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Kristinn Tómasson

Publications and source records attributed to Kristinn Tómasson.

12 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

[Health promotion in pre-schools in Reykjavík--risk assessment in the year 2000].

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this research is to assess the work environment and compare with the well-being of employees of pre-schools. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Work environment of 16 pre-schools was assessed by a specialist in ergonomics and a questionnaire on work environment and health. Based on the ergonomic assessment the schools were classified into four groups. This was then compared to the results from the questionnaire. RESULTS: About 90% of the employees (n=320) returned the questionnaire and the ergonomic workplace assessment was done before the results from the questionnaire were processed. Substantial job-satisfaction characterizes the work done in the pre-schools, more so in the smaller schools, where the physical work environment is worse, but the employees are older and more likely to have professional background for the job. In contrast job satisfaction was less where the objective physical work environment was better. Strain symptoms were least apparent among the younger employees, who had the best work environment. About half of the employees had received instructions about work positions and reported that such was useful. Noise was over limits in most of the assessments and the employees reported in 80% of such incidents had the noise caused discomfort in the past month. Work positions close to the floor were quite common regardless of other circumstances among the employees. CONCLUSION: Work environment in pre-schools is characterized by substantial physical and mental strain. Despite of that it is also characterized by substantial work satisfaction, indicating that work satisfaction is not a sign per se of good work environment.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

[The eye of technology and the well being of women and men in Icelandic work places].

INTRODUCTION: The study assessed the association between working under surveillance and electronic performance monitoring and the well-being among women and men in six Icelandic workplaces. METHODS: In the time period from February to April 2003, a questionnaire based on the General Nordic Questionnaire for Psychological and Social Factors at Work was delivered to 1369 employees in six companies where different methods of electronic performance monitoring (EPM) are used. The data was analyzed using odds ratio and logistical regression. RESULTS: The response rate was 72%, with close to equal participation of men and women. The employees who were working under EPM were more likely to have poor psychosocial work-environment, to have experienced significant stress recently, to be mentally exhausted at the end of the workday, to have significant sleep difficulties and to be dissatisfied in their job. CONCLUSION: The development of the information and communication technology that allows employers and managers to monitor and collect different electronic data about the work process and productivity of the workers makes it important to follow the health condition of those who work under electronic performance monitoring.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Correlates of probable alcohol abuse among women working in nursing homes.

AIMS: The purpose of this nationwide study was to assess the prevalence of probable alcohol abuse (PAA) among women working in geriatric care, and to study its demographics, medical and work-related correlates. METHODS: The employees of geriatric nursing homes and geriatric hospital wards in Iceland with 10 patients or more were invited to participate in this cross-sectional study. The response rate was 80% (n=1515), with 96% being women (n=1432). Men were consequently omitted from the study. Questions were included on demographics, psychosocial factors, workplace environment, health behavior, and medical history. PAA was defined as (a) having been given such a diagnosis by a physician, (b) having missed work because of drinking, or (c) if alcohol use was considered a problem by the employee herself, her family, friends, or the employer. RESULTS: A total of 4.8% of the employees fulfilled the criteria for PAA. These women were younger (41 vs. 45 years of age), more often single (25% vs. 15%) or divorced (13% vs. 9%), and less satisfied with work than the other women. Odds ratios for asthma, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, pain syndromes, mental disorders, and work-related accidents were elevated. Despite this, no differences were found concerning amount of sick leave. Their psychosocial work environment was worse but the physical work environment was the same. CONCLUSION: Women with probable alcohol abuse working in nursing homes have significant medical problems and psychosocial morbidity that is not reflected in more sick leave.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

[Work strain and well being among different groups of female personnel in geriatric care.].

