Healthy worker effect

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The healthy worker effect (HWE) describes a statistical effect in epidemiological cohort studies that shows a better health status of employees than that of the general population. Therefore, the working population is statistically shown to be healthier.

This can be explained by the fact that employed persons within a cohort must be in a certain state of health in order to be able to carry out their work, while the population as a whole also includes people who are unable to work due to illness . This distorting effect means that comparisons with the total population are usually problematic. The “healthy worker effect” can therefore lead to an underestimation of work-related morbidity , of which long-term night workers in three-shift operation are a classic example.

The healthy worker effect is a special form of sampling bias ( english selection bias ).

Individual evidence

  • J. Baillargeon: Characteristics of the healthy worker effect. Occup Med. 16 (2): 359-66. 2001. Review. PMID 11319057 .