Department of Women's and Children's Health, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
The Center for Health and Medical Psychology, School of Law, Psychology and Social Work, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden.
J Occup Rehabil. 2023 Jun;33(2):316-328. doi: 10.1007/s10926-022-10074-3. Epub 2022 Oct 29.
Purpose Pain and stress-related ill-health are major causes of long-term disability and sick leave. This study evaluated the effects of a brief psychosocial program, which previously has been tested for an at-risk population of employees. Methods The Effective Communication within the Organization (ECO) program, where supervisors and employees were trained in communication and problem solving, was compared to an active control consisting of psychoeducative lectures (PE) about pain and stress in a cluster randomized controlled trial. First-line supervisors were randomized to ECO or PE, and a total of 191 mainly female employees with self-reported pain and/or stress-related ill-health were included. The hybrid format programs consisted of 2-3 group sessions. Sick leave data was collected from social insurance registers, before and 6-months after the program. Secondary outcomes (work ability, work limitations, pain-disability risk, exhaustion symptoms, perceived stress, perceived health, quality of life, perceived communication and support from supervisors) were assessed at baseline, post intervention, and at 6-months follow-up. Results No effects were observed on primary or secondary outcome variables. Pain symptoms were common (89%), however a lower proportion (30%) were identified as at risk for long-term pain disability, which might explain the lack of evident effects. The Covid-19 pandemic affected participation rates and delivery of intervention. Conclusion In this study, preventive effects of the ECO program were not supported. Altogether, the findings point at the importance of selecting participants for prevention based on screening of psychosocial risk. Further research on workplace communication and support, and impact on employee health is warranted.
疼痛和与压力相关的健康问题是导致长期残疾和请病假的主要原因。本研究评估了一项简短的心理社会计划的效果，该计划之前已经在有风险的员工群体中进行了测试。方法：在一项集群随机对照试验中，将有效组织内沟通（ECO）计划与包括疼痛和压力的心理教育讲座（PE）在内的积极对照组进行比较。一线主管被随机分配到 ECO 或 PE 组，共有 191 名主要为女性的自报告疼痛和/或与压力相关的健康问题的员工参与。混合格式的方案包括 2-3 个小组会议。病假数据来自社会保险登记处，在方案实施前和 6 个月后收集。次要结局（工作能力、工作限制、疼痛残疾风险、疲惫症状、感知压力、感知健康、生活质量、感知沟通和主管支持）在基线、干预后和 6 个月随访时进行评估。结果：主要或次要结局变量均未观察到效果。疼痛症状很常见（89%），但只有 30%的人被确定为长期疼痛残疾的风险人群，这可能解释了明显效果的缺乏。Covid-19 大流行影响了参与率和干预的实施。结论：在这项研究中，ECO 计划的预防效果没有得到支持。总的来说，这些发现表明根据心理社会风险筛查选择预防参与者的重要性。需要进一步研究工作场所沟通和支持对员工健康的影响。
