Work stress and recognition of need and intention to improve physical health

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to examine the association between work stress and the recognition of need and intention to improve physical health, data from 12,474 respondents to the 2013 to 2014 Canadian Community Health Survey was analyzed. For the explanatory measure, respondents were categorized as having most days at work as not at all, not very, a bit, or highly stressful. For the outcome, respondents were categorized as having no known need (none), a recognized need but no intention (recognition), or a recognized need and an intention (intention) to improve their physical health. A positive, dose-response relationship was found between work stress and recognition of need and intention to improve physical health. In multinomial logistic regression models adjusted for gender, age, education, income, hours worked per week, and dependent children, employees with the highest level of work stress had an increased odds of being in the recognition (odds ratio [OR] = 2.10, 95% confidence interval [CI] [1.38, 3.20]) and intention (OR = 2.57, 95% CI [1.89, 3.50]) groups (reference group: none) compared to employees with the lowest level of work stress. A greater emphasis on programs or interventions to support the initiation and maintenance of planned improvements may benefit workers with high work stress.

Keywords:

• Health behavior
• health promotion
• physical health
• occupational health
• workforce
• work stress

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

Andrea Jones acknowledges funding from a Bridge CIHR Strategic Training Fellowship, a WorkSafeBC Research Trainee Award, and a Centre for Work Disability Policy Student Fellowship.