SLOSH-study The Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health
The Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health (SLOSH) is a longitudinal study initiated in 2006 by the Stress Research Institute at Stockholm University.
The study aims to provide a basis for more effective occupational health efforts and to increase the understanding of work-related ill health in Sweden. With its longitudinal design, following the same individuals with similar questions over time, the study allows for analyses of causal sequences in presumed chains of events.
On behalf of the Stress Research Institute, Statistics Sweden (SCB) sends out surveys every two years. Registry data on, among other things, sick leave and hospital admissions are linked to the responses both retrospectively (back in time) and prospectively (forward in time). SLOSH is based on the 2003-2019 Swedish Work Environment Surveys (AMU). In March 2006, a follow-up was conducted with the 9,200 people who responded to AMU in 2003, by sending out questionnaires by mail. Since then, data collections have been carried out every two years up until 2024, with an additional data collection in 2023.
The questionnaire sent to participants is available in two versions: one for those who are employed and one for those who are not employed. The questionnaire for employed individuals includes questions on work organization, work environment, lifestyle, social situations outside of work, and health. The questionnaire for non-employed individuals is similar to the one for employed individuals but, instead of questions about work, it includes questions relevant to retirees, fully disability-pensioned individuals, the unemployed, students, long-term sick leave recipients, parents on parental leave, homemakers, and others who have temporarily or permanently stopped working. Starting from the 2022 data collection, web-based surveys were prioritized over paper surveys.
Purpose:
The purpose of SLOSH is to investigate longitudinal relationships between work organization, the work environment (especially psychosocial factors), workforce participation, health, and well-being, taking into account social conditions, individual differences, health behaviors and coping strategies, the interaction between work and private life, sleep, aging, and economic fluctuations.
Go to data source
http://www.slosh.se
Citation and access
Citation and access
Access level:
Creator/Principal investigator(s):
- Hugo Westerlund – Stockholms universitet - Stressforskningsinstitutet
Research principal:
Data contains personal data:
No
Citation:
Method and outcome
Method and outcome
Unit of analysis:
Population:
Personer i åldrarna 16-64 år i förvärvsarbete (i Sverige)
Time method:
Study design:
- Kohortstudie
- Observationsstudie
Sampling procedure:
Description of sampling:
The sample for SLOSH consists of all individuals who responded to a Work Environment Survey (AMU) between 2003 and 2019. AMU is conducted by the Swedish Work Environment Authority and Statistics Sweden (SCB) and is based on the Labour Force Surveys (AKU), which are conducted annually. In these surveys, randomly selected individuals of working age are asked about employment. During the sampling for AKU, individuals are stratified by county, gender, citizenship, and employment status according to the employment register. The sample for the Work Environment Survey is a subsample of those who participated in AKU and were employed at the time of the interview.
