OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to examine whether employees in pre-schools that implemented a participatory organizational-level intervention focusing on the core task at work had a lower incidence of short-term sickness absence compared to employees in the control group. METHODS: The cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) comprised 78 pre-schools that were allocated to the intervention (44 pre-schools with 1760 employees) or control (34 pre-schools with 1279 employees) group. The intervention lasted 25 months and followed a stepwise and structured approach, consisting of seminars, workshops, and workplace-directed intervention activities focusing on the core task at work. Using Poisson regression, we tested differences in incidence rates in short-term sickness absence between the intervention and control groups during a 29-months follow-up. RESULTS: Estimated short-term sickness absence days per person-year during follow-up were 8.68 and 9.17 in the intervention and control groups, respectively. The rate ratio (RR) for comparing incident sickness absence in the intervention to control groups during follow-up was 0.93 [95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.86-1.00] in the crude analysis and 0.89 (95% CI 0.83-0.96) when adjusting for age, sex, job group, type and size of workplace, and workplace average level of previous short-term sickness absence. A supplementary analysis showed that the intervention also was associated with a reduced risk of long-term sickness absence with a crude RR of 0.83 (95% CI 0.69-0.99) and an adjusted RR of 0.84 (95% CI 0.69-1.01). CONCLUSIONS:Pre-school employees participating in an organizational-level occupational health intervention focusing on the core task at work had a lower incidence of short-term sickness absence during a 29-month follow-up compared with control group employees.
RCT Entities:
OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to examine whether employees in pre-schools that implemented a participatory organizational-level intervention focusing on the core task at work had a lower incidence of short-term sickness absence compared to employees in the control group. METHODS: The cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) comprised 78 pre-schools that were allocated to the intervention (44 pre-schools with 1760 employees) or control (34 pre-schools with 1279 employees) group. The intervention lasted 25 months and followed a stepwise and structured approach, consisting of seminars, workshops, and workplace-directed intervention activities focusing on the core task at work. Using Poisson regression, we tested differences in incidence rates in short-term sickness absence between the intervention and control groups during a 29-months follow-up. RESULTS: Estimated short-term sickness absence days per person-year during follow-up were 8.68 and 9.17 in the intervention and control groups, respectively. The rate ratio (RR) for comparing incident sickness absence in the intervention to control groups during follow-up was 0.93 [95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.86-1.00] in the crude analysis and 0.89 (95% CI 0.83-0.96) when adjusting for age, sex, job group, type and size of workplace, and workplace average level of previous short-term sickness absence. A supplementary analysis showed that the intervention also was associated with a reduced risk of long-term sickness absence with a crude RR of 0.83 (95% CI 0.69-0.99) and an adjusted RR of 0.84 (95% CI 0.69-1.01). CONCLUSIONS: Pre-school employees participating in an organizational-level occupational health intervention focusing on the core task at work had a lower incidence of short-term sickness absence during a 29-month follow-up compared with control group employees.
Authors: Charlotte Diana Nørregaard Rasmussen; Peter Rasmus Hendriksen; Malene Jagd Svendsen; Dorte Ekner; Klaus Hansen; Ole Henning Sørensen; Susanne Wulff Svendsen; Allard J van der Beek; Andreas Holtermann Journal: Trials Date: 2018-07-31 Impact factor: 2.279
Authors: M Akerstrom; J Severin; H Imberg; I H Jonsdottir; L Björk; L Corin Journal: Int Arch Occup Environ Health Date: 2021-03-26 Impact factor: 3.015
Authors: Emma Cedstrand; Hanna Augustsson; Magnus Alderling; Néstor Sánchez Martinez; Theo Bodin; Anna Nyberg; Gun Johansson Journal: Front Public Health Date: 2022-09-23
Authors: Elisabeth Framke; Ole Henning Sørensen; Line R M Pedersen; Jacob Pedersen; Ida E H Madsen; Jakob B Bjorner; Reiner Rugulies Journal: Occup Environ Med Date: 2020-11-03 Impact factor: 4.402
Authors: Charlotte Diana Nørregaard Rasmussen; Ole Henning Sørensen; Allard J van der Beek; Andreas Holtermann Journal: Scand J Work Environ Health Date: 2020-01-16 Impact factor: 5.024