OBJECTIVE: To study possible inequalities in work strain and well-being among women working in geriatric care and to find out if some groups might need special public health measures. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In this cross-sectional questionnaire reaching throughout Iceland, the participants were employees in 62 geriatric nursing homes and geriatric hospital wards with 10 or more employees. A total of 1886 questionnaires were distributed. The 84-item questionnaire included questions on demographic and work-related factors, health and life style. Age-adjusted odds ratios (OR) were calculated and confidence intervals were set at 95% (95% CI). Registered nurses were taken as a reference category. RESULTS: The response rate was 80%. Registered nurses accounted for 16%, practical nurses 21%, unskilled attendants 44%, cleaning personnel 8% and others 12% of the total group. Men were 4.5% of the group. The practical nurses, unskilled attendants and cleaning personnel assessed work as more physically difficult, and more monotonous both physically and mentally, than did the registered nurses, who enjoyed somewhat more physical and mental well-being than the others. Little difference was found as to visits to doctors. CONCLUSIONS: Various personnel groups of women in geriatric care have different physical and psychosocial workload that is reflected in their well being. The results provide opportunities to guide public health measures for people employed in geriatric care.

English Abstract↗
PubMed2004

[Screening for mental disorders in the community 1984 and 2002 and prescriptions for psychopharmaca in 1984 and 2001.].

BACKGROUND: During the past 15 years the use of psycho tropic medication has increased markedly. The question addressed in this paper is whether this increase is related to change in prevalence of psychiatric disorders or symptoms. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Two data sets were used. Data from a screening of the population aged 20 to 59 years in 1984 using GHQ- 30 and prescriptions for pychotropic medications filled during March that year for outpatients in Reykjavík. Secondly, data from a population screening in January 2002 using GHQ- 12 for the same age range, and all psychotropic prescriptions filled by outpatients in 2001. RESULTS: The prevalence of those without complaints did not change. It remained about 60%. Using a cut off 4/3 for GHQ-30 and 3/2 for GHQ-12 the prevalence rates were 16.1 % and 17.5%, respectively. By assuming that symptom-free drug users would have reached the cut-off level the prevalence increased to 20.7% Using a cut off score of 3/2 and 2/1, respectively, the prevalence for men in both years was around 18 % while that for women increased from 20.5% to 29.4% (p<0.05). In both years the prevalence was highest in the youngest age group and lowest in the oldest. Psychotropic presciptions other than hypnotics doubled. Proportionally the increase was similar for men and women, but more marked among the younger age groups. The increase in prescriptions filled for all psychotropics was 56% compared to 47% increase in the sale of all medications. CONCLUSION: Increase in the use of psychotropics is explained to a limited extent only by possibly higher prevalence of psychiatric disorders. The use of psychotropics has increased along with that of other medications, but at slightly higher pace, which may reflect the results of awareness campaigns among physicians and the general public and more effective and better tolerated medications.

English Abstract↗
PubMed2004

[Bullying, work organization and employee well-being.].

INTRODUCTION: The study assessed the association between well-being, work-environment and employees? health among the personnel in savings- and other banks? branches with reference to whether they had been exposed to bullying at work. METHODS: A questionnaire based on the General Nordic Questionnaire for Psychological and Social Factors at Work was sent to all employees (N=1847) in the spring of 2002. The data was analyzed using the SPSS statistical package. RESULTS: The response rate was 80% with 1475 employees returning the questionnaire. Women were 86% (n=1192) of the responders. About 15% of the employees (n=209) had experienced some form of harassment in connection with work. The majority of those had experienced bullying (8% (n=110)). The victims of bullying were more likely to have poor psychosocial work-environment and were less likely to have experienced a positive relationship with supervisors and other staff. There was only minimal association between bullying and seeking medical attention for a selected number of medical conditions. The victims of bullying were more likely to have experienced significant stress recently (p=0.025), to be mentally exhausted at the end of the workday (p=0.013), to have significant sleep difficulties (p=0.001), and poor mental health (p<0.0001), and to be dissatisfied in their job (p<0.0001). CONCLUSION: In the light of the association between work organization and bullying it is of importance that supervisors and employers are well versified in communication skills as pertains to staff relations and recognizing psychosocial risk factors in the employees' work environment. As victims of bullying are more dissatisfied with their work than others, it is likely that if they become sick and link their illness to the workplace, that they will quit their job. In light of this it is of importance to study the experience of bullying among those receiving benefits due to long-term sickness absence or disability.

English Abstract↗
PubMed2003

[Prevalence and distribution of antidepressant, anxiolytic and hypnotic use in 2001.].