Time period(s) investigated:
Description of the response rate/participation rate:
Response rate/participation rate:
2006: 65.4%
2008: 61.1%
2010: 56.8%
2012: 56.8%
2014: 52.5%
2016: 50.9%
2018: 48.2%
2020: 49.0%
2022: 42.5%
2023: 44.7%
2024: 45.1%
Data format/data structure:
Data collections - 11 collections
Data collections - 11 collections
Data collection - Självadministrerat frågeformulär: papper
Data collection - Självadministrerat frågeformulär: papper
Mode of collection:
Självadministrerat frågeformulär: papper
Time period(s) for data collection:
2006 - 2006
Sample size:
9154
Non response size:
3169
Source of the data:
- Befolkningsgrupp
Data collection - Självadministrerat frågeformulär: papper
Data collection - Självadministrerat frågeformulär: papper
Mode of collection:
Självadministrerat frågeformulär: papper
Time period(s) for data collection:
2008 - 2008
Sample size:
18734
Non response size:
7293
Source of the data:
- Befolkningsgrupp
Data collection - Självadministrerat frågeformulär: papper
Data collection - Självadministrerat frågeformulär: papper
Mode of collection:
Självadministrerat frågeformulär: papper
Time period(s) for data collection:
2010 - 2010
Sample size:
20291
Non response size:
8766
Source of the data:
- Befolkningsgrupp
Data collection - Självadministrerat frågeformulär: papper
Data collection - Självadministrerat frågeformulär: papper
Mode of collection:
Självadministrerat frågeformulär: papper
Time period(s) for data collection:
2012 - 2012
Sample size:
17409
Non response size:
7529
Source of the data:
- Befolkningsgrupp
Data collection - Självadministrerat frågeformulär: papper
Data collection - Självadministrerat frågeformulär: papper
Mode of collection:
Självadministrerat frågeformulär: papper
Time period(s) for data collection:
2014 - 2014
Sample size:
38657
Non response size:
18341
Source of the data:
- Befolkningsgrupp
Data collection - Självadministrerat frågeformulär: papper
Data collection - Självadministrerat frågeformulär: papper
Mode of collection:
Självadministrerat frågeformulär: papper
Time period(s) for data collection:
2016 - 2016
Sample size:
38012
Non response size:
18652
Source of the data:
- Befolkningsgrupp
Data collection - Självadministrerat frågeformulär: papper
Data collection - Självadministrerat frågeformulär: papper
Mode of collection:
Självadministrerat frågeformulär: papper
Time period(s) for data collection:
2018 - 2018
Sample size:
37043
Non response size:
19202
Source of the data:
- Befolkningsgrupp
Data collection - Självadministrerat frågeformulär: papper
Data collection - Självadministrerat frågeformulär: papper
Mode of collection:
Självadministrerat frågeformulär: papper
Time period(s) for data collection:
2020 - 2020
Sample size:
35700
Non response size:
18211
Source of the data:
- Befolkningsgrupp
Data collection - Självadministrerat frågeformulär: webbaserat
Data collection - Självadministrerat frågeformulär: webbaserat
Mode of collection:
Självadministrerat frågeformulär: webbaserat
Time period(s) for data collection:
2022 - 2022
Sample size:
51412
Non response size:
29545
Source of the data:
- Befolkningsgrupp
Data collection - Självadministrerat frågeformulär: webbaserat
Data collection - Självadministrerat frågeformulär: webbaserat
Mode of collection:
Självadministrerat frågeformulär: webbaserat
Time period(s) for data collection:
2023 - 2023
Sample size:
50889
Non response size:
28136
Source of the data:
- Befolkningsgrupp
Data collection - Självadministrerat frågeformulär: webbaserat
Data collection - Självadministrerat frågeformulär: webbaserat
Mode of collection:
Självadministrerat frågeformulär: webbaserat
Time period(s) for data collection:
2024 - 2024
Sample size:
50090
Non response size:
27500
Source of the data:
- Befolkningsgrupp
Geographic coverage
Geographic coverage
Geographic location:
Administrative information
Administrative information
Responsible department/unit:
Stress Research Institute
Ethical Review
Ethical Review
Reviewer:
- Stockholms etikprövningsnämnd
Funding
Funding
Funding agency:
- Vetenskapsrådet
Funding agency:
- FAS Centre for Global Health Research at the Medical Faculty of Umeå University
Topic and keywords
Topic and keywords
CESSDA topic classification:
Swedish Standard Classification of Research Subjects 2025:
Keywords:
Relations
Relations
Website:
Är dokumenterad av:
Är dokumenterad av:
Publications
Publications
Citation:
Hébert S, Canlon B, Hasson D, Magnusson Hanson LL, Benka Wallén M, et al. Tinnitus severity is reduced with reduction of depressive mood – a prospective population study in Sweden. PLoS One. 2012;7(5):e37733. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0037733. Epub 2012 May 22.
Links:
Citation:
Fransson EI, Nyberg ST, Heikkilä K, Alfredsson L, et al.Job strain and the risk of stroke: an individual-participant data meta-analysis. Stroke. 2015 Feb;46(2):557-9. doi: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.114.008019. Epub 2015 Jan 6.
