JAMA Psychiatry. 2025 Apr 2. doi: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2025.0206. Online ahead of print.
NO ABSTRACT
PMID:40172869 | DOI:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2025.0206
J Adv Nurs. 2025 Apr 2. doi: 10.1111/jan.16931. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
AIMS: To determine the prevalence of burnout and back pain in homecare workers in Switzerland and assess their associations with psychosocial work environment factors.
DESIGN: National multicentre cross-sectional study.
METHODS: Using paper-pencil questionnaires, data were collected from January 2021 to September 2021 from employees of 88 homecare agencies across Switzerland. Respondents who identified themselves as administrators, apprentices, or trainees, who were in leadership positions, or who were not involved in the provision of care or housekeeping were excluded from this analysis. Burnout was assessed with the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory Scale (possible score range 0-100) and back pain with a single item from the Federal Statistical Office’s Swiss Health Survey. Multilevel regression analyses were used to assess burnout and back pain’s associations with psychosocial work environment factors.
RESULTS: We included 2514 homecare workers. More than two-thirds (68.6%) reported back pain in the past 4 weeks. The overall mean burnout score was 36.0 (SD 18.3). Poorer work-life balance, higher perceived workload and verbal aggression from clients were positively associated with both outcomes. Better leadership and social support from colleagues were negatively associated with burnout. Higher role conflict levels correlated with higher burnout levels.
CONCLUSION: Our findings indicate that the psychosocial work environment should be considered when designing interventions to reduce the prevalence of burnout and back pain among homecare workers.
IMPLICATIONS FOR THE PROFESSION AND PATIENT CARE: The high reported burnout and back pain prevalences among homecare workers highlight an urgent need to design and implement psychosocial work environment-improving interventions. In addition to contributing to homecare employees’ long-term attraction and retention, protecting and promoting their health and well-being will likely not only benefit them, but also contribute to patient safety, quality of care and homecare sustainability.
IMPACT: The study reports the prevalence of burnout and back pain among homecare workers and their associations with psychosocial work environment factors. The results indicate that six psychosocial work environment factors-work-life balance, perceived workload, leadership quality, levels of social support from colleagues, role conflict levels, and verbal aggression from clients-all correlate with burnout and/or back pain in homecare workers. For policy makers, researchers, healthcare managers, and homecare agencies, this study’s findings will inform the development of interventions to enhance homecare work environments, leading to improvements both in workers’ health and in the quality of their care.
REPORTING METHOD: We have adhered to the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) reporting checklist for cross-sectional studies.
PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: Our stakeholder group included patient representatives, policy makers, researchers, clinicians and representatives of professional associations. Throughout the study, all provided support and input on topics including questionnaire development, result interpretation and the design of strategies to improve response rates.
PMID:40172860 | DOI:10.1111/jan.16931
J Adv Nurs. 2025 Apr 2. doi: 10.1111/jan.16945. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
AIMS: This study engaged key stakeholders-older adults, family caregivers, home care support workers, nurses, and home healthcare leaders-to explore perspectives on essential components and integration into home care models, and to explore the role of their technology readiness for health smart homes adoption.
DESIGN: A qualitative methodology with a quantitative component, early-phase exploratory design.
METHODS: Semi-structured interviews underwent qualitative thematic analysis, with cross-case analysis comparing stakeholder perspectives to identify convergences and divergences. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse Technology Readiness Index (TRI 2.0) survey data to provide background and context to the qualitative findings.
RESULTS: Among 18 participants-older adults (n = 6), family caregivers (n = 2), nurses (n = 7), and support workers/healthcare leaders (n = 3)-findings reflected optimism for health smart home adoption and its potential to support ageing in place. Nurses and care workers saw health smart home as a tool for improving care coordination and quality of life. Key adoption considerations included education, data visualisation, privacy, and security. Technology readiness scores were moderate, with nurses scoring highest (3.52), followed by caregivers (3.41), support workers (3.13), and older adults (3.10).
