ArticleBMC medical research methodology2008
Workplace restructurings in intervention studies - a challenge for design, analysis and interpretation.
Article in BMC medical research methodology, 2008. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 52 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effectiveness of Interventions to Promote Sustainable Employability: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2019Pooled it
- Effects of organisational-level interventions at work on employees' health: a systematic review.BMC public health · 2014Pooled it
- Impact of an intersectoral universal workplace intervention on health related quality of life and wellbeing in a pragmatic cluster randomised trial.Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- Effectiveness of eLearning and blended modes of delivery of Mental Health First Aid training in the workplace: randomised controlled trial.BMC psychiatry · 2018Trial
- Effects of a randomized intervention to improve workplace social capital in community health centers in China.PloS one · 2014Trial
- Designing industrial work to be 'just right' to promote health - a study protocol for a goldilocks work intervention.BMC public health · 2022Article
- The future of research on work, safety, health and wellbeing: A guiding conceptual framework.Social science & medicine (1982) · 2021Article
- Evaluation and Dissemination of a Checklist to Improve Implementation of Work Environment Initiatives in the Eldercare Sector: Protocol for a Prospective Observational Study.JMIR research protocols · 2020Article
- Evaluating the Feasibility of an Innovative Self-Confidence Webinar Intervention for Depression in the Workplace: A Proof-of-Concept Study.JMIR mental health · 2019Article
- Methodological Challenges in the Economic Evaluation of Occupational Health and Safety Programmes.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2018Article
- Research Methodologies for Total Worker Health®: Proceedings From a Workshop.Journal of occupational and environmental medicine · 2018Article
- The Transition from Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Interventions to OSH Outcomes: An Empirical Analysis of Mechanisms and Contextual Factors within Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2018Article
- Exploring Study Designs for Evaluation of Interventions Aimed to Reduce Occupational Diseases and Injuries.Safety and health at work · 2016Article
- Changing Work and Work-Family Conflict: Evidence from the Work, Family, and Health Network*American sociological review · 2014Article
- Workplace mental health: developing an integrated intervention approach.BMC psychiatry · 2014Article
- Understanding significant processes during work environment interventions to alleviate time pressure and associated sick leave of home care workers--a case study.BMC health services research · 2013Article
- An Integrative, Multilevel, and Transdisciplinary Research Approach to Challenges of Work, Family, and Health.Methods report (RTI Press) · 2013Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundInterventions in occupational health often target worksites rather than individuals. The objective of this paper is to describe the (lack of) stability in units of analysis in occupational health and safety intervention projects directed toward worksites.
methodsA case study approach is used to describe naturally occurring organizational changes in four, large, Nordic intervention projects that ran 3-5 years, covered 3-52 worksites, cost 0.25 mill-2.2 mill euro, and involved 3-7 researchers.
resultsIn all four cases, high rates of closing, merging, moving, downsizing or restructuring was observed, and in all four cases at least one company/worksite experienced two or more re-organizations during the project period. If individual worksites remained, ownership or (for publicly owned) administrative or legal base often shifted. Forthcoming closure led employees and managers to seek employment at other worksites participating in the studies. Key employees involved in the intervention process often changed.
conclusionMajor changes were the rule rather than the exception. Frequent fundamental changes at worksites need to be taken into account when planning intervention studies and raises serious questions concerning design, analyses and interpretation of results. The frequent changes may also have deleterious implications for the potential effectiveness of many real life interventions directed toward worksites. We urge researchers and editors to prioritize this subject in order to improve the quality of future intervention research and preventive action.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.