Citation:
Hebert S, Canlon B, Hasson D. Emotional exhaustion as a predictor of tinnitus. Psychother Psychosom 2012; 81: 324-326.
Citation:
Theorell T, Andreeva E, Leineweber C, Hanson Magnusson L, Oxenstierna G, Westerlund H (2009) Restructuring and Employee Health. In: Grassbauer M, Sakalauskas L, Zavadskas E.K (Eds.). 5th international Vilnius Conference, Knowledge-Based Technologies and OR Methodologies for Strategic Decisions of Substainable Development, pp. 331-336 - P2758
Citation:
Chungkham HS, Ingre M, Karasek R, Westerlund H, Theorell T. Factor structure and longitudinal measurement invariance of the demand control support model: an evidence from the Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health (SLOSH). PLoS One. 2013 Aug 12;8(8):e70541. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0070541. eCollection 2013.
Links:
Citation:
Nyberg ST, Heikkila K, Fransson EI, Alfredsson L, De Bacquer D, et al. Job strain in relation to body mass index: pooled analysis of 160,000 adults from 13 cohort studies. Journal of Internal Medicine. 2012; 272(1):65-73. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2796.2011.02482.x. Epub 2011 Dec 5.
Links:
Citation:
Wallen MB, Hasson D, Theorell T, Canlon B. The correlation between the hyperacusis questionnaire and uncomfortable loudness levels is dependent on emotional exhaustion. Int J Audiol 2012;51: 722-729.
Citation:
Magnusson Hanson LL, Theorell T, Bech P, Rugulies R, Burr H, Hyde M, Oxenstierna G, Westerlund H. Psychosocial working conditions and depressive symptoms among Swedish employees. International Archives of Occcupational and Environmental Health, 2009; 82(8):951-960. Epub 2009 Feb 24, DOI: 10.1007/s00420-009-0406-9.
Citation:
Magnusson Hanson LL, Theorell T, Oxenstierna G, Hyde M, Westerlund H. Demand, control, and social climate as predictors of emotional exhaustion symptoms in working Swedish men and women. Scand J Public Health, 2008;36(7):737-743
Citation:
Magnusson Hanson LL, Akerstedt T, Naswall K, Leineweber C, Theorell T, et al. Cross-lagged relationships between workplace demands, control, support and sleep problems. Sleep 2011;34:1403-1410.
Citation:
Miyakawa M, Magnusson Hanson LL, Theorell T, Westerlund H. Subjective social status: its determinants and association with health in the Swedish working population (the SLOSH study). Eur J Public Health. 2012 Aug;22(4):593-7. doi: 10.1093/eurpub/ckr064. Epub 2011 Jun 6.
Links:
Citation:
Canlon B, Theorell T, Hasson D. Associations between stress and hearing problems in humans. Hear Res 2013; 295: 9-15.
Citation:
Nyberg A, Leineweber C, Magnusson Hanson L. Gender differences in psychosocial work factors, work-personal life interface, and well-being among Swedish managers and non-managers. Int Arch Occup Environ Health. 2015 Mar 12. [Epub ahead of print]
Citation:
Fransson EI, Nyberg ST, Heikkila K, Alfredsson L, De Bacquer D, et al. Comparison of alternative versions of the job demand-control scales in 17 European cohort studies: the IPD-Work consortium. BMC Public Health 2012;12: 62.
Citation:
Theorell T, Nyberg A, Leineweber C, Magnusson Hanson LL, Oxenstierna G, Westerlund H. Non-listening and self centered leadership - relationships to socioeconomic conditions and employee mental health. PLoS ONE, 2012;7(9):e44119. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0044119. Epub 2012 Sep 24.
