Stress, and its role in illness - III
Last, in the part of this series relating to work stress is (reference 6), that examines the effect of downsizing (reduction of personnel in organizations) on sickness absence, and mortality.
The study took place in four towns in Finland, and followed 5,909 male and 16,521 female municipal employees for 7.5 years, who kept their jobs while the country was going through a major recession that increased unemployment from 6.6% in 1991 to 16.6% in 1993. During downsizing, 21% of the employees lost their job.
Among the permanent employees, major downsizing increased the absence rate by 18% (13% to 22% Margin of Error). The authors note that during downsizing, many employees come to work even if they are sick, so the actual increase in sickness due to downsizing should be even greater.
Concerning mortality, they found an increase in CHD. For the first half of the followup period, the rate of CHD mortality increased by a factor of 5.1! (1.4 to 19.3 Margin of Error). For the second half of the followup period, the risk was significantly reduced, and was slightly higher that one, but not statistically significant. Mortality from causes other than CHD was not impacted.