Effort-reward imbalance and sedentary lifestyle: an observational study in a large occupational cohort

Kouvonen, Anne; Kivim�ki, Mika; Elovainio, Marko; Pentti, Jaana; Linna, Anne; Virtanen, Marianna; Vahtera, Jussi

Abstract

Objectives: To investigate the association between effort-reward imbalance (ERI) at work and sedentary lifestyle.
Methods: Cross-sectional data from the ongoing Finnish Public Sector Study related to 30 433 women and 7718 men aged 17-64 were used (n = 35 918 after exclusion of participants with missing values in covariates). From the responses to a questionnaire, an aggregated mean score for ERI in a work unit was assigned to each participant. The outcome was sedentary lifestyle defined as <2.00 metabolic equivalent task (MET) hours/day. Logistic regression with generalized estimating equations was used as an analysis method to include both individual and work unit level predictors in the models. Adjustments were made for age, marital status, occupational status, job contract, smoking, and heavy drinking.
Results: Twenty five percent of women and 27% of men had a sedentary lifestyle. High individual level ERI was associated with a higher likelihood of sedentary lifestyle both among women (odds ratio (OR) = 1.08, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.16) and men (OR = 1.17, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.33). These associations were not explained by relevant confounders and they were also independent of work unit level job strain measured as a ratio of job demands and control.
Conclusions: A mismatch between high occupational effort spent and low reward received in turn seems to be associated with an elevated risk of sedentary lifestyle, although this association is relatively weak.

Citation

Kouvonen, A., Kivimäki, M., Elovainio, M., Pentti, J., Linna, A., Virtanen, M., & Vahtera, J. (2006). Effort-reward imbalance and sedentary lifestyle: an observational study in a large occupational cohort. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 63, https://doi.org/10.1136/oem.2005.020974

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2006
• Deposit Date: Mar 7, 2008
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 7, 2008
• Journal: Occupational and Environmental Medicine
• Print ISSN: 1351-0711
• Electronic ISSN: 1470-7926
• Publisher: BMJ Publishing Group
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 63
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/oem.2005.020974
• Keywords: effort-reward imbalance; physical activity; sedentary lifestyle; work stress
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1019174
• Publisher URL: http://oem.bmj.com/