Working at night and work ability among nursing personnel: when precarious employment makes the difference

• Published in: International archives of occupational and environmental health Vol. 82; no. 7; pp. 877 - 885
• Main Authors: Rotenberg, Lucia, Griep, Rosane Harter, Fischer, Frida Marina, de Jesus Mendes Fonseca, Maria, Landsbergis, Paul
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer-Verlag 01-07-2009; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adult; Biological and medical sciences; Contract Services; Demography; Earth and Environmental Science; Employment - classification; Employment - statistics & numerical data; Environment; Environmental Health; Female; Health participants; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Nurses; Occupational Diseases - etiology; Occupational Diseases - physiopathology; Occupational Diseases - psychology; Occupational Medicine/Industrial Medicine; Occupational safety; Original Article; Personnel Staffing and Scheduling; Public health. Hygiene; Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine; Rehabilitation; Shift work; Surveys and Questionnaires; Temporary employment; Work Capacity Evaluation; Work Schedule Tolerance - physiology; Work Schedule Tolerance - psychology; Working conditions; South America; Brazil; America; Hospital; Work ability index; Night work; Precarious employment; Nurse; Human; Health staff; Job insecurity; Hospital environment; Vocational aptitude; Shift work
• ISSN: 0340-0131; 1432-1246
• DOI: 10.1007/s00420-008-0383-4

Purpose
To test the association between night work and work ability, and verify whether the type of contractual employment has any influence over this association.
Methods
Permanent workers (
N
 = 642) and workers with precarious jobs (temporary contract or outsourced;
N
 = 552) were interviewed and filled out questionnaires concerning work hours and work ability index. They were classified into: never worked at night, ex-night workers, currently working up to five nights, and currently working at least six nights/2-week span.
Results
After adjusting for socio-demography and work variables, current night work was significantly associated with inadequate WAI (vs. day work with no experience in night work) only for precarious workers (OR 2.00, CI 1.01–3.95 and OR 1.85, CI 1.09–3.13 for those working up to five nights and those working at least six nights in 2 weeks, respectively).
Conclusions
Unequal opportunities at work and little experience in night work among precarious workers may explain their higher susceptibility to night work.