Does working less hours, at equal pay, influence health outcomes?
In OECD countries (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development), the working week is equal to 37 hours on average. That said, there are several situations where this limit is exceeded or adversely affected by the shortage of personnel, leading to negative impacts on stress and cardiovascular health, interference in private life, as well as contributing to increased absenteeism.
Despite the recent media interest, little is known about the bio-psycho-social effects of reduced working hours. To this end, researchers from the University of Turin (UNITO) carried out a systematic review of the scientific literature published since the year 2000 and drew some interesting conclusions.
Seven important Northern European studies were selected, all of which investigated the effects on health of a 20-25% reduction of working hours, given the same salary. The studies selected involved mainly healthy subjects who were dependent on health or social care facilities, with an average follow-up of approximately 2 years.
The results showed a slight improvement in cardio-respiratory symptoms in the experimental groups compared to the control groups. Other more relevant findings, however, showed the reduction of musculoskeletal pain and an increase in “perceived health”. There is still little data on these aspects and, even though there may be a possible impact on specific symptoms, additional larger studies are needed.
In contrast, general stress, including “mental fatigue” and the quality / quantity of sleep, were the outcomes investigated most frequently. These outcomes improved significantly in the experimental groups, probably also due to the greater amount of free time available to dedicate to oneself.
The perceived quality of work was always rated better in terms of both productivity and positive interactions between colleagues, with less interference in private life and a small positive impact on the request for sick leave. This may also have been due to study design (trial effect).
Participants in the experimental group spent most of their free time improving relationships in their private lives; they only partially spent it to improve lifestyles factors such as nutrition and physical activity. Not surprisingly, no significant biomarkers for better health were found in the experimental groups.
In conclusion, even though the topic of reduced working hours is of current interest, a limitation of this review is the small number of studies available and the few selected (Scandinavian only). The design of the studies, to protect the experimental group, as well as the exclusive socio-health area are also limitations. The results are, therefore, not easily generalizable to the general population.
The study certainly demonstrates that a reduction of working hours has a positive impact on stress and related symptoms. That said, parameters related to habits and lifestyle, and thereby health, scarcely changed for participants with more free time. It can, therefore, be concluded that increased free time alone is not enough if it does not lead to a parallel improvement in risk factors that, through targeted interventions, can positively impact health outcomes.
By Agatino Sanguedolce e Carmela Rinaldi
