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Work-related stress in midlife is associated with higher number of mobility limitation in older age—results from the FLAME study

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Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate whether work-related stress symptoms in midlife are associated with a number of mobility limitations during three decades from midlife to late life. Data for the study come from the Finnish Longitudinal Study of Municipal Employees (FLAME). The study includes a total of 5429 public sector employees aged 44–58 years at baseline who had information available on work-related stress symptoms in 1981 and 1985 and mobility limitation score during the subsequent 28-year follow-up. Four midlife work-related stress profiles were identified: negative reactions to work and depressiveness, perceived decrease in cognition, sleep disturbances, and somatic symptoms. People with a high number of stress symptoms in 1981 and 1985 were categorized as having constant stress. The number of self-reported mobility limitations was computed based on an eight-item list of mobility tasks presented to the participants in 1992, 1997, and 2009. Data were analyzed using joint Poisson regression models. The study showed that depending on the stress profile, persons suffering from constant stress in midlife had a higher risk of 30–70 % for having one more mobility limitation during the following 28 years compared to persons without stress after adjusting for mortality, several lifestyle factors, and chronic conditions. A less pronounced risk increase (20–40 %) was observed for persons with occasional symptoms. The study suggests that effective interventions aiming to reduce work-related stress should focus on both primary and secondary prevention.

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Acknowledgments

Gerontology Research Center is a joint effort between the University of Jyväskylä and the University of Tampere. FLAME was supported by the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health and the Local Governments Pension Institution. J. Kulmala was supported by grant 250385 from the Academy of Finland. M.B. von Bonsdorff was supported by grant 257239 from the Academy of Finland. M.E. von Bonsdorff was supported by grant 250681 from the Academy of Finland. T. Rantanen was supported by grant 132597 from the Academy of Finland.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Gerontology Research Center and Department of Health Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, P.O. Box 35, 40014, Jyväskylä, Finland

    Jenni Kulmala, Timo Törmäkangas, Mikaela B. von Bonsdorff, Monika E. von Bonsdorff & Taina Rantanen

  2. Swiss Paraplegic Research, Nottwil, Switzerland

    Timo Hinrichs

  3. Department of Health Sciences and Health Policy, University of Lucerne, Lucerne, Switzerland

    Timo Hinrichs

  4. Gerontology Research Center, School of Health Sciences, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland

    Clas-Håkan Nygård

  5. Folkhälsan (NGO for Health Promotion), Helsinki, Finland

    Matti Klockars

  6. Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Helsinki, Finland

    Matti Klockars, Jorma Seitsamo & Juhani Ilmarinen

  7. University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland

    Juhani Ilmarinen

Authors
  1. Jenni Kulmala
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  2. Timo Hinrichs
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  3. Timo Törmäkangas
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  4. Mikaela B. von Bonsdorff
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  5. Monika E. von Bonsdorff
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  6. Clas-Håkan Nygård
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  7. Matti Klockars
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  8. Jorma Seitsamo
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  9. Juhani Ilmarinen
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  10. Taina Rantanen
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Correspondence to Jenni Kulmala.

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Kulmala, J., Hinrichs, T., Törmäkangas, T. et al. Work-related stress in midlife is associated with higher number of mobility limitation in older age—results from the FLAME study. AGE 36, 9722 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-014-9722-4

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