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