Job strain predicts survey response in healthcare industry workers

Objectives To examine the effect of job strain on survey response. Methods 1,613 health care workers received a self-administered questionnaire. Thirty percent of them completed the survey on personal time without any personal monetary compensation. Working conditions were extracted by job title from the national database O*NET 6.0. Job strain was defined as the ratio of job demands to job control. Two complementary models (multi-level logistic and binomial pseudo Poisson regressions) were used to model individual survey response as a function of individual level demographic variables (age and gender), job-level socioeconomic status (SES) and job strain, and facility type (third level). Results Survey response was associated with higher SES and with less job strain. The association of SES and survey response was mediated by job strain. Conclusion Employees' exposure to job strain may be an important influence on survey response, at least for workers who are not compensated for their time in completing a survey.