CONCLUSION: While stakeholders were open to integrating health smart home into home care, concerns around usability, security, and training must be addressed to facilitate adoption.
IMPLICATIONS FOR THE PROFESSION: Findings suggest that while health smart home technology holds promise for enhancing ageing in place, varying levels of technology readiness across stakeholders highlight the need for tailored education and support strategies to ensure successful implementation.
PROBLEM ADDRESSED: Despite a strong preference for ageing in place among older adults, integrating health smart home technologies into home care remains challenging. Key issues include ensuring intuitive functionality, protecting privacy, and clarifying the roles of caregivers and healthcare professionals in a technology-enhanced care model. This study addresses the critical gap in understanding how health smart home solutions can be effectively tailored to support the diverse needs of older adults, family caregivers, and home care nurses and support workers.
MAIN FINDINGS: Stakeholders were generally optimistic about health smart home technologies supporting ageing in place and improving quality of life. Nurses and support workers highlighted the need for tailored data visualisations, alert parameters, and clear role guidelines. A novel finding was that older adults and family caregivers viewed health smart home as a way to reduce intrusive monitoring, promote independence, and maintain a familiar living environment. Family caregivers valued the ability to stay involved remotely through activity data, offering reassurance and peace of mind. Across all groups, privacy safeguards were seen as essential, with strong concerns about data security, transparent usage policies, and user control over data sharing.
IMPACT: Findings have implications for community-dwelling older adults, family caregivers, home care professionals, researchers, and technology developers. Insights from this study can inform the design of user-friendly health smart home technologies, shape future research, and guide tailored implementation strategies in home care settings.
PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: An advisory group of community-dwelling older adults in Western Australia provided input on study design and methodology. Their recommendations led to the use of one-on-one interviews to ensure accessibility and relevance for older adults when exploring technology readiness and smart home integration. While the advisory group did not contribute to the data itself or its analysis, their feedback shaped the method of engagement to ensure its relevance and accessibility to potential participants.
PMID:40172858 | DOI:10.1111/jan.16945
Work. 2025 Feb;80(2):539-547. doi: 10.3233/WOR-230595. Epub 2025 Apr 2.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The bibliometric and visualization of a journal informs the editorial team about its current situation. As an interesting and popular journal in the field of Occupational Health and Safety (OHS), WORK is a good target for bibliometric analysis and visualization.
OBJECTIVE: To conduct an overview of WORK from a bibliometric perspective.
METHODS: Using the Scopus database, the present bibliometric study was carried out to evaluate WORK from its whole life (1990-2022). Data extraction was performed on May 8, 2023. Using Microsoft Excel and VOSviewer software, bibliometric analysis and visualization approaches were conducted. Related findings such as various indices trends, co-authorship as well as most cited and most productive authors, highly cited papers, and most productive countries were introduced and discussed.
RESULTS: Overall, positive trends were observed in published documents and received citations by WORK. The top-cited paper in WORK had 478 citations. Straker, Innes, and Jacobs were the most cited authors with nearly 500 citations. American and European countries had more contributions to WORK. The same findings were obtained regarding international cooperation. The co-occurrence of keywords showed that WORK covers all aspects of OHS with more emphasis on the Ergonomics issues.
CONCLUSIONS: The positive trends in published papers as well as its impacts proved the fact that WORK is progressing year by year. The findings of the present study can be useful both for audiences and the editorial team of WORK.
PMID:40172850 | DOI:10.3233/WOR-230595
Work. 2025 Feb;80(2):814-822. doi: 10.1177/10519815241290022. Epub 2024 Nov 25.
