Ability to Work, Age and Main Concerns of Workers in Ukraine

Abstract

A sample of 250 health care workers aged 18-68 (mean = 32.5 years) completed the Survey of Health Care Professionals. Self-ratings of their social skills, mental capacity and physical capability corresponded to their ratings of work demands. Physical tiredness and tension were rated higher than mental tiredness. Worker age did not affect self-ratings of work performance, but physical and mental tiredness increased with increases in the age that one felt. The younger one felt compared to her/his calendar age, the better current work ability s/he reported. The main concerns of workers are connected with off-the-job factors, most probably caused by the economic crisis and unfavorable ecology situation in Ukraine. More than half of the subjects were quite a bit or extremely concerned about changes in the cost of living, water quality, food safety, radiation. The variable most closely related to the effects of these factors is an index of difference between calendar age and how old one feels.