR, 0.43; 95%CI, 0.25-0.73), and a self-predicted absence status of not returning to work (HR, 0.31; 95%CI, 0.17-0.54) predicted longer time until return to work. Back disorders with radiation predicted shorter time until return to work (HR, 2.08; 95%CI, 1.37-3.16). The COOP/WONCA chart's physical fitness, daily activities, overall health, and change in health were associated with time until return to work in univariate analyses only, as was the duration of the sickness certification episodes from start to inclusion and the degree of sickness certification at inclusion. CONCLUSIONS: Information about the age of the patients, diagnoses, pain intensity, self-assessed work ability, and self-predicted absence status may be used as predictors of time until return to work in patients with back disorders certified as sick who attend a back disorder outpatient clinic.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Duration of employment is not a predictor of disability of cleaners: a longitudinal study.

AIMS: Cleaning is a high-risk occupation for developing musculoskeletal disorders. Sickness absence is twice as high as in other occupations. Disability pensions for musculoskeletal disorders are twice as high in cleaners as in other employed women. However, a result from Norwegian and Danish studies shows that female cleaners do not report higher morbidity of musculoskeletal disorders than other women. The objective was to analyse whether female cleaners have a higher risk of obtaining a disability pension than women in other unskilled occupations and whether the length of employment influences the risk. METHODS: The material is from the National Census in 1980 and 1990 and supplemented with disability pensioning data from the National Insurance Administration and the Population registry. Women aged 20-49, working as cleaners, seamstresses, nursing, kitchen, or shop assistants in 1980 were followed until 1990 or until receiving disability pension. Female cleaners aged 30-59 years in 1990 were categorized into two cohorts by occupation in 1980. They were followed from 1991 to 1994, to the date they died, or received disability pension. Incidence rates and incidence rate ratio for disability pension and mortality was calculated by Poisson regression. Cox regression calculated the relative risk of obtaining disability pension. RESULTS: Disability pension rates were higher among cleaners than among other women in unskilled occupations (1.4 per 1,000 person years (CI 95% 1.35-1.46)), but the risk of obtaining disability pension did not increase with increasing exposure to cleaning (HR 0.8 (CI 95% 0.6-1.2)). CONCLUSIONS: The cleaning occupation has high disability rates compared with other unskilled occupations. A contribution factor to these high rates is a selection of women with poor health into the occupation.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Low back pain as a predictor of long-term work disability.

AIM: To investigate low back pain (LBP), with and without other musculoskeletal pains, as a predictor of long-term work disability. METHOD: A four-year prospective study was conducted. All inhabitants in the municipality of Ullensaker, Norway, born in 1928-30, 1938-40, 1948-50, 1958-60 and 1968-70, received a mailed questionnaire in 1990 and 1994. The present study comprised the 1.788 responders who were working in 1990. Of these, 1426 (80%) returned the questionnaire four years later. The main outcome measure was long-term work disability (>eight weeks) in 1994. RESULTS: LBP in 1990 predicted long-term work disability in 1994 (odds ratio (OR) = 1.95, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.39-2.74). Localized LBP however, did not predict long-term work disability, while LBP accompanied by widespread pain did (OR = 3.52, 95% CI = 1.09-11.37), also after adjustments for demographic, lifestyle, and work-related factors. Other predictors of long-term work disability were high age, sick leave last year, heavy lifting in the job, poor sleep quality and smoking. CONCLUSION: LBP in persons with widespread musculoskeletal pain predicted long-term work disability, while localized LBP did not.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Physical leisure-time activities and long-term sick leave: a 15-month prospective study of nurses' aides.

The objective of the study was to determine the relationship between physical leisure-time activities and the occurrence of long-term sick leaves in nurses' aides. Of 5563 Norwegian nurses' aides who were not on sick leave when they completed a questionnaire in 1999, 4744 (85.3%) completed a second questionnaire 15 months later. Brisk walks (odds ratio [OR], 0.78; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.63 to 0.98), aerobics or gymnastics (OR, 0.71; 95% CI, 0.49 to 1.02), and other physical leisure activities (OR, 0.81; 95% CI, 0.66 to 1.00) for 20 minutes or more at least once a week predicted fewer long-term sick leaves (> 14 days), after adjustments for baseline health complaints, demographic and familial characteristics, former and current smoking, and work factors. In conclusion, regular physical leisure-time activity may be associated with a reduced risk of long-term sickness absence in nurses' aides.

Adult↗