Citation

Reme SE, Shaw WS, Boden LI, Tveito TH, O'Day ET, Dennerlein JT, Sorensen G. Am. J. Ind. Med. 2014; 57(7): 810-818.

Affiliation

Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts; Uni Health, Uni Research AS, Bergen, Norway.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/ajim.22319

PMID

24737462

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Hospital patient care (PC) workers have high rates of workplace injuries, particularly musculoskeletal injuries. Despite a wide spectrum of documented health hazards, little is known about the association between psychosocial factors at work and OSHA-recordable musculoskeletal injuries.

METHODS: PC-workers (n = 1,572, 79%) completed surveys assessing a number of organizational, psychosocial and psychological variables. Associations between the survey responses and injury records were tested using bivariate and multivariate analyses.

RESULTS: A 5% of the PC-workers had at least one OSHA-recordable musculoskeletal injury over the year, and the injuries were significantly associated with: organizational factors (lower people-oriented culture), psychosocial factors (lower supervisor support), and structural factors (job title: being a patient care assistant).

CONCLUSIONS: The results show support for a multifactorial understanding of musculoskeletal injuries in hospital PC-workers. An increased focus on the various dimensions associated with injury reports, particularly the organizational and psychosocial factors, could contribute to more efficient interventions and programs. Am. J. Ind. Med. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Language: en