Scholarlink

Background <p>Social support is a key protective factor against mental illness. Yet, qualitative studies have suggested that emergency medical service (EMS) personnel working in ambulance contexts underutilise workplace-provided social support. Although a possible barrier to seeking support, no previous quantitative study has examined workload’s association with support utilisation in high-strain emergency settings. This study assesses the longitudinal association between EMS personnel’s workload and utilisation of workplace-provided formal support in an ambulance context.</p> Methods <p>703 personnel from a Danish EMS organisation were invited to participate in the study. The survey data were collected from 2022 to 2023 over five survey rounds. Survey data were combined with organisational records of emergency responses from the same period, providing a measure of workload at a station level. Logistic mixed models were performed to assess associations between workload, measured by number of emergency responses, and formal support utilisation. Main analyses were performed using R-Studio (version 4.4.2).</p> Results <p>Of the 703 invited personnel, 341 participated in repeated survey rounds. At the final wave, 642 employees were eligible, corresponding to a response rate of 53.2% of possible participants at final wave. 82.1% of the participants were male, and 17.8% were female. The mean age of the participants was 42.13 years. EMS personnel at higher-workload stations were more likely to use support than those at lower-workload stations (OR = 2.03, CI = 1.26; 3.35). This effect persisted after adjusting for age, gender, workplace social capital, posttraumatic stress symptoms, and time effect (OR = 1.93, CI = 1.12; 3.35).</p> Conclusion <p>This is the first study examining EMS personnel’s workload and social support utilisation in a longitudinal design. Contrasting qualitative findings, this study presents evidence of greater support utilisation under higher workload. With reference to the Conservation of Resources Theory, the results could reflect a need to conserve resources under pressure, and underline the importance of accessible support in high-risk occupations.</p>

错误：搜索内容不能为空，请输入英文关键词
错误：关键词超出字数限制，请精简
高级检索

Association between workload and support utilisation - a longitudinal study on emergency medical service personnel

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

    开放获取

  • 发表日期：

    2026年4月8日

查看全文
  • Pernille Melander-Nyboe,
  • Maria Louison Vang,
  • Nanna Lindekilde,
  • Lars Peter Sønderbo Andersen,
  • Ask Elklit,
  • Jesper Pihl-Thingvad

摘要

Background

Social support is a key protective factor against mental illness. Yet, qualitative studies have suggested that emergency medical service (EMS) personnel working in ambulance contexts underutilise workplace-provided social support. Although a possible barrier to seeking support, no previous quantitative study has examined workload’s association with support utilisation in high-strain emergency settings. This study assesses the longitudinal association between EMS personnel’s workload and utilisation of workplace-provided formal support in an ambulance context.

Methods

703 personnel from a Danish EMS organisation were invited to participate in the study. The survey data were collected from 2022 to 2023 over five survey rounds. Survey data were combined with organisational records of emergency responses from the same period, providing a measure of workload at a station level. Logistic mixed models were performed to assess associations between workload, measured by number of emergency responses, and formal support utilisation. Main analyses were performed using R-Studio (version 4.4.2).

Results

Of the 703 invited personnel, 341 participated in repeated survey rounds. At the final wave, 642 employees were eligible, corresponding to a response rate of 53.2% of possible participants at final wave. 82.1% of the participants were male, and 17.8% were female. The mean age of the participants was 42.13 years. EMS personnel at higher-workload stations were more likely to use support than those at lower-workload stations (OR = 2.03, CI = 1.26; 3.35). This effect persisted after adjusting for age, gender, workplace social capital, posttraumatic stress symptoms, and time effect (OR = 1.93, CI = 1.12; 3.35).

Conclusion

This is the first study examining EMS personnel’s workload and social support utilisation in a longitudinal design. Contrasting qualitative findings, this study presents evidence of greater support utilisation under higher workload. With reference to the Conservation of Resources Theory, the results could reflect a need to conserve resources under pressure, and underline the importance of accessible support in high-risk occupations.