Citation:
Hasson D, Theorell T, Westerlund H, Canlon B. Prevalence and characteristics of hearing problems in a working and non-working Swedish population. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 2010;64(5):453-60
Citation:
Madsen IE, Hannerz H, Nyberg ST, Magnusson Hanson LL, et al.;IPD-Work Consortium. Study protocol for examining job strain as a risk factor for severe unipolar depression in an individual participant meta-analysis of 14 European cohorts. Version 2. F1000Res. 2013 Nov 5 [revised 2014 Feb 26];2:233. doi: 10.12688/f1000research.2-233.v2. eCollection 2013.
Links:
Citation:
Bodin Danielsson C, Chungkham HS, Wulff C, Westerlund H. Office design's impact on sick leave rates. Ergonomics. 2014;57(2):139-47. doi: 10.1080/00140139.2013.871064. Epub 2014 Jan 27.
Links:
Citation:
Leineweber C, Kecklund G, Theorell T, Åkerstedt T, Alexanderson K, Westerlund H. Inflytande över arbetstiden och sjuknärvaro/sjukfrånvaro [Work-time control and sickness absence/presenteeism]. Arbetsliv & Arbetsmarknad 2013; 4. Accepted June 2013.
Citation:
Wallen MB, Hasson D, Theorell T, Canlon B, Osika W. Possibilities and limitations of the polar RS800 in measuring heart rate variability at rest. Eur J Appl Physio 2011; 112(3):1153-65. doi: 10.1007/s00421-011-2079-9.
Citation:
Hasson D, Theorell T, Bergquist J, Canlon B. Acute Stress Induces Hyperacusis in Women with High Levels of Emotional Exhaustion. PloS one 2013; 8: e52945.
Citation:
Magnusson Hanson LL, Chungkham HS, Ferrie J, Sverke M. Threats of dismissal and symptoms of major depression: a study using repeated measures in the Swedish working population. JECH, In press
Citation:
Siegrist J, Dragano N, Nyberg ST, Lunau T, et al.; 1. for the IPD-Work Consortium. Validating abbreviated measures of effort-reward imbalance on work in 15 European Cohort studies: the IPD-Work consortium. Int Arch Occup Environ Health. 2014 Apr;87(3):249-56. doi: 10.1007/s00420-013-0855-z. Epub 2013 Mar 2.
Citation:
Griep Y, Hyde M, Vantilborgh T, Bidee J, De Witte H, Pepermans R. Voluntary work and the relationship with unemployment, health, and well-being: A two-year follow-up study contrasting a materialistic and psychosocial pathway perspective. J Occup Health Psychol. 2015 Apr;20(2):190-204. doi: 10.1037/a0038342. Epub 2014 Nov 17.
Citation:
Magnusson Hanson LL, Chungkham HS, Åkerstedt T, Westerlund H. The role of sleep disturbances in the longitudinal relationship between psychosocial working conditions, measured by work demands and support, and depression. Sleep. 2014 Dec 1;37(12):1977-85. doi: 10.5665/sleep.4254.
Citation:
Heikkilä K, Nyberg ST, Fransson EI, Alfredsson L, et al.; 1. for the IPD-Work Consortium. Job strain and alcohol intake: A collaborative meta-analysis of individual-participant data from 140 000 men and women. PLoS ONE, 2012;7(7):e40101.
Citation:
Hyde M, Hanson LM, Chungkham HS, Leineweber C, Westerlund H. The impact of involuntary exit from employment in later life on the risk of major depression and being prescribed anti-depressant medication. Aging Ment Health. 2015;19(5):381-9. doi: 10.1080/13607863.2014.927821. Epub 2014 Jun 19.
Citation:
Madsen IE, Hanson LL, Rugulies R, Theorell T, Burr H, Diderichsen F, Westerlund H. Does good leadership buffer effects of high emotional demands at work on risk of antidepressant treatment? A prospective study from two Nordic countries. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2014 Aug;49(8):1209-18. doi: 10.1007/s00127-014-0836-x. Epub 2014 Feb 20.
