OBJECTIVES: We examined the influence of postretirement leisure activity on longitudinal associations between work complexity in main lifetime occupation and trajectories of cognitive change before and after retirement. METHODS: Information on complexity of work with data, people, and things, leisure activity participation in older adulthood, and four cognitive factors (verbal, spatial, memory, and speed) was available from 421 individuals in the longitudinal Swedish Adoption/Twin Study of Aging. Participants were followed for an average of 14.2 years (SD = 7.1 years) and up to 23 years across eight cognitive assessments. Most of the sample (88.6%) completed at least three cognitive assessments. RESULTS: Results of growth curve analyses indicated that higher complexity of work with people significantly attenuated cognitive aging in verbal skills, memory, and speed of processing controlling for age, sex, and education. When leisure activity was added, greater cognitive and physical leisure activity was associated with reduced cognitive aging in verbal skills, speed of processing, and memory (for cognitive activity only). DISCUSSION: Engagement in cognitive or physical leisure activities in older adulthood may compensate for cognitive disadvantage potentially imposed by working in occupations that offer fewer cognitive challenges. These results may provide a platform to encourage leisure activity participation in those retiring from less complex occupations.

• MeSH
• Retirement * MeSH
• Cognitive Aging physiology   MeSH
• Middle Aged MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Longitudinal Studies MeSH
• Work * MeSH
• Aged, 80 and over MeSH
• Aged MeSH
• Aging physiology   MeSH
• Leisure Activities * MeSH
• Check Tag
• Middle Aged MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Male MeSH
• Aged, 80 and over MeSH
• Aged MeSH
• Female MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Twin Study MeSH

OBJECTIVE: We investigated complexity of work in main occupation in relation to incident cognitive impairment in older Puerto Ricans. METHOD: A population-based sample of 1,673 adults age 60+ for the Puerto Rican Elderly: Health Conditions (PREHCO) study was used. Cognition was measured at baseline and 4 years later using the Mini-Mental Cabán (MMC), with scoring 1.5 SD below the MMC score adjusted for age, education, gender, and reading ability comprising cognitive impairment. Complexity scores were derived from the 1970 U.S. Census, 1977 and 2000 Dictionary of Occupational Titles, and 2001 O*Net. RESULTS: Controlling for baseline age, gender, childhood economic hardship, adult money problems, depressive symptoms, and self-reported health, greater scores for most work complexity measures were associated with significantly lower risk of cognitive impairment (ps < .05), with significant odds ratios ranging between 0.74, reflecting 26% reduction in risk for every extra standard deviation of complexity, and 0.81. Controlling for education reduced these effects slightly but also reduced most associations to nonsignificant. The results were stronger for those with less childhood economic hardship or education (ps < .05). DISCUSSION: Complexity of work may reduce risk of cognitive impairment in Puerto Rican older adults, especially when combined with favorable childhood economic conditions and higher educational attainment.

• MeSH
• Mental Processes * MeSH
• Risk Assessment MeSH
• Cognitive Dysfunction epidemiology   MeSH
• Middle Aged MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Longitudinal Studies MeSH
• Work psychology   MeSH
• Aged, 80 and over MeSH
• Aged MeSH
• Check Tag
• Middle Aged MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Male MeSH
• Aged, 80 and over MeSH
• Aged MeSH
• Female MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
• Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural MeSH
• Geographicals
• Puerto Rico MeSH

Cíle. Cílem studie bylo posoudit psychometrické charakteristiky české adaptace dotazníku designu pracovní pozice (Work Design Questionnaire, WDQ), měřícího 21 pracovních charakteristik. Soubor a metoda. Celkem 461 respondentů pracujících v českých organizacích vyplnilo českou verzi WDQ. Kvůli posouzení konvergentní validity vyplnili také 4 další dotazníky. Výsledky. Konfirmační faktorová analýza WDQ ukázala podobnou shodu 21faktorového modelu s daty (RMSEA = 0,046; CFI = 0,89; TLI = 0,88), jako v případě původního dotazníku v angličtině. Standardizované faktorové náboje jednotlivých položek byly vysoké (λ = 0,60 až 0,90), pouze položka wdq 25 nebyla sycena faktorem složitost práce (λ = ,21) v souladu s teoretickým modelem. Tuto položku autoři doporučují nezahrnovat do škály složitost práce, protože má v české i anglické verzi dva možné významy a nemusí být respondenty chápána v souladu s obsahem subškály. Všechny subškály WDQ prokázaly vnitřní konzistenci (ω = 0,75 až 0,96) s výjimkou subškály sociální opory (ω = 0,64). Konvergentní validitu subškál dotazníku podporují vztahy s pracovními spokojeností, závazkem k organizaci, vnitřní motivací a vnímaným vlastním výkonem. Projevila se také kriteriální validita subškály spolupráce mimo organizaci, jejíž skór se lišil u respondentů pracujících ve službách a prodeji a respondentů na ostatních pracovních pozicích. Limity. Ve vzorku převažují vzdělanější respondenti a respondenti vykonávající duševní práci. Data o pracovních charakteristikách i závislých proměnných pochází ze stejného zdroje, ze sebehodnocení respondentů.

