The burden of high workload on the health-related quality of life among home care workers in Northern Sweden

• Published in: International archives of occupational and environmental health 2020-08, Vol.93 (6), p.747-764
• Main Authors: Sjöberg, André, Pettersson-Strömbäck, Anita, Sahlén, Klas-Göran, Lindholm, Lars, Norström, Fredrik
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Cross-Sectional Studies; Demand–control–support model; Earth and Environmental Science; Environment; Environmental Health; Female; Health Status; Home Health Aides - psychology; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Occupational Medicine/Industrial Medicine; Original; Original Article; Personnel; Propensity scores; Psychosocial factors; Quality of Life; Quality-adjusted life years; Rehabilitation; Social interactions; Social Support; Statistical analysis; Statistical significance; Sweden; Workers; Workload; Workload - psychology; Workloads
• ISSN: 0340-0131; 1432-1246; 1432-1246
• DOI: 10.1007/s00420-020-01530-9

Objective Previous studies have shown that high workload affects health negatively. However, studies are lacking among home care workers. The aim of this study is to examine the burden of perceived workload on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among home care workers and to determine whether psychosocial factors modify such a relationship. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in which 1162 (58% response rate) home care workers participated. The psychosocial factors were measured by QPSnordic. HRQoL was measured by EuroQol 5 dimensions, from which responses were translated into quality-adjusted life year scores (QALY). Propensity scores were used with absolute risk differences (RD). Stratified analysis was used to test the buffer hypothesis of the demand–control–support model. Results Personnel with a high workload had a statistically significant 0.035 lower QALY than personnel with a normal workload. This difference was also statistically significant for the Visual Analogue Scale (RD 5.0) and the mobility (RD 0.033) and anxiety/depression scales (RD 0.20) dimensions of EQ-5D. For QALY, the effect of a high workload compared to a normal workload was higher, with low (RD 0.045, significant) compared with high (RD 0.015, non-significant) social support; while it was similar, and non-significant results, for low and high control. Conclusions Our study shows that lowered work burden would be beneficial for home care personnel. Furthermore, our results suggest that interventions aimed at increasing social support could reduce work-related illness.