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.