Brage (Statens arbeidsmiljøinstitutt)
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Hearing Loss and Annual Earnings Over a 20-Year Period: The HUNT Cohort Study
Full text linkObjectives: The association between hearing loss and income has only been examined in cross-sectional studies. We aim to study annual increase in earnings over 20 years, comparing people with and without hearing loss. Design: We used data from a population-based hearing study in Norway (The Trøndelag Health Study, 1996–1998), including 14,825 persons (46.2% men, mean age at baseline 30.6 years, age range 20 to 40 years). Hearing loss was defined as the pure-tone average threshold of 0.5 to 4 kHz in the better hearing ear ≥20 dB HL (n = 230). Annual earnings were assessed from 1997 to 2017. Longitudinal analyses were performed with linear mixed models adjusted for age, sex, and education. Results: People without hearing loss at baseline (before age 40) had a greater annual increase in earnings over a 20-year follow-up period compared with people with hearing loss. For people with normal hearing, annual earnings over 20 years increased by 453 Euro (EUR) (95% confidence interval [CI] = 384 to 522) or 13.2% more per year than for people with hearing loss, adjusted for age and sex. The difference in annual earnings over 20 year was greater among women (462 EUR, 95% CI = 376 to 547) than men (424 EUR, 95% CI = 315 to 533), greater among younger than older adults, and greater among lower than higher educated persons. When including adjustment for education in the model, in addition to age and sex, the difference in annual earnings over 20 years between persons with and without hearing loss was reduced (337 EUR, 95% CI = 269 to 405). Conclusions: The results from this large population-based study indicates that people with hearing loss experience lower long-term earnings growth compared with people with normal hearing. The findings highlight the need for increased interventions in the workplace for people with hearing loss.Hearing Loss and Annual Earnings Over a 20-Year Period: The HUNT Cohort StudypublishedVersio
Does job control contribute to differences in physician-certified sickness absence across office concepts? A mediation analysis in a nationally representative sample
Full text linkObjectives Several studies have found higher sickness absence in shared and open workspaces than in private offices, but little is known about why these differences occur. We propose and test job control as a potential mechanism underlying observed differences in the risk of physician-certified sickness absence between private offices and shared and open workspaces. Methods We conducted a counterfactual mediation analysis using observational survey data from a nationally representative sample of Norwegian employees merged with prospective data from national registries (N=5512). The registry data included information about whether participants had any physician-certified sickness absence the year following the survey. Models were adjusted for age, sex, education level, occupation group, executive/ leadership responsibility, and time spent on office work. Results We found significantly higher sickness absence risk in conventional [risk ratio (RR) 1.12, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.01‒1.25] and non-territorial (RR 1.20, 95% 1.04‒1.37) open-plan and non-territorial sharedroom offices (RR 1.29, 95% CI 1.13‒1.48) compared to private offices. Natural indirect effects due to job control were statistically significant in all contrasts and accounted for 19–34% of total effects depending on contrast. Conclusions Findings were in line with hypothesized relationships and suggest that job control may be a mechanism underlying observed differences in sickness absence across office concepts. Future studies should continue to explore potential mechanisms linking shared and open workspaces to higher sickness absence and other unfavorable outcomes in the workplace, particularly with study designs that provide stronger basis for causal inference.publishedVersio
Effects of a work schedule with abated quick returns on insomnia, sleepiness and work-related fatigue. Results from a large-scale cluster randomized controlled trial
Full text linkStudy objectives To investigate the effect of a work schedule with abated quick returns (i.e., >11 hours between two shifts) on insomnia, daytime sleepiness, and work-related fatigue compared to a shift schedule maintaining the usual number of quick returns. Methods A two-armed cluster randomized controlled trial including 66 units was conducted at a university hospital in Norway. Units with healthcare workers on rotating shift schedules were randomly assigned to a shift schedule with abated quick returns (intervention) or to continue with a schedule including quick returns as usual (control) for six months. Questionnaires assessed symptoms of insomnia (Bergen Insomnia Scale), daytime sleepiness (Epworth Sleepiness Scale), and work-related fatigue (Revised Swedish Occupational Fatigue Inventory) at baseline and towards the end of the intervention. Data was analyzed using multilevel linear mixed-effects models, and Cohen’s d was used to calculate the effect size between groups. Results Overall, 1314 healthcare workers (85.2% female) completed the baseline questionnaire (response rate 49.1%), and 552 completed the follow-up questionnaire. The intervention reduced quick returns from an average of 13.2 (SD=8.7) to 6.7 (SD=6.0), while the control group's average remained relatively unchanged from 13.2 (SD=8.7) to 12.0 (SD=9.3). Results showed a small improvement in symptoms of insomnia (BIS; d=-0.13, p=0.022) and daytime sleepiness (ESS; d=-0.14, p=0.013) in favor of the intervention. No effects were observed on work-related fatigue. Conclusions Reducing the number of quick returns resulted in improvements in insomnia and daytime sleepiness. The findings highlight the importance of sufficient rest time in the work schedule of healthcare workers.Effects of a work schedule with abated quick returns on insomnia, sleepiness and work-related fatigue. Results from a large-scale cluster randomized controlled trialpublishedVersio
