June/July 2007 (vol. 04/1)

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Research Plus

Unfairness risks ill health

Policies that promote fairness in the workplace, as well as other social settings can improve health, findings from the Whitehall Study II of civil servants reveal. The findings are based on a longitudinal study of 5,726 men and 2,572 women from 20 civil service departments in London. Participants’ perception of being treated unfairly was scored into risk categories, and their long-term mental and physical health was followed using validated health and quality-of-life surveys and data on ill health and death. The higher the sense of injustice, the greater was the risk of a heart attack or angina (after adjusting for employment, age, gender and cardiovascular risk factors). Unfair treatment also increased the risk of poor physical and mental health functioning.

Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 2007; 61: 513–18.

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Occupational Health at Work June/July 2007 (vol. 04/1) pp39