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Biomedical subjects

G Ahlberg-Hultén

Publications and source records attributed to G Ahlberg-Hultén.

5 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1997

Combined somatic and psychiatric care--effects on personnel treating drug addicts with infectious diseases.

Infectious disease care, psychiatric care of drug addicts, and social care were combined in a ward for drug addicts with infectious diseases. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects on the personnel (n = 22). One ward with infectious disease care of HIV and AIDS patients (n = 24) and another with nonsomatic care of drug addicts (n = 18) were selected to make comparisons possible. The questionnaire concerned psychosocial work environment and health. The personnel at the new ward also participated in a semistructured interview. The personnel at the special ward experienced a significantly higher degree of emotional exhaustion and lack of ability to concentrate than the comparison groups. They also reported a higher degree of lack of clarity, more job strain, and more difficulties due to demands from patients. The combined care is probably associated with heavier psychological burdens than other forms of care. In spite of this, the personnel experienced their work as meaningful and mentally stimulating.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗
PubMed1991

Psychosocial job factors and symptoms from the locomotor system--a multicausal analysis.

The effects of physical and psychosocial work environment factors on emotions, psychosomatic and endocrine (cortisol and testosterone) states, back pain, symptoms of degenerative joint disease, and absenteeism for sickness, were studied in 147 men and 60 women in six occupations representing widely different physical and psychological activities. In most subjects, measurements were carried out twice to four times over one year. Statistical analyses were performed of the associations between different factor levels, such as age, gender, height, body mass index, and physical stressors at work. It was found that psychological work demands were associated with physiological indicators of strain (plasma cortisol and self-reported muscle tension) and that self-reported muscle tension was associated with several emotional reactions as well as with symptoms from the back, neck and shoulders. Little possibility for decision-making was associated with a high rate of absenteeism for sickness. In men, a high plasma testosterone level was associated with self-reported muscle tension. The results indicate that work environment factors influence mood, bodily tension and somatic symptoms, but that load on the locomotor system and opportunity to influence decisions play an important and more direct role in absenteeism for sickness.

Absenteeism↗
PubMed1988

Changes in job strain in relation to changes in physiological state. A longitudinal study.

A sample of 73 men and women aged 22-63 years and working in six different occupations (air traffic controllers, waiters, physicians, symphony orchestra musicians, baggage handlers, and airplane mechanics) participated in a longitudinal study four times during a year. The spontaneous variations in job strain (determined as the self-reported ratio between psychological demands and decision latitude) were substantial. The average difference between the occasion with the highest level of strain and the occasion with the lowest level was 25% of the total mean. Systolic blood pressure during workhours, as well as self-reported sleep disturbance, increased when demands increased in relation to decision latitude. Among men with a depressive tendency (according to a diary) morning plasma prolactin levels increased markedly with increasing job strain. Among subjects with a positive family history of hypertension the increase in systolic blood pressure at work was particularly pronounced, and among the men in this group a lower than expected level of morning cortisol was found measured during the period with the highest level of strain.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Differences in the association between psychosocial work conditions and physical work load in female- and male-dominated occupations. MUSIC-Norrtälje Study Group.

This study investigated whether there is a relationship between high physical work load and adverse psychosocial work factors, and whether this relationship is different for women and men. Separate analyses for female registered nurses and assistant nurses were made because these are common occupations involving high physical and psychological demands. This study was part of the MUSIC-Norrtälje study, a population study with the overall aim of identifying risk factors for musculoskeletal disorders. The respondents, 1423 gainfully employed men and women, were randomly selected from the study population. The exposure assessments referred to a typical workday during the previous 12 months. Physical exposure was investigated by interview, psychosocial work factors by interview and questionnaire. For the women, but not the men, mainly routine work and a job strain situation, according to the model of Karasek and Theorell, increased the probability of having a high physical work load, assessed as a time-weighted average of energy expenditure in multiples of the resting metabolic rate. Results indicated that in female-dominated occupations, high physical work load might also imply adverse psychosocial conditions. A higher frequency of high physical work load and job strain was observed among assistant nurses compared with registered nurses. Covariance between physical and psychosocial demands makes it difficult to determine the relative influence of each in health problems. Results of the present study imply that this is a larger problem in studies of women than men.

Adult↗