Exploring the Role of Co-worker Social Support on Health Care Utilization and Sickness Absence

Objectives: To explore the association of baseline co-worker social support with follow-up measures of health care use and sickness absence. Methods: Data were obtained on 1240 employees from 33 worksites, through Promoting Activity and Changes in Eating, a group randomized weight maintenance trial....

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of occupational and environmental medicine 2011-07, Vol.53 (7), p.751-757
Main Authors: Tamers, Sara L., Beresford, Shirley A.A., Thompson, Beti, Zheng, Yingye, Cheadle, Allen D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Absenteeism
Adult
Biological and medical sciences
Delivery of Health Care - statistics & numerical data
Female
Health services utilization
Humans
Male
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Miscellaneous
Occupational health
Occupational medicine
ORIGINAL ARTICLES
Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine
Sick Leave - statistics & numerical data
Social networks
Social Support
Surveys and Questionnaires
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Objectives: To explore the association of baseline co-worker social support with follow-up measures of health care use and sickness absence. Methods: Data were obtained on 1240 employees from 33 worksites, through Promoting Activity and Changes in Eating, a group randomized weight maintenance trial. Co-worker social support, health care utilization, and absenteeism were assessed via a self-reported questionnaire. Generalized Estimating Equations were employed using STATA version 10. Results: Higher baseline co-worker social support was significantly associated with a greater number of doctors' visits (P = 0.015). Co-worker social support was unrelated to number of hospitalizations, emergency department visits, or absenteeism. Conclusions: The relationship between co-worker social support and health care utilization and absenteeism is complex and uncertain. Future studies should measure more specific outcomes, incorporate important mediating variables, and distill how social networks influence these outcomes.
ISSN:1076-2752
1536-5948
1536-5948
DOI:10.1097/JOM.0b013e318223d42f