Exploring workability in an older working population: associations with cognitive functioning, sleep quality, and technostress

Alice Fattori; Anna Comotti; Teresa Barnini; Cristina Di Tecco; Marco Laurino; Pasquale Bufano; Catalina Ciocan; Daniele Serra; Luca Ferrari; Matteo Bonzini

doi:10.3389/fpubh.2024.1303907

Exploring workability in an older working population: associations with cognitive functioning, sleep quality, and technostress

Front Public Health. 2024 Apr 29:12:1303907. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1303907. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Occupational Medicine Unit, Foundation IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy.
² Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Epidemiology and Hygiene, Italian Workers' Compensation Authority (INAIL), Rome, Italy.
³ Institute of Clinical Physiology, National Research Council, Pisa, Italy.
⁴ Department of Public Health and Pediatrics, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.
⁵ Department of Clinical Science and Community Health, University of Milan, Milan, Italy.

Abstract

Objective: This observational study investigates workability and its associations with cognitive functioning, sleep quality and technostress among an older working population, also shedding light on potential differences between two occupational categories with different work schedules.

Methods: Workers aged over 50, employed in different working sectors (banking/finance, chemical and metal-mechanic industry) were administered a self- report questionnaire including Work Ability Index (WAI), cognitive tests (Stroop Color Task, Corsi Blocks, Digit Span), sleep quality questionnaires (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index-PSQI; Insomnia Severity Index-ISI; Ford Insomnia Response to Stress Test-FIRST) and technostress scale. Linear regression models evaluated associations among variables, interaction effects investigated potential moderators.

Results: A total of 468 aged workers categorized as white (WCWs; N = 289, 62%) or blue collars (BCWs; N = 179, 38%) were enrolled; most BCWs (N = 104; 58%) were night shift workers. WCWs reported higher workability, cognitive functioning, sleep quality and lower technostress (except for invasion and privacy subscales) than BCWs. Associations between cognitive functioning and workability were statistically significant only for BCWs [slopes equal to 0.2 (0.33), 0.8 (0.34), -0.02 (0.001) for Memory Span Corsi, Block Span Digit and Interference Speed respectively]; additionally, sleep quality significantly moderated this association (p = 0.007). Higher levels of technostress were associated with lower workability, and this relationship was stronger for BCWs.

Conclusion: The aging of the workforce has important implications for occupational health and safety. Our findings suggest potential interventions and protective measures to promote older workers' wellbeing; blue-collar workers particularly should benefit from tailored intervention to sustain workability and prevent technostress, considering the role of healthy sleep habits promotion.

Keywords: occupational health; shift work; sleep disturbances; successful aging; work ability index.

Publication types

Observational Study
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Aged
Cognition* / physiology
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Self Report
Sleep Quality*
Surveys and Questionnaires

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This study was funded, after peer review, by the Italian National Institute for Insurance against Accidents at Work (INAIL) with the BRIC 2019 project (“PROAGEING – Promuovere la produttività e il benessere dei lavoratori che invecchiano: studio prospettico di work ability, età cognitiva e biologica in un mondo del lavoro in cambiamento”). AC was partially supported by the Italian Ministry of Health (Ricerca Corrente 2023). The APC costs were founded by Grant Ricerca Corrente, Italian Ministry of Health.