Health behaviours among older and younger workers with chronic illness

Objectives: To examine health behaviours carried out by older (aged 50-69 years) and younger workers (aged 20-49 years) with a chronic illness.
Methods: Questionnaire data was collected from 759 employees with a diagnosed chronic illness. Four categories of self-managing health behaviours were examined: using prescribed medication, monitoring and responding to symptoms, managing an appropriate diet and exercising.
Results: Except for medication use, different self-managing behaviours were adopted by the age groups: younger workers with asthma, musculoskeletal pain or diabetes, preferred self-managing their illness through an appropriate diet; older workers with heart disease, arthritis and rheumatism or diabetes, preferred exercise. Except for older workers with asthma, neither age groups monitored or responded to their symptoms at work.
Conclusions: The findings from this study indicate that there are differences in diet and exercise activities among younger and older workers managing the same chronic illness.
Practice implications: To increase health behaviours at work, improved communication and understanding between the different health professions and the patient/employee is required so that different tailored approaches can be more effectively targeted both by age and within the context of the working environment, to those managing asthma, heart disease, diabetes and arthritis and rheumatism.

Oxford working party series, no 109.
Also published in Patient Education and Counseling, Vol. 77, Issue 1, Pages 109-115