Objectives. The aim of the study was to assess the psychometric characteristics of a Czech adaptation of the Work Design Questionnaire (WDQ) that measures 21 work characteristics. Sample and setting. A sample of 461 people working in Czech organizations completed a Czech adaptation of WDQ. In order to assess the convergent validity of WDQ, the respondents also completed 4 other questionnaires. Results. Confirmatory factor analyses showed a similar fit of the 21-factor model (RMSEA = = 0.046; CFI = 0.89; TLI = 0.88) to the original English WDQ. The standardized factor loadings were high (λ = 0.60 to 0.90), only the item wdq 25 did not load on the job complexity factor (λ = .21) as it should have according to the theoretical model. The authors do not recommend including this item in the job complexity subscale because it has two possible meanings in both the Czech and English versions, and the respondents may not understand it in accordance with the content of the subscale. All the subscales of WDQ showed high internal consistency (ω = 0.75 to 0.96) except the social support subscale (ω = 0.64). The convergent validity of the subscales is supported by the correlations of their scores to job satisfaction, organizational commitment, intrinsic motivation, and perceived own work performance. The analyses also showed the criterial validity of the subscale interaction outside an organization. as the respondents in sales and services scored higher than the respondents who worked in different positions. Limitations. Respondents with an university degree and respondents doing knowledge work prevailed in the sample. The data about work characteristics and other variables came from the same source – the self-report questionnaires.

• Keywords
• Dotazník designu pracovní pozice,
• MeSH
• Work Engagement MeSH
• Factor Analysis, Statistical MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Work classification   psychology   MeSH
• Job Satisfaction * MeSH
• Surveys and Questionnaires MeSH
• Psychometrics methods   MeSH
• Check Tag
• Humans MeSH
• Publication type
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH

• MeSH
• Delivery of Health Care MeSH
• Research MeSH
• Health MeSH
• Population Health MeSH
• Publication type
• Handbook MeSH

• Conspectus
• Veřejné zdraví a hygiena
• NML Fields
• veřejné zdravotnictví
• NML Publication type
• kolektivní monografie

AIM: Evaluations of participatory ergonomic interventions are often challenging as these types of interventions are tailored to the context and need of the workplace in which they are implemented. We aimed to describe how time flow analysis can be used to describe changes in work behaviours following a participatory ergonomic intervention. METHOD: This study was based on data from a two-arm cluster-randomized controlled trial with 29 childcare institutions and 116 workers (intervention: n = 60, control: n = 56). Physical behaviours at work were technically measured at baseline and 4-month follow-up. Physical behaviours were expressed in terms of relative work time spent forward bending of the back ≥30°, kneeling, active (i.e. walking, stair climbing and running) and sedentary. Average time flow from baseline to follow-up were calculated for both groups to investigate if work time was allocated differently at follow-up. RESULTS: A total of 116 workers (60 in the intervention and 56 in the control group) had valid accelerometer at baseline and follow-up. The largest group difference in time flowing from baseline to follow-up was observed for forward bending of the back and time spent kneeling. Compared to the control, the intervention group had less time flowing from forward bending of the back to kneeling (intervention: +11 min day, control: +16 min day) and more time flowing from kneeling to sedentary behaviours (intervention: +15 min day, control: +10 min day). CONCLUSION: The results of this study showed that time flow analysis can be used to reveal changes in work time-use following a participatory ergonomic intervention. For example, the analysis revealed that the intervention group had replaced more work time spent kneeling with sedentary behaviours compared to the control group. This type of information on group differences in time reallocations would not have been possible to obtain by comparing group differences in work time-use following the intervention, supporting the usefulness of time flow analysis as a tool to evaluate complex, context-specific interventions.

