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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Manuel Cifuentes¹, Rebecca Gore, PhD¹, Jon Boyer¹, Jamie Tessler¹, Angelo D'Errico, MD¹, Patrick Scollin², Laura Punnett¹, and The PHASE in Healthcare Research Team³. (1) Department of Work Environment, University of Massachusetts Lowell, One University Ave., Lowell, MA 01854, 978-934-3132, cif-vill@comcast.net, (2) Department of Community Health and Sustainability, University of Massachusetts Lowell, 3 Solomont Way, Suite 3, Lowell, MA 01854, (3) Center for Public Health Research and Health Promotion, University of Massachusetts Lowell, 3 Solomont Way, Lowell, MA 01854

Aim: to examine a questionnaire study response rate in relation to socioeconomic status (SES) and working conditions.

Methods: The target population was 1,606 workers at 1 hospital and 2 nursing homes. Questionnaires were distributed for self-administration on personal time. SES indicators included Nam-Powers scores, hourly wage, and a new 5-level measure (“PHASE SES”) based on job educational requirements and level of responsibility. Job-level indicators of working conditions were constructed from the national O*NET database. Three-level multilevel logistic regression analyses (random intercept, iterative generalized least squares, 2nd order penalized quasi-likelihood for linear approximation transformation (MLwiN)) modeled individual survey response as a function of worker-level demographic variables and job-level SES and working conditions.

Results: About 30% of the target population returned questionnaires. Nam-Powers (OR=1.09 per 10 points) and PHASE SES (1.20 per category) were significantly associated with survey response, controlling for age (OR=1.22 for 10 years), gender (OR= 0.60 for men), type of facility (OR=1.50 for nursing homes), and the interaction of gender and type of facility (OR=2.70 for men in nursing homes). Psychosocial job strain (ratio of demands to control) significantly improved the model (OR= 0.11 per unit) . Job strain mediated 56% of the effect of Nam-Powers on survey response and 68% for PHASE SES.

Conclusions: Job strain predicted as much as 50% of survey response by healthcare workers, after controlling for demographic and job-level SES indicators. This has important implications for our ability to study the health effects of working conditions among the most exposed sectors of the workforce.

Learning Objectives:

• Participants will incorporate working conditions as another predictor of survey response and will learn practical implications for surveying working populations

Keywords: Survey, Health Care Workers

Related Web page: www.uml.edu/phase/

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation