Psychological job demands as a risk factor for common cold in a Dutch working population

• Published in: Journal of psychosomatic research Vol. 50; no. 1; pp. 21 - 27
• Main Authors: Mohren, Danielle C.L., Swaen, Gerard M.H., Borm, Paul J.A., Bast, Aalt, Galama, Jochem M.D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier Inc 2001; New York, NY Elsevier
• Subjects: Adult; Biological and medical sciences; Cohort Studies; Cohort study; Common cold; Common Cold - epidemiology; Common Cold - psychology; Common colds; Employment - psychology; Employment - statistics & numerical data; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Human viral diseases; Humans; Infectious diseases; Job characteristics; Job demands; Logistic Models; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Netherlands; Netherlands - epidemiology; Occupational psychology; Occupational stress; Odds Ratio; Prospective Studies; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Psychometrics; Risk Factors; Self-Assessment; Surveys and Questionnaires; Viral diseases; Viral diseases of the respiratory system and ent viral diseases; Work condition. Job performance. Stress; Netherlands; Europe; Common cold; Cohort study; Job demands; Social environment; Nose disease; Prevalence; Disease; Mental health; Epidemiology; Family environment; ENT disease; Working condition; Age; Public health; Mood disorder; Consumption; Human; Depression; Fatigue; Stress; Occupational burnout; Infection; Tobacco; Follow up study; Viral disease; Risk factor; Comparative study; Somatic disease
• ISSN: 0022-3999; 1879-1360
• DOI: 10.1016/S0022-3999(00)00212-9

Objective: We investigated the effect of Psychological Job Demands (PJD) on the occurrence of the clinical symptoms of common cold.
Methods: Subjects, participating in a large prospective cohort study on psychological determinants of fatigue at work, were asked to fill in a questionnaire on the occurrence of common cold during the previous four months. High PJD were considered as a potential risk factor. Other factors such as age, gender, and having young children were considered as potential confounders.
Results: In logistic regression analysis, the adjusted odds ratio (OR) for having a recent cold in subjects reporting high PJD vs. those reporting low PJD was 1.20 (95% confidence interval (CI), 1.08–1.33). A higher risk emerged among those with young children (OR, 1.70; 95% CI, 1.47–1.96), those having a history of asthma (OR, 1.69; 95% CI, 1.28–2.22), or being under the age of 40 (OR, 1.28; 95% CI, 1.14–1.43) and among smokers (OR, 1.23; 95% CI, 1.09–1.38).
Conclusion: The results support an association between PJD and common cold. In spite of the almost inevitable shortcoming of a large cohort study using questionnaires, this study gave us the opportunity to study the relationship between common cold and work-related factors in a nonexperimental setting with participants observed in a natural environment with all the normal everyday hassles.