Occupational exposures of firefighting and prostate cancer risk in the Norwegian Fire Departments Cohort
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Sykefravær og helseplager i trevareindustrien. En tilleggsstudie til trestøvprosjektet
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Social stress in rats promotes transcriptional mitochondrial changes of the adrenal tissue
Full text linkPrevious observations suggest that strong social stressors, that is, repeated social defeat, could initiate functional changes in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis in social mammals. Here, we examine whether exposure to such stress in rats causes persistent alterations in gene expression associated with hypo-and/or hyper-methylation in the adrenal tissue, i.e., the interface between the HPA axis and the circulating hormones. Our integrated analyses of RNA-sequencing (RNAseq) and whole genome bisulfite sequencing (WGBS), suggested that adrenal mitochondrial membrane transport necessary for corticosterone (CORT) synthesis, are affected by repeated social defeat. The increased CORT levels observed in blood in the stressed rats further suggested that corticosterone synthesis might be influenced by this form of social stress. The cellular mechanisms underlying these changes, i.e., the enriched gene ontology (GO)-terms and increased levels of circulating CORT, remain to be investigated.Social stress in rats promotes transcriptional mitochondrial changes of the adrenal tissuepublishedVersio
Acute effects of a simulated quick return on subjective sleepiness, mood, and cognitive performance: A laboratory crossover controlled trial
Full text linkSleep loss due to short time off between shifts has been proposed as a mechanism contributing to impaired functioning in occupational settings. This laboratory crossover trial (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT05162105, N = 66) compared subjective sleepiness, mood, and cognitive performance on a day shift after an evening shift with only 8 h off between shifts (quick return, QR) to a day shift after another day shift with 16 h off between shifts (control). Results indicated higher subjective sleepiness (Karolinska Sleepiness Scale) during the QR condition compared to the control condition (p < 0.001). No significant differences were found on mood (Positive and Negative Affect Schedule) and cognitive performance (Psychomotor Vigilance- and Digit Symbol Substitution Test) between the conditions. Findings of increased subjective sleepiness corroborate previous field studies. This trial is to our knowledge the first to compare mood and cognitive performance after a QR to a longer shift transition using an experimental design. Future research should explore the effects of accumulated sleep loss associated with QRs (e.g. having several QRs within a short time period) on behavioral outcomes.publishedVersio
The Impact of Emotional Dissonance on Turnover Intent in Child Welfare Social Work: Test of a Moderated Mediation Model
Full text linkHigh employee turnover represents a substantial problem in child welfare work. To prevent turnover, knowledge about risk factors, mechanisms, and conditional factors that can explain turnover and turnover intent is highly important. This study investigated a moderated mediation model with (1) emotional dissonance as a predictor of subsequent turnover intent, (2) job dissatisfaction and burnout as potential mediators, and (3) being overly nurturing as a potential moderating variable. The associations were examined using data from a two-wave prospective questionnaire survey of 424 child welfare workers in Norway. Emotional dissonance was positively related to burnout and job dissatisfaction (cross-sectionally) and had a significant indirect association with increased turnover intent 6 months later (prospectively) through burnout, but not job dissatisfaction. An antagonistic interaction effect of being overly nurturing was found on the association between emotional dissonance and burnout, and the indirect association with turnover intent. Specifically, having low scores on the overly nurturing trait had a protective effect on burnout and turnover intent in cases of low to moderate exposure to emotional dissonance. In cases of high emotional dissonance, all employees reported the outcomes as equally negative irrespective of their tendency to be overly nurturing. The findings highlight the importance of organizational efforts that can help child welfare workers deal with emotional demands.The Impact of Emotional Dissonance on Turnover Intent in Child Welfare Social Work: Test of a Moderated Mediation ModelpublishedVersio
Interlaboratory comparison of endotoxin contamination assessment of nanomaterials
Full text linkEndotoxin contamination is a significant hurdle to the translation of nanomaterials for biomedical applications. Multiple reports now describe that more than one-third of nanomaterials fail early pre-clinical assessment due to levels of endotoxin above regulatory requirements. Additionally, most immunological studies or in vivo studies testing nanomaterials in the literature lack inclusion of this assessment, which may lead to false-positive or false-negative results if high levels of the contaminant are present. The currently approved methods for endotoxin contamination assessment rely on enzymatic activity and wavelength absorbance as their endpoint, and many nanomaterials can interfere with such assays. For this reason, we devised an interlaboratory comparison of endotoxin contamination assessment for a range of nanomaterials to challenge the current international organization for standardization and pharmacopeia standards. Herein, we show that detected endotoxin levels could vary considerably between groups, and, in some instances, nanomaterials could both pass and fail regulatory endotoxin limits for medical devices depending on the group undertaking the assessment, all while passing all quality criteria standards. This work emphasises the requirement for multiple assays to fully assess the endotoxin levels in a nanomaterial and highlights the need for additional assays to be developed in this space.publishedVersio