• MeSH
• Ergonomics methods   MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Posture MeSH
• Workplace MeSH
• Occupational Exposure * MeSH
• Check Tag
• Humans MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
• Randomized Controlled Trial MeSH

BACKGROUND: The etiology of Parkinson's disease (PD) remains unclear, and environmental risk-factors such as occupation have attracted interest. OBJECTIVE: The goal was to investigate occupational complexity in relation to PD. METHODS: We conducted a population-based cohort study based on the Swedish Twin Registry that included 28,778 twins born between 1886 and 1950. We identified 433 PD cases during the study period. Data on occupation were collected from either the 1970 or 1980 Swedish census, and occupational complexity was assessed via a job exposure matrix. Cox proportional hazard regression analyses with age as the underlying time scale were used to assess PD risk as a function of the three domains of occupational complexity: data, people, and things. Sex and smoking were included as covariates. Analyses stratified by twin pair were conducted to test for confounding by familial factors. RESULTS: High occupational complexity with data and people was associated with increased risk overall (Hazard Ratio [HR]  = 1.07, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.02-1.14, and HR = 1.10, 95% CI 1.01-1.21, respectively), and in men (HR = 1.08, 95% CI 1.01-1.16, and HR = 1.15, 95% CI 1.03-1.28, respectively). Complexity with things was not associated with risk of PD. When the analyses were stratified by twin pair, the HRs for occupational complexity with data and people were attenuated in men. CONCLUSIONS: High complexity of work with data and people is related to increased risk of PD, particularly in men. The attenuation of risk observed in the twin pair-stratified analyses suggests that the association may partly be explained by familial factors, such as inherited traits contributing to occupational selection or other factors shared by twins.

• MeSH
• Cohort Studies MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Parkinson Disease epidemiology   etiology   MeSH
• Occupational Exposure * MeSH
• Registries MeSH
• Risk Factors MeSH
• Check Tag
• Humans MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
• Geographicals
• Sweden MeSH

OBJECTIVES: The present study examines the associations between mental, social, and physical demands of work and cognitive functioning among older adults in the United States. METHOD: Data from 3,176 respondents in the Health and Retirement Study were analyzed using growth curve modeling (2004-2014). The study investigated differences by gender, race, ethnicity, and education. RESULTS: Higher mental and social demands of work were associated with higher levels of initial cognitive functioning, but were not significantly associated with slower cognitive decline over time. Physical demands of work were negatively associated with initial cognitive functioning and were also marginally associated with a slower rate of decline in cognitive functioning going into older adulthood. In stratified analyses, results varied by sociodemographic characteristics. DISCUSSION: The results partially support the environmental complexity hypothesis and the productive aging framework in that higher mental and social demands and lower physical demands relate to better cognitive functioning at baseline, with the differences appearing stable throughout older adulthood. The stratified results shed light on addressing disparities in cognitive aging and work environments.

• MeSH
• Intelligence MeSH
• Cognition MeSH
• Cognitive Dysfunction * physiopathology   psychology   MeSH
• Cognitive Aging physiology   MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Job Description * MeSH
• Work Performance MeSH
• Aged MeSH
• Social Interaction * MeSH
• Sociodemographic Factors MeSH
• Aging psychology   MeSH
• Educational Status MeSH
• Physical Functional Performance * MeSH
• Check Tag
• Humans MeSH
• Male MeSH
• Aged MeSH
• Female MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH

OBJECTIVE: To examine whether occupational complexity of working with data or people, and cognitive or social leisure activity at midlife predicted cognition in advanced old age. METHODS: We used 810 eligible participants from Longitudinal Study of Living Conditions of the Oldest Old, a Swedish nationally representative study of individuals aged 77+ with cognitive assessments (an abridged version of the Mini-Mental State Exam) administered in 1992 and 2002 and linked to information about their midlife occupation and leisure activities collected in 1968 and 1981. A bootstrapping technique was applied to examine the direct and interactive associations of occupational complexity and leisure activity with late-life cognition. RESULTS: Controlling for demographic and health-related factors from childhood, midlife, and late life, we found that greater work complexity, both with people and with data, and greater participation in cognitive or social leisure activities independently related to better late-life cognitive scores. The complexity-cognition link was moderated by leisure activity such that the cognitive benefit related to the complexity of work-especially complexity of working with people-was rendered insignificant when participation in leisure activities-especially social activities-was above average. DISCUSSION: Results are discussed in terms of using work complexity to compensate for lack of leisure activity as well as in terms of promoting leisure engagement to compensate for long-term cognitive disadvantage imposed by working in less challenging occupations.