Links:
Citation:
Stenfors CU, Marklund P, Magnusson Hanson LL, Theorell T, Nilsson LG. Subjective cognitive complaints and the role of executive cognitive functioning in the working population: a case-control study. PLoS One. 2013 Dec 26;8(12):e83351. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0083351. eCollection 2013.
Links:
Citation:
Heikkilä K, Nyberg ST, Fransson EI, Alfredsson L, et al.; for the IPD-Work Consortium. Job strain and tobacco smoking: An individual-participant data meta-analysis of 166 130 adults in 15 European studies. PLoS ONE, One. 2012;7(7):e35463.
Citation:
Nyberg A, Westerlund H, Magnusson Hanson LL, Theorell T. Managerial leadership is associated with self-reported sickness absence and sickness presenteeism among Swedish men and women. Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, 2008;36:803-311
Citation:
Odéen M, Westerlund H, Theorell T, Leineweber C, Eriksen HR, Ursin H. Expectancies, socioeconomic status, and self-rated health: Use of the simplified TOMCATS questionnaire. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 2013 Jun; 20(2):242-51. Epub ahead of print 2012 Feb 1.
Citation:
Theorell T, Hammarström A, Gustafsson PE, Magnusson Hanson L, Janlert U, Westerlund H. Job strain and depressive symptoms in men and women: a prospective study of the working population in Sweden. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2014 Jan;68(1):78-82. doi: 10.1136/jech-2012-202294. Epub 2013 Sep 19.
Links:
Citation:
Taloyan M, Aronsson G, Leineweber C, Magnusson Hanson L, Alexanderson K, Westerlund H. Sickness Presenteeism Predicts Suboptimal Self-Rated Health and Sickness Absence: A Nationally Representative Study of the Swedish Working Population. PLoS ONE 2012;7(9): e44721. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0044721
Citation:
Leineweber C, Wege N, Westerlund H, Theorell T, Wahrendorf M, Siegrist J. How valid is a short measure of effort-reward imbalance at work? A replication study from Sweden. Occup Environ Med 2010; 67 (8):526-531. Epub 2010 Jun 23, DOI: 10.1136/oem.2009.050930
Citation:
Nyberg ST, Fransson EI, Heikkilä K, Ahola K, Alfredsson L, et al.; IPD-Work Consortium. Job strain as a risk factor for type 2 diabetes: a pooled analysis of 124,808 men and women. Diabetes Care. 2014 Aug;37(8):2268-75. doi:10.2337/dc13-2936.
Links:
Citation:
Theorell T, Osika W, Leineweber C, Magnusson Hanson LL, Bojner Horwitz E, et al. Is cultural activity at work related to mental health in employees? Int Arch Occup Environ Health. 2013 Apr;86(3):281-8. doi: 10.1007/s00420-012-0762-8. Epub 2012 Mar 29.
Links:
Citation:
Leineweber C, Baltzer M, Magnusson Hanson LL, Westerlund H. Work-family conflict and health in Swedish working women and men: a 2-year prospective analysis (the SLOSH study). Eur J Public Health. 2013 Aug;23(4):710-6. doi: 10.1093/eurpub/cks064. Epub 2012 Jun 8.
Links:
Citation:
Hasson D, Theorell T, Benka Wallén M, Leineweber C, Canlon B. Stress and prevalence of hearing problems in the Swedish working population. BMC Public Health. 2011; 11: 130.
Links:
Citation:
Bodin Danielsson C, Wulff C, Westerlund H. Is perception of leadership influenced by office environment? Journal of Corporate Real Estate 2013;15(3/4):194-212.
Citation:
Magnusson Hanson LL, Westerlund H, Leineweber C, Rugulies R, Osika W, Theorell T, Bech P. The Symptom Checklist-core depression (SCL-CD6) scale: psychometric properties of a brief six item scale for the assessment of depression. Scand J Public Health. 2014 Feb;42(1):82-8. doi: 10.1177/1403494813500591. Epub 2013 Aug 27.