ABSTRACT
BackgroundsSince 2022, South Korea has enacted the “Serious Accident Punishment Act” to enhance the safety of industrial workers. However, serious industrial accidents have continued to occur since the Act’s implementation. The COVID-19 pandemic has seen an increase in both the number and severity of these accidents. This highlights the need for better policies to prevent accidents and provide comprehensive medical and social support for injured workers.ObjectivesThis study examines how different factors (e.g., policies, personal efforts, and demographic factors) affect the time it takes for workers injured in industrial accidents to return to their jobs.MethodsThis research utilized the Cox hazards model to examine the factors using data from the Panel Study of Workers’ Compensation Insurance (2018-2020).ResultsThe study found that several factors (e.g., experience with vocational rehabilitation services, living in large cities, having a higher disability rating, and being younger) helped workers return to their jobs more quickly.ConclusionsOur findings suggest that younger workers living in big cities with access to vocational rehabilitation services can return to work faster. This study also emphasizes the need for stronger policies to support older workers in rural areas. As South Korea’s population ages and more young people move to cities, these challenges will become even more pressing.
PMID:40172847 | DOI:10.1177/10519815241290022
Work. 2025 Feb;80(2):614-621. doi: 10.3233/WOR-240179. Epub 2025 Apr 2.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUNDBurnout has become one of the main problems in all health systems and nurses in all nursing jobs are subjected to burnout.OBJECTIVETo determine the magnitude, levels of burnout and its associated factors of nurses working in general hospitals of Tigray Region, North Ethiopia.METHODSA cross-sectional study design among 634 nurses from March 2018 to June 2019 was conducted. A clustered random sample technique was used. Multiple logistic regression analyses were performed using SPSS version 20.RESULTSThe proportion of burnout among the nurses was 41.10%. The 18.10%, 16.10% and 26% of nurses were with high emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and reduced levels of personal accomplishment respectively. The 5-9 years of work experience, working in a surgical unit, and working night shifts were protective factors.CONCLUSIONSThis study shows that a high proportion of nurses suffered from job burnout. There is a high emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment in their job. This study also showed that there is a significant association between factors such as service year, working in surgical units, night shift assignment and job burnout. It is recommended counseling, burnout coping programs and clinical services policy for nurses. All level managers should plan for nurses’ incentives; continuing education, training and regular shift rotations and set nurse recognition policies, and recreational and relaxation programs to increase nurses’ motivation. Future studies in primary and tertiary hospitals using a longitudinal design.
PMID:40172846 | DOI:10.3233/WOR-240179
Work. 2025 Feb;80(2):888-899. doi: 10.1177/10519815241289791. Epub 2024 Nov 13.
ABSTRACT
BackgroundIt is internationally recognized that people with disabilities have an equal right to work as people without disabilities. This includes deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) people. Previous studies, primarily conducted in the US, showed discrepancies between employment outcomes of DHH people and typically hearing people.ObjectiveThere is still a lack of knowledge about the current employment status of DHH people in the Netherlands. Furthermore, additional job characteristics such as income sources and sectors of employment are yet to be examined. This paper aims to address this lack of knowledge.MethodsThis study used non-public microdata to examine employment outcomes of DHH people who claimed sensory disability care in the Netherlands between 2015 and 2019 (n = 5609) and compare them to a matched Dutch population (MDP) (n = 5609).ResultsDespite small differences in employment participation, DHH claimants are more likely to have an income from sick leave/disability pension, other social benefits, and retirement compared to the MDP. DHH claimants also have lower average hourly wages, work fewer hours per week, work in different employment sectors, and stay in their first job longer compared to the MDP.ConclusionsThe results of this study show that there are labor force differences between DHH claimants and the MDP. Further steps must be taken to identify the causes of these differences and develop policies and interventions to address these when deemed necessary.
PMID:40172845 | DOI:10.1177/10519815241289791
Work. 2025 Feb;80(2):701-710. doi: 10.1177/10519815241290648. Epub 2024 Nov 22.