• MeSH
• Cognition physiology   MeSH
• Middle Aged MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Longitudinal Studies MeSH
• Aged, 80 and over MeSH
• Aged MeSH
• Aging physiology   MeSH
• Leisure Activities * MeSH
• Occupations statistics & numerical data   MeSH
• Check Tag
• Middle Aged MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Male MeSH
• Aged, 80 and over MeSH
• Aged MeSH
• Female MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
• Geographicals
• Sweden MeSH

Health care is information sensitive and information rich industry. Future doctors and managers need to feel comfortable using information technology (IT) tools in all aspects of their work. IT helps access the increasing amount of electronic data available, but searching and appraisal skills are needed to filter from this huge amount of data, the relevant and valid information. However, often the size and complexity of the data exceed even human capabilities and skills. Then again computers can assist to search for the most relevant information for the problem at hand. For this purpose computers have to perform very complex and often tedious computations based on the results of research from other scientific disciplines, particularly mathematics, theory of information, mathematical statistics and artificial intelligence. Unfortunately, partly due to inability and unwillingness of mathematicians to communicate with the medical community, often very interesting and potentially powerful results achieved in the above mentioned disciplines are made accessible and understandable neither to managers nor to physicians. Though „high mathematics“ can look like a distant world for non-mathematicians, we shall try to show (almost without any mathematics) that it is worthwhile to find a common language and to combine the expert knowledge of managers, physicians and mathematicians for the benefit or improving the quality of decision-making. Finally, some results achieved in the research project concerning the support of decision-making which is being solved in our research laboratory will be presented. Their utilization is intended not only for real managerial problems but also for educational purposes. The purpose of the lecture will be manifold: • to point out formal analogies of decision-making problems in health care management (or management generally) and in clinical decision-making • to stress the importance of bringing together managers, physicians and mathematicians in order to solve problems of evaluating information and selecting those its components which are most valuable for decision-making • to make both the researchers and practitioners in health care management and in clinical medicine acquainted with some results in artificial intelligence (AI), particularly in pattern recognition and feature selection which are directly applicable to the solution of the discussed problem . A typical problem which both managers and physicians often encounter is the problem of too many potential inputs into their respective decision-making problems. This phenomenon has been extensively studied in mathematics and in artificial intelligence. It can be stated that in order to make reliable decisions (or more exactly to learn to make them based on the past experience and the available data) the need for the amount of data dramatically grows with the number of inputs. Mathematically it means that the sample size required grows exponentially with the data dimensionality. This problem is very relevant particularly to the field of medicine as the process of medical or economic data acquisition is usually both time consuming and costly. Consequently, the data sets acquired in medicine are usually too small with respect to their dimensionality. Each of the considered fields (managerial and clinical decision-making) has its own specificity and accordingly different ways of treating the problem. On the other hand, we shall try to show that that the methods developed recently in the field of statistical pattern recognition to solve the problem of feature selection can enrich the methodology of selecting the most useful information in medical decision-making.

• Publication type
• Abstracts MeSH

Téma škodlivého vlivu noční práce na biologické funkce člověka je velmi aktuální. Cílem sdělení je na základě rozboru dostupné literatury zhodnotit účinky práce na směny (s podílem noční práce) na zdraví pracovníků, zejména s ohledem na riziko vzniku kardiovaskulárních onemocnění. Směnný provoz má negativní vliv na rozvoj rizikových faktorů kardiovaskulárních onemocnění. Existuje několik složitých patofyziologických hypotéz vysvětlujících vliv směnné práce na kardiovaskulární onemocnění. Nejspíše se jedná o multifaktoriální působení cirkadiánní dysregulace, spánkové deprivace, negativních behaviorálních změn v životním stylu a působení pracovního stresu. Zhodnocení důsledků směnné/noční práce na zdraví pracovníků a mechanismů za to zodpovědných může být užitečné pro vytvoření preventivních strategií.

Deleterious effects of night work on human biological functions are a very current issue. The aim was to review the available literature to assess the impact of shift work (namely at night) on workers´ health, particularly with respect to the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases. Shift work has a negative effect on the development of cardiovascular disease risk factors. There are several complex pathophysiological hypotheses explaining how shift work contributes to cardiovascular diseases. Most likely, the cause is multifactorial effects of circadian dysregulation, sleep deprivation, negative behavioral changes in lifestyle and occupational stress. Assessing the impact of shift/night work on workers´ health and mechanisms responsible for that may be useful for developing preventive strategies.

• MeSH
• Weight Gain MeSH
• Hypertension etiology   MeSH
• Cardiovascular Diseases * etiology   physiopathology   MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Shift Work Schedule * adverse effects   MeSH
• Risk Factors MeSH
• Sleep Deprivation complications   pathology   MeSH
• Check Tag
• Humans MeSH
• Publication type
• Review MeSH