Links:
Citation:
Miyakawa M, Magnusson Hanson L, Theorell T, Westerlund H. Subjective social status and health measures and its predictors in Swedish men and women (the SLOSH study). Eur J Public Health. 2012;22(4):593-7. doi: 10.1093/eurpub/ckr064
Citation:
Oxenstierna G, Magnusson Hanson LL, Widmark M, Finnholm K, Stenfors C, et al. Conflicts at work: The relationship with workplace factors, work characteristics and self-rated health. Ind Health 2011;49: 501-510. Epub 2011 Jun 21.
Citation:
Oxenstierna G, Elofsson S, Gjerde M, Hanson LM, Theorell T. Workplace Bullying, Working Environment and Health. Ind Health. 2012;50(3):180-8. Epub 2012 Mar 28.
Links:
Citation:
Magnusson Hanson LL, Madsen IE, Westerlund H, Theorell T, Burr H, Rugulies R. Antidepressant use and associations with psychosocial work characteristics. A comparative study of Swedish and Danish gainfully employed. J Affect Disord. 2013 Jul;149(1-3):38-45. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2012.08.023. Epub 2012 Sep 7.
Citation:
Stenfors CU, Magnusson Hanson L, Oxenstierna G, Theorell T, Nilsson LG. Psychosocial working conditions and cognitive complaints among Swedish employees. PLoS One. 2013;8(4):e60637. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0060637. Epub 2013 Apr 1.
Links:
Citation:
Richter A, Schraml K, Leineweber C. Work-family conflict, emotional exhaustion and performance-based self-esteem: reciprocal relationships. Int Arch Occup Environ Health. 2015 Jan;88(1):103-12. doi: 10.1007/s00420-014-0941-x. Epub 2014 Mar 25.
Links:
Citation:
Kinsten A, Magnusson Hanson L, Hyde M, Oxenstierna G, Westerlund H, & Theorell T. Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health (SLOSH): a nationally representative psychosocial survey of the Swedish working population. Stockholm: Stress Research Institute, Stockholm University, 2007.
Citation:
Brenner MH, Andreeva E, Theorell T, Goldberg M, Westerlund H,Leineweber C, Hanson LL, Imbernon E, Bonnaud S. Organizational downsizing and depressive symptoms in the European recession: the experience of workers in France, Hungary, Sweden and the United kingdom. PLoS One. 2014 May 19;9(5):e97063. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0097063. eCollection 2014.
Links:
Citation:
Hanson LL, Leineweber C, Chungkham HS, Westerlund H. Work-home interference and its prospective relation to major depression and treatment with antidepressants. Scand J Work Environ Health. 2014 Jan;40(1):66-73. doi: 10.5271/sjweh.3378. Epub 2013 Aug 21.
Citation:
Åkerstedt T, Garefeldt J, Richter A, Westerlund H, Magnusson Hanson LL, Sverke M, Kecklund G. Work and sleep- a prospective study of psychosocial work factors, physical work factors and work scheduling. Accepted SLEEP.
Citation:
Leineweber C, Westerlund H, Hagberg J, Svedberg P, Alexanderson K. Sickness presence is more than an alternative to sickness absence: results from the population-based SLOSH study. Int Arch Occup Environ Health. 2012 Nov;85(8):905-14. doi: 10.1007/s00420-012-0735-y. Epub 2012 Jan 24.
Citation:
Fransson EI, Heikkilä K, Nyberg S, Zins M, Westerlund H, et al. Job Strain as a Risk Factor for Leisure-Time Physical Inactivity: An Individual-Participant Meta-analysis of up to 170,000 Men and Women. The IPD-Work Consortium. Am J Epidemiol. 2012 Dec 15;176(12):1078-89. doi: 10.1093/aje/kws336. Epub 2012 Nov 9.
Links:
Citation:
Taloyan M, Leineweber C, Hyde M, Westerlund H. Self-rated health amongst male and female employees in Sweden: a nationally representative study. Int Arch Occup Environ Health. 2014 Dec 21. [Epub ahead of print]