OBJECTIVE: To study the prevalence of the use of antidepressant, anxiolytic and hypnotic drugs, the distribution of the use according to clinical and demographic factors and to compare it with the prevalence according to official sales figures. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Data was collected in a survey by the Alcohol and Drug Prevention Committee. Four thousand individuals were selected at random from the population aged 18-75 years. Pharmaceutical use was studied according to sex, age, length of use, well-being, medical consultations, smoking, alcohol problems, education, marital status, income, occupation, and work pressure. Data on sales was supplied by the Ministry of Health and Social Security, Office of Pharmaceutical Affairs. RESULTS: The response rate was 63.6%. Almost 20% had used some of these drugs during the preceeding 12 months, slightly more women than men. There was neither significant difference in the one year prevalence of use of antidepressants and hypnotics according to sex nor according to age for antidepressants and anxiolytics. One half of the youngest age group used antidepressants for less than three months. Use of hypnotics increased by age. Estimated use of antidepressants and hypnotics is 54% and 61%, respectively, of sales figures. There was no significant difference in the relative risk of drug use for men and women seeking medical consultations. Odds ratios were higher for smokers, especially for the use of antidepressants. People with the little education and low income was most likely to have used antidepressants and anxiolytics. CONCLUSIONS: Use of these drugs is common, but not as extensive as sales figures suggest. Sex difference is smaller than in previous studies. Prevalence of use, especially longterm, increases with age. As expected the use is most common among the socio-economically disadvantaged.

English Abstract↗
PubMed2002

Quality of life and mental health of parents of children with mental health problems.

Mental health of parents and their quality of life is likely to be affected when a child in the family has a psychiatric disorder. The purpose of this study is to assess quality of life and mental health of parents of referred children waiting for service at the only child psychiatric service in Iceland, with reassessment at least 3 months after first attendance to the service. In order to do so, 208 parents of 123 children waiting for psychiatric care were sent the Icelandic Quality of Life (IQL), the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-30) and the CAGE screen for alcoholism. For reassessment, responders in the first phase were assessed again with the IQL and GHQ-30, at least 3 months after initiation of child psychiatric interventions. A total of 120 of the 208 parents (58%) responded in the first phase of the study, 49 fathers and 71 mothers. The mean (+/- s, standard deviation) standardized IQL T-score was for the fathers 51+/- 7.5 but significantly lower for the mothers or 45 +/-11.5 (P = 0.001) compared to normal sample of same-age women (T-scores of 50 are normal). Nearly 55% of women compared with 26% of men were psychiatric cases, scoring 5 or higher on the GHQ. According to a CAGE score of 2 and above 16% of fathers and 14% of mother abused alcohol. No significant change occurred in parents GHQ-30 or IQL before and after initiation of treatment. We conclude that mothers of children with mental disorders have poor quality of life, and high prevalence of mental disorders; hence child psychiatry clinics need to ensure that mothers receive appropriate care along with the child.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

[Diagnosing occupational diseases. Examples from shellfish industry.].

It is very important to report suspected occupational diseases in Iceland to the Administration of Occupational Safety and Health, so they can be diagnosed, investigated in details and improvements made. This article describes the illness of clam workers at Thornórshöfn, a small village in the northern part of Iceland. It lead to a detailed investigation and the diagnosis of clamworkers hypersensitivity pneumonitis. Many specialists participated in the study that lead to improvement in the factory that has benefitted the workers.

English Abstract↗
PubMed2002

[Mortality among female industrial workers.].

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate mortality among female industrial workers with the hypothesis that mortality by smoking related causes was in excess among them. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The design was that of a retrospective cohort study. The cohort comprised 13 349 women who contributed to a pension fund for factory workers in Reykjavík during the period 1970-1995. The follow-up time was 1975-1995. The death rate of the cohort was compared to that of all Icelandic women during the period 1981-1995. The cohort was studied with regard to selected causes of death, and subsequently according to age at first entrance in the pension fund, different lag-time, employment time and by time at start of employment. RESULTS: RESULTS showed an excess of external causes but a deficit of most other causes of death, including smoking related diseases. However, in some of the analyses there were indications of elevated lung cancer. Highest mortality was seen among those women who started to pay to the pension fund before thirty years of age. CONCLUSIONS: The notable excess of external causes in the group needs further exploration wheras the results did not confirm the assumption that smoking related causes of death were elevated in the group. Methodological problems in studies of women's health are discussed.

English Abstract↗