Attending work with chronic pain is associated with higher levels of psychosocial stress

Figures & data

Table 1. Descriptive statistics for age and sex in pain vs. non-pain populations

	Males	Females	Missing	Total	Mean age (n = 10,021)^a
Pain	1014	1369	1	2384	46.35 (n = 2380)
Non-pain	4177	3496	3	7676	39.62 (n = 7641)
All	5191	4865	4	10,060	41.22

^aAge has lower total n as some people not give their age.

Table 2. Descriptive statistics for job characteristics in pain vs. non-pain groups

Job Characteristics	Total	Pain group	Non-pain group
	Mean (SD)	Mean (SD)	Mean (SD)	df	F	Sig.	η^2
Part-time or full-time (low score = more likely to work part-time)	1.79 (.41)	1.78 (0.41)	1.80 (0.40)	4,462	3.44	0.064	0.001
Hours worked per week	36.55 (10.47)	36.7 (11.08)	36.4 (9.79)	4,601	.931	0.335	<0.001
Carrying or moving heavy loads (low score = more frequently)	5.86 (1.66)	5.56 (1.84)	6.17 (1.38)	4,642	159.00	<0.001	0.033
Sitting (low score = more frequently)	4.25 (2.17)	4.22 (2.17)	4.28 (2.17)	4,642	.89	0.346	<0.001
Dealing directly with people who are not employees at your workplace (low score = more frequently)	3.85 (2.41)	3.70 (2.39)	4.00 (2.42)	4,638	17.84	<0.001	0.004
Working with computers, laptops, smartphones etc. (low score = more frequently)	4.17 (2.41)	4.15 (2.44)	4.19 (2.37)	4,641	.29	0.591	<0.001
Level of education (low score = lower level of education)	6.79 (2.99)	6.65 (3.02)	6.95 (2.96)	4,312	11.25	0.001	0.003
Is your household able to make ends meet? (low score = very easily)	3.12 (1.33)	3.27 (1.35)	2.96 (1.20)	4,627	70.57	<0.001	0.015

Table 3. PCA for factor scores with alpha reliability

	Varimax-rotated factor scores	Rotated variance explained (%)	Alpha reliability for factor scores
1. Supervisor support		22.52	0.90
Q63f: Your immediate boss encourages and supports your development	0.80
Q63e: Your immediate boss provides useful feedback on your work	0.81
Q63b: Your immediate boss gives you praise and recognition when you do a good job	0.78
Q63d: Your immediate boss is helpful in getting the job done	0.76
Q63c: Your immediate boss is successful in getting people to work together	0.76
Q63a: Your immediate boss respects you as a person	0.63
Q70a: Employees are appreciated when they have done a good job	0.54
2. Job responsibility		6.95	0.81
Q61n: You can influence decisions that are important for your work	0.76
Q61d: You are involved in improving the work organization or work processes of your department or organization	0.71
Q61i: You are able to apply your own ideas in your work	0.71
Q61e: You have a say in the choice of your work colleagues	0.68
Q61c: You are consulted before objectives are set for your work	0.66
Q61f: You can take a break when you wish	0.57
3. Team cohesion		5.16	0.84
Q70f: In general employees trust management	0.52
Q70c: Conflicts are resolved in a fair way	0.57
Q70d: Work is distributed fairly	0.59
Q70b: Management trusts the employees to do their work well	0.58
Q70e: There is good cooperation between you and your colleagues?	0.72
Q89d: I generally get on well with my work colleagues	0.59
Q61a: Your colleagues help and support you	0.45
4. Discrimination		4.88	0.69
Q72c: Over the past 12 months at work, have you been subjected to any of the following: Discrimination linked to nationality?	0.67
Q72b: Over the past 12 months at work, have you been subjected to any of the following: Discrimination linked to race, ethnic background, or color?	0.73
Q72e: Over the past 12 months at work, have you been subjected to any of the following: Discrimination linked to religion?	0.68
Q72g: Over the past 12 months at work, have you been subjected to any of the following: Discrimination linked to sexual orientation?	0.65
Q72f: Over the past 12 months at work, have you been subjected to any of the following: Discrimination linked to disability?	0.56
Q72d: Over the past 12 months at work, have you been subjected to any of the following: Discrimination on the basis of your sex?	0.52
Q72a: Over the past 12 months at work, have you been subjected to any of the following: Age discrimination?	0.43
5. Threats/abuse in the workplace		4.41	0.74
Q80c: Over the last month, during the course of your work have you been subjected to any of the following: Threats?	0.79
Q80a: Over the last month, during the course of your work have you been subjected to any of the following: Verbal abuse?	0.73
Q80d: Over the last month, during the course of your work have you been subjected to any of the following: Humiliating behaviors?	0.71
Q81c: Over the last month, during the course of your work have you been subjected to any of the following: Bullying/harassment?	0.60
Q81a: Over the last month, during the course of your work have you been subjected to any of the following: Physical violence?	0.60
6. Perceived competence		3.04	0.74
Q61j: You have the feeling of doing useful work	0.72
Q61h: Your job gives the feeling of work well done	0.71
Q61k: You know what is expected of you at work	0.69
Q61g: You have enough time to get the job done	0.51
7. Job reward		2.87	0.80
Q89a: Considering all my efforts and achievements in my job, I feel I get paid appropriately	0.73
Q89e: The organization I work for motivates me to give my best job performance	0.61
Q89c: I receive the recognition I deserve for my work	0.62
Q89b: My job offers good prospects for career advancement	0.65
8. Sexual harassment		2.66	0.69
81b: Over the past 12 months, during the course of your work have you been subjected to any of the following: Sexual harassment?	0.86
80b: Over the last month, during the course of your work have you been subjected to any of the following: Unwanted sexual attention?	0.84
9. Workplace stress		2.32	0.47
Q61m: You experience stress in your workplace	0.75
Q61o: Your job requires that you hide your feelings	0.75
10. Job security		2.24	1.00
Q89g: I might lose my job in the next 6 months	0.66

Table 4. Logistic regression showing impact of chronic pain on each psychosocial factor

Component/factor	Beta	SE	Sig.	OR	95% CI
Supervisor support	−0.26	0.03	<0.001	0.77	0.73–0.82
Job responsibility	−0.03	0.03	0.381	0.97	0.92–1.03
Team cohesion	−0.01	0.03	0.836	0.99	0.94–1.06
Discrimination	−0.25	0.04	<0.001	0.78	0.71–0.85
Threats/abuse	−0.39	0.04	<0.001	0.68	0.63–0.73
Job competency	0.10	0.03	0.005	1.1	1.03–1.18
Job reward	−0.50	0.03	<0.001	0.61	0.57–0.65
Sexual harassment	−0.03	0.03	0.395	0.97	0.91–1.04
Job security	0.13	0.03	<0.001	1.14	1.07–1.21

Figure 1. Effect of chronic pain on factor (odds ratios converted to percentages)

Table 5. Multivariate ANOVA comparing pain vs non-pain populations for each factor

	Group
	Pain group		Non-pain group
Factor	M	SD	M	SD	F	P	Partial η^2
Supervisor support	0.22	1.18	−0.03	0.92	63.64	<0.001	0.014
Discrimination	0.11	1.27	−0.07	0.66	36.51	<0.001	0.008
Threats/abuse	0.28	1.38	−0.098	0.77	131.34	<0.001	0.027
Job competency	−0.16	0.94	−0.10	0.93	4.90	0.027	0.001
Job reward	0.34	1.05	−0.11	0.95	235.48	<0.001	0.048
Job security	−0.12	1.17	0.00	1.06	14.95	<0.001	0.003