Organisational injustice and impaired cardiovascular regulation among female employees

• Published in: Occupational and environmental medicine (London, England) Vol. 63; no. 2; pp. 141 - 144
• Main Authors: Elovainio, M, Kivimäki, M, Puttonen, S, Lindholm, H, Pohjonen, T, Sinervo, T
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London BMJ Publishing Group Ltd 01.02.2006; BMJ Publishing Group; BMJ; BMJ Publishing Group LTD; BMJ Group
• Subjects: Adult; autonomic nervous system; Autonomic Nervous System - physiopathology; Biological and medical sciences; Blood Pressure; blood pressure variability; Body mass index; Cardiovascular disease; Cardiovascular System - physiopathology; chronic stress; Decision making; Decision Making, Organizational; Distributive justice; Employees; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Health Personnel - psychology; Health problems; Health risks; Heart Rate; heart rate variability; High frequencies; high frequency; Homes for the Aged; HRV; Humans; Injustice; Interprofessional Relations; Lack of exercise; Logistic Models; Low frequencies; low frequency; Middle Aged; Occupational Diseases - physiopathology; Occupational Diseases - psychology; Occupational psychology; organisational justice; Organizational Culture; Original; Physiological regulation; Physiology; Procedural justice; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Questionnaires; R&D; Research & development; Risk factors; SAP; Social Justice; Socioeconomic factors; Stress, Psychological - physiopathology; Stress, Psychological - psychology; Supervisors; systolic arterial pressure; Work condition. Job performance. Stress; Europe; Finland; Human; Justice; Questionnaire; Health staff; Decision making; Cardiovascular disease; Occupational exposure; Stress; Occupational environment; Employee; Health care facility; Female; Perception; Woman; Job engineering; Occupational medicine; Long term care
• ISSN: 1351-0711; 1470-7926
• DOI: 10.1136/oem.2005.019737

Objectives: To examine the relation between perceived organisational justice and cardiovascular reactivity in women. Methods: The participants were 57 women working in long term care homes. Heart rate variability and systolic arterial pressure variability were used as markers of autonomic function. Organisational justice was measured using the scale of Moorman. Data on other risk factors were also collected. Results: Results from logistic regression models showed that the risk for increased low frequency band systolic arterial pressure variability was 3.8–5.8 times higher in employees with low justice than in employees with high justice. Low perceived justice was also related to an 80% excess risk of reduced high frequency heart rate variability compared to high perceived justice, but this association was not statistically significant. Conclusions: These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that cardiac dysregulation is one stress mechanism through which a low perceived justice of decision making procedures and interpersonal treatment increases the risk of health problems in personnel.