IJE Advance Access originally published online on February 28, 2005
International Journal of Epidemiology 2005 34(3):610-622; doi:10.1093/ije/dyi024
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Socioeconomic Influences |
Temporary employment and health: a review
1 Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Helsinki, Finland
2 Department of Psychology, University of Helsinki, Finland
3 Medical School, University of Tampere and Department of General Practice, Pirkanmaa Hospital District, Finland
4 National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health, Helsinki, Finland
* Corresponding author. Department of Psychology, Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Topeliuksenkatu 41 a A, FIN-00250 Helsinki, Finland. E-mail: marianna.virtanen{at}occuphealth.fi
Objectives We aimed to review evidence on the relationship between temporary employment and health, and to see whether the association is dependent on outcome measure, instability of employment, and contextual factors.
Method We systematically searched for studies of temporary employment and various health outcomes and critically appraised 27 studies.
Results The review suggests higher psychological morbidity among temporary workers compared with permanent employees. According to some studies, temporary workers also have a higher risk of occupational injuries but their sickness absence is lower. Morbidity may be higher in temporary jobs with high employment instability and in countries with a lower number of temporary workers and unemployed workers.
Conclusions The evidence indicates an association between temporary employment and psychological morbidity. The health risk may depend on instability of temporary employment and the context. Confounding by occupation may have biased some of the studies. Additional research to clarify the role of employment instability, hazard accumulation, and selection is recommended.
Keywords Employment status, health, labour market, morbidity, mortality, socioeconomic factors
Accepted 21 December 2005
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