PSYCHOSOCIAL FACTORS AT WORK AND SICKNESS ABSENCE IN THE GAZEL COHORT- A PROSPECTIVE-STUDY

Objective-To test whether psychosocial factors at work are predictors of rates of sickness absence. Methods-The study population consisted o f middle aged men and women employed by the French national electricit y and gas company (EDF-GDF) in various occupations and followed up sin ce 1989 by annual self administered questionnaires and independent dat a obtained from the medical and personnel departments of EDF-GDE The 1 995 questionnaire provided information about three psychosocial work f actors: psychological demands, decision latitude, and social support a t work. Sickness absence data were provided by the company's social se curity department. The occurrence of spells and days of absence in the 12 months after completion of the 1995 questionnaire was studied. Pot ential confounding variables were age, smoking, alcohol, and marital s tatus, assessed in the 1995 questionnaire, and educational level and o ccupation, assessed from data provided by the personnel department. Th is study was restricted to the 12 555 subjects of the initial cohort w ho were still working and answered the self administered questionnaire in 1995. Results-Low levels of decision latitude were associated with more frequent and longer sickness absences among men and women. Low l evels of social support at work increased the numbers of spells and da ys of absence among men only. These associations weakened after adjust ment for potential confounding factors, but remained significant. Conc lusion-The study indicates that psychosocial factors at work, especial ly decision latitude, are predictive of sickness absence.