193 lines
5.9 KiB
YAML
193 lines
5.9 KiB
YAML
abstract: 'Background
|
|
|
|
Flexible working conditions are increasingly popular in developed
|
|
|
|
countries but the effects on employee health and wellbeing are largely
|
|
|
|
unknown.
|
|
|
|
Objectives
|
|
|
|
To evaluate the effects ( benefits and harms) of flexible working
|
|
|
|
interventions on the physical, mental and general health and wellbeing
|
|
|
|
of employees and their families.
|
|
|
|
Search strategy
|
|
|
|
Our searches ( July 2009) covered 12 databases including the Cochrane
|
|
|
|
Public Health Group Specialised Register, CENTRAL; MEDLINE; EMBASE;
|
|
|
|
CINAHL; PsycINFO; Social Science Citation Index; ASSIA; IBSS;
|
|
|
|
Sociological Abstracts; and ABI/Inform. We also searched relevant
|
|
|
|
websites, handsearched key journals, searched bibliographies and
|
|
|
|
contacted study authors and key experts.
|
|
|
|
Selection criteria
|
|
|
|
Randomised controlled trials (RCT), interrupted time series and
|
|
|
|
controlled before and after studies (CBA), which examined the effects of
|
|
|
|
flexible working interventions on employee health and wellbeing. We
|
|
|
|
excluded studies assessing outcomes for less than six months and
|
|
|
|
extracted outcomes relating to physical, mental and general health/ill
|
|
|
|
health measured using a validated instrument. We also extracted
|
|
|
|
secondary outcomes ( including sickness absence, health service usage,
|
|
|
|
behavioural changes, accidents, work-life balance, quality of life,
|
|
|
|
health and wellbeing of children, family members and co-workers) if
|
|
|
|
reported alongside at least one primary outcome.
|
|
|
|
Data collection and analysis
|
|
|
|
Two experienced review authors conducted data extraction and quality
|
|
|
|
appraisal. We undertook a narrative synthesis as there was substantial
|
|
|
|
heterogeneity between studies.
|
|
|
|
Main results
|
|
|
|
Ten studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Six CBA studies reported
|
|
|
|
on interventions relating to temporal flexibility: self-scheduling of
|
|
|
|
shift work (n = 4), flexitime ( n = 1) and overtime ( n = 1). The
|
|
|
|
remaining four CBA studies evaluated a form of contractual flexibility:
|
|
|
|
partial/gradual retirement ( n = 2), involuntary part-time work ( n = 1)
|
|
|
|
and fixed-term contract ( n = 1). The studies retrieved had a number of
|
|
|
|
methodological limitations including short follow-up periods, risk of
|
|
|
|
selection bias and reliance on largely self-reported outcome data.
|
|
|
|
Four CBA studies on self-scheduling of shifts and one CBA study on
|
|
|
|
gradual/partial retirement reported statistically significant
|
|
|
|
improvements in either primary outcomes ( including systolic blood
|
|
|
|
pressure and heart rate; tiredness; mental health, sleep duration, sleep
|
|
|
|
quality and alertness; self-rated health status) or secondary health
|
|
|
|
outcomes (co-workers social support and sense of community) and no ill
|
|
|
|
health effects were reported. Flexitime was shown not to have
|
|
|
|
significant effects on self-reported physiological and psychological
|
|
|
|
health outcomes. Similarly, when comparing individuals working overtime
|
|
|
|
with those who did not the odds of ill health effects were not
|
|
|
|
significantly higher in the intervention group at follow up. The effects
|
|
|
|
of contractual flexibility on self-reported health ( with the exception
|
|
|
|
of gradual/partial retirement, which when controlled by employees
|
|
|
|
improved health outcomes) were either equivocal or negative. No studies
|
|
|
|
differentiated results by socio-economic status, although one study did
|
|
|
|
compare findings by gender but found no differential effect on
|
|
|
|
self-reported health outcomes.
|
|
|
|
Authors'' conclusions
|
|
|
|
The findings of this review tentatively suggest that flexible working
|
|
|
|
interventions that increase worker control and choice ( such as
|
|
|
|
self-scheduling or gradual/partial retirement) are likely to have a
|
|
|
|
positive effect on health outcomes. In contrast, interventions that were
|
|
|
|
motivated or dictated by organisational interests, such as fixed-term
|
|
|
|
contract and involuntary part-time employment, found equivocal or
|
|
|
|
negative health effects. Given the partial and methodologically limited
|
|
|
|
evidence base these findings should be interpreted with caution.
|
|
|
|
Moreover, there is a clear need for well-designed intervention studies
|
|
|
|
to delineate the impact of flexible working conditions on health,
|
|
|
|
wellbeing and health inequalities.'
|
|
affiliation: 'Bambra, C (Corresponding Author), Univ Durham, Dept Geog, Wolfson Res
|
|
Inst, Queens Campus, Stockton On Tees TS17 6BH, Teesside, England.
|
|
|
|
Bambra, Clare, Univ Durham, Dept Geog, Wolfson Res Inst, Stockton On Tees TS17 6BH,
|
|
Teesside, England.
|
|
|
|
Pabayo, Roman, Univ Montreal, Montreal, PQ, Canada.
|
|
|
|
Critchley, Julia A., Newcastle Univ, Inst Hlth \& Soc, Newcastle Upon Tyne NE1 7RU,
|
|
Tyne \& Wear, England.'
|
|
article-number: CD008009
|
|
author: Joyce, Kerry and Pabayo, Roman and Critchley, Julia A. and Bambra, Clare
|
|
author-email: clare.bambra@durham.ac.uk
|
|
author_list:
|
|
- family: Joyce
|
|
given: Kerry
|
|
- family: Pabayo
|
|
given: Roman
|
|
- family: Critchley
|
|
given: Julia A.
|
|
- family: Bambra
|
|
given: Clare
|
|
da: '2023-09-28'
|
|
doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD008009.pub2
|
|
eissn: 1361-6137
|
|
files: []
|
|
issn: 1469-493X
|
|
journal: COCHRANE DATABASE OF SYSTEMATIC REVIEWS
|
|
keywords-plus: 'SELF-RATED HEALTH; BRITISH CIVIL-SERVANTS; CORONARY-HEART-DISEASE;
|
|
|
|
WORKPLACE REORGANIZATION; SOCIAL INTERVENTIONS; SYSTEMATIC REVIEWS;
|
|
|
|
GRADUAL RETIREMENT; DECISION LATITUDE; SICKNESS ABSENCE; SHIFT SYSTEM'
|
|
language: English
|
|
number: '2'
|
|
number-of-cited-references: '165'
|
|
orcid-numbers: 'P, Roman/0000-0003-4018-4898
|
|
|
|
Bambra, Clare l/0000-0002-1294-6851
|
|
|
|
Critchley, Julia/0000-0002-5248-4188'
|
|
papis_id: fc9ff0916c31135ab870069b1420b306
|
|
ref: Joyce2010flexibleworking
|
|
researcherid-numbers: 'P, Roman/AAO-3485-2020
|
|
|
|
Bambra, Clare l/C-1392-2010
|
|
|
|
'
|
|
tags:
|
|
- review
|
|
times-cited: '197'
|
|
title: Flexible working conditions and their effects on employee health and wellbeing
|
|
type: article
|
|
unique-id: WOS:000274654300007
|
|
usage-count-last-180-days: '5'
|
|
usage-count-since-2013: '260'
|
|
web-of-science-categories: Medicine, General \& Internal
|
|
year: '2010'
|