ABSTRACT
BackgroundThe idea that people will lose their jobs because of robots with artificial intelligence is one of the biggest recent concerns about artificial intelligence technology. There are predictions that unemployment will increase with the introduction of robots into the business sector, and due to artificial intelligence, automation in the production sector will make work completed by robots more practical than the efforts accomplished by humans.ObjectiveThis study aimed to assess the correlation between artificial intelligence anxiety and the level of unemployment anxiety among university students.MethodsAs a cross-sectional and descriptive study, the population comprised of 10,682 university students actively enrolled at a university. While the minimum sample size was calculated as 371 students, the research included 476 students as participants. The study used the ‘Personal Information Form’, ‘Artificial Intelligence Anxiety Scale’, and ‘Unemployment Anxiety Scale’ as data collection tools.ResultsThe demographic information of the participants follows: 50.4% were male, 33.8% were freshmen, and 96.2% were single. The total score averages for the Artificial Intelligence Anxiety Scale and Unemployment Anxiety Scale are 56.00 ± 15.51 and 53.52 ± 11.55, respectively. A statistically significant difference between the participants’ score averages on the Artificial Intelligence Anxiety Scale and the Unemployment Anxiety Scale was identified for gender, major/college, trust in technology, and use of artificial intelligence (p < 0.05). There was a moderately positive relationship between artificial intelligence anxiety and unemployment anxiety level total score averages (p < 0.01).ConclusionsThere were high scores among participants for artificial intelligence anxiety and unemployment anxiety.
PMID:40172842 | DOI:10.1177/10519815241290648
Behav Pharmacol. 2025 Apr 2. doi: 10.1097/FBP.0000000000000822. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
Cannabidiol (CBD) was first isolated in the 1940s and its drug structure was established in the 1960s. It has risen significantly in popularity since then and has been observed to reduce inflammation and anxiety in patients. CBD is easy to obtain and consume, therefore, its common use is rising and has spread to use in pets and children. Few studies have focused on the use of CBD as a solution to aggression. In our study, we tested if CBD is effective in reducing aggression in Siamese fighting fish (Betta splendens) induced by territorial interactions. Betta fish were exposed to controls (water or acetone) and CBD treatments ranging from low, medium, and high (2, 10, and 20 mg CBD/L, respectively), and their behaviors after the visual introduction of an intruder fish were recorded. CBD reduced the odds of aggressive behavior in treated fish. Seventy-five percent of all control fish exhibited aggressive behaviors, while only 17% of CBD-treated fish displayed aggression. Especially, the low CBD dose seemed effective at preventing aggressive behaviors but fish also appeared more lethargic than in any of the other treatments. However, when CBD-treated fish displayed aggressive behaviors, CBD did not appear to reduce the amount of time fish spent being aggressive compared to aggressive fish that did not receive any CBD treatment. While the long-term effects of CBD still have to be examined, our study indicates that CBD might be effective in reducing aggression in Betta fish and potentially other pets.
PMID:40172839 | DOI:10.1097/FBP.0000000000000822
Biometrics. 2025 Apr 2;81(2):ujaf034. doi: 10.1093/biomtc/ujaf034.
ABSTRACT
Testing differences in mean vectors is a fundamental task in the analysis of high-dimensional microbiome compositional data. Existing methods may suffer from low power if the underlying signal pattern is in a situation that does not favor the deployed test. In this work, we develop 2-sample power-enhanced mean tests for high-dimensional compositional data based on the combination of $P$-values, which integrates strengths from 2 popular types of tests: the maximum-type test and the quadratic-type test. We provide rigorous theoretical guarantees on the proposed tests, showing accurate Type-I error rate control and enhanced testing power. Our method boosts the testing power toward a broader alternative space, which yields robust performance across a wide range of signal pattern settings. Our methodology and theory also contribute to the literature on power enhancement and Gaussian approximation for high-dimensional hypothesis testing. We demonstrate the performance of our method on both simulated data and real-world microbiome data, showing that our proposed approach improves the testing power substantially compared to existing methods.
PMID:40171801 | DOI:10.1093/biomtc/ujaf034