Work environment and changes in self‐rated health: a five year follow‐up study

A representative sample of 5001 Danish employees was followed for five years. The respondents were interviewed by telephone in 1990 and again in 1995. Social class, diseases, self-rated health (SRH), and a number of psychosocial and other work environment factors were assessed in 1990, and SRH was measured again in 1995. We analyzed predictors of changes in SRH from 1990 to 1995. After control for age, gender, and disease, the following factors predicted worsening of SRH among respondents with good SRH in 1990: repetitive work, high psychological demands, low social support, high job insecurity, and high ergonomic exposures. After further control for social class, the ORs for some of these factors were reduced, but they all remained significant. Only one of the work environment factors, ergonomic exposures, predicted improvements in SRH among those respondents who had poor SRH in 1990. Many studies have shown that SRH is a powerful independent predictor for total mortality. This is the first study showing that a number of work environment factors predict worsening of SRH over time. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.