Sickness absence from back pain, psychosocial work characteristics and employment grade among office workers
Scandinavian Journal of Work Environment & HealthPublished 1 April 1997Open access
Harry Hemingway, MJ Shipley, Stephen Stansfeld, Michael Marmot
Citations156
SJR quartileQ1
SJR score2.18
SNIP1.61
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TL;DR
Absence from work due to back pain was strongly inversely related to employment grade and the effects of psychosocial work characteristics-particularly control-differed by grade and gender in magnitude and direction.
Abstract
Absence from work due to back pain was strongly inversely related to employment grade. The effects of psychosocial work characteristics-particularly control-differed by grade and gender in magnitude and direction. The psychosocial work environment represents a potentially reversible cause of ill health.
Keywords
MedicineHealth Professions
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