WORK SATISFACTION AND HEALTH IN THE MIDDLE-AGED AND ELDERLY

Background There is evidence that occupational factors that cause psyc hological strain can affect physical and mental health, but findings a re not consistent. Methods Work satisfaction was used as a convenient global index of job-related psychological strain. Relationships with g eneral, physical and emotional health, appraised by the use of questio ns, were examined in workers aged greater-than-or-equal-to 50 years in a longitudinal community health study in Jerusalem. Results Positive associations were found both in 1975-1976 and in 1985-1987, with age, origin, education, sex and other variables controlled. The odds ratio in favour of poor general health was 2.8 times as high in dissatisfied workers as in very satisfied ones. Multivariate analyses suggested th at the associations were not spurious ones attributable to a proneness to report both dissatisfaction and ill-health. Workers who expressed dissatisfaction in both 1975-1976 and 1985-1987 were particularly unhe althy in 1985-1987. Conclusions The findings support the impact of wor k satisfaction or its determinants on current health, and suggest that persistent dissatisfaction may be especially deleterious to health.