Abstract
Background: Employees with impaired work ability might be at higher risk of remaining shorter in the job than those with adequate work ability. The aim of the study was to establish whether work ability plays a role in job survival. Methods: Four-year follow-up (2008–2012) study of 1037 employees of a hospital in São Paulo, Brazil. Work ability was categorized as “adequate” or “impaired”. Employment status at the end of follow-up was categorized as active, resignation or dismissal. Survival analysis was performed using the Kaplan–Meier method and the Cox proportional-hazards model. Results: About 78.9% of the participants had adequate and 21.1% impaired work ability. Job survival was longer for the participants with adequate work ability independently from the type of job termination (p < 0.001). The odds of job termination were higher for the participants with impaired work ability (p < 0.001) who either resigned (hazard ratio—HR = 1.58) or were dismissed (HR = 1.68). Conclusion: Job survival was shorter for the employees with impaired work ability independently from the type of job termination. It was also shorter for the employees who were dismissed compared to those who resigned. Duration in the job might be extended through actions to enhance work ability.
Highlights
The most widely accepted concept of work ability is represented by the answer to the question “how good is the worker at present, in the near future, and how able is he or she to do his or her work with respect to the work demands, health and mental resources?” [1].Impairments of the ability of workers to perform their tasks have negative direct or indirect impacts on themselves and society at large
Our results show that the overall job survival was short; only 7.2% of the total number of employees remained 4 years in the job
Voluntary termination might be motivated by a desire for better working conditions, career opportunities, less conflicting interpersonal relationships, more recognition, learning and growth opportunities, and better conditions for work adjustment to functional and/or health limitations [2,6,9,32]. In another analysis of this same population, we found that impaired work ability was a risk factor for type of job termination, which indicates that workers with poorer work ability are less fit to meet job demands and labor market requirements and have less employability [9]
Summary
The most widely accepted concept of work ability is represented by the answer to the question “how good is the worker at present, in the near future, and how able is he or she to do his or her work with respect to the work demands, health and mental resources?” [1].Impairments of the ability of workers to perform their tasks have negative direct or indirect impacts on themselves and society at large. Occupations and tasks characterized by high physical and mental load are associated with higher risk of impaired work ability [1,5,12]. Within this context, healthcare providers, especially those in the hospital setting, deserve special attention, because they are exposed to a large number of physical and mental stressors, such as inadequate equipment and physical space, biological hazards, responsibility for human lives, close contact with patients’ pain and suffering, low salary, low recognition, and, more recently, new and complex technologies and increasing demands for high-quality and safe care [12,13,14,15,16]. Survival analysis was performed using the Kaplan–Meier method and the Cox proportional-hazards model
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