Association Between Workplace Social Capital and Absolute Presenteeism: A Multilevel Study in a Chinese Context.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the association between workplace social capital (WSC) and presenteeism in a Chinese context. We conducted a cross-sectional study in Shanghai, China, from December 2016 to March 2017. Totally, 2380 workers were randomly sampled through a two-stage sampling procedure. Validated and psychometrically tested measures were used to assess job stress, self-rated health and absolute presenteeism (AP), and WSC. Job stress [unstandardized coefficients, B:1.83, 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 0.43 to 3.24] was positively associated with AP. Compared with participants with excellent self-rated health, those with very good, good, and general self-rated health had gradationally higher levels of AP. High individual-level WSC (B: -6.32; 95% CI: -7.62 to -5.02) and workplace-level WSC (B: -4.43; 95% CI: -7.44 to -1.42) were negatively associated with AP. Interventions on promoting workers' health, decreasing job stress, and enhancing WSC may contribute to decreasing AP in Chinese workplaces.