Impacts of considering sex and gender during intervention studies in occupational health: Researchers’ perspectives

• Published in: Applied ergonomics Vol. 82; p. 102960
• Main Authors: Laberge, Marie, Blanchette-Luong, Vanessa, Blanchard, Arnaud, Sultan-Taïeb, Hélène, Riel, Jessica, Lederer, Valérie, Saint-Charles, Johanne, Chatigny, Céline, Lefrançois, Mélanie, Webb, Jena, Major, Marie-Ève, Vaillancourt, Cathy, Messing, Karen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.01.2020; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adult; Ergonomics; Evaluation; Female; Humans; Integrated knowledge translation; Interviews as Topic; Life Sciences; Male; Occupational Health; Research Design; Research Personnel; Research-intervention studies; Sex and gender-based analysis; Sex Factors; Translational Research, Biomedical; Evaluation; Occupational health; Ergonomics; Integrated knowledge translation; Research-intervention studies; Sex and gender-based analysis
• ISSN: 0003-6870; 1872-9126
• DOI: 10.1016/j.apergo.2019.102960

The aim of this article is to examine the impacts of incorporating sex and gender (s/g) analysis in integrated knowledge translation (iKT) initiatives in the field of ergonomics and occupational health. The article presents findings based on a retrospective analysis of twelve intervention-research (IR) studies, including a thematic content analysis of in-depth interviews conducted with 15 researchers involved in these IRs. The findings offer an overview of various categories of impacts, such as changes in partners’ views, in workplace settings and conditions, in practices and policies, and in economic outcomes. In these types of IR, health effects measurement is not the main objective, and direct health outcomes are difficult to assess. Explicitly talking about sex/gender led more often to system-level changes but less often to workplace-level changes, compared to interventions where sex/gender was not identified as a specific object of the intervention. •Using a sex/gender lens in intervention-research (IR) studies led to multi-level impacts.•Explicitly addressing sex/gender led to system-level impacts.•Implicitly addressing sex-gender led to workplace-level impacts.•Measurement of health effects was not the main objective of IR studies.•Realist evaluation should be considered, to assess s/g integration impacts in ergonomics.