More than Just Workload-Personnel's Perspective on Workload at the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee: A Qualitative Study.

OBJECTIVES: We investigated the perspective on workload within the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee, part of the Dutch armed forces. METHODS: This qualitative study follows an emergent design based on grounded theory principles and used semistructured interviews and focus groups with 91 Royal Netherlands Marechaussee employees. The interviews ( n = 31) and focus groups ( n = 14) were transcribed verbatim and analyzed by two researchers (C.B. and J.v.d.Z.) according to comparative data analysis. RESULTS: Participants believed the perception of workload to be more important than the actual workload. Furthermore, participants mentioned that indirect factors, such as organizational factors and recruitment, could modulate their workload perception. CONCLUSIONS: The perception of workload is key within the context of the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee. Modifiable factors related to the perceived workload could facilitate employee well-being without reducing the actual workload.

Royal Netherlands Marechaussee Personnel's Self-Perceived Occupational Demand Profiles: A Latent Profile Analysis Shows the "Good" Versus the "Bad".

INTRODUCTION: Research has linked high occupational demands to multiple adverse health outcomes, both physical and mental. As far as we know, researchers have not identified the profile characteristics of military police personnel based on occupational demands. The current study aims to identify profiles based on self-perceived occupational demands and work-related factors. This study is a starting point for characterizing performance and health in a military police population. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study in which we gathered survey data from 1,135 Royal Netherlands Marechaussee members. We used Latent Profile Analysis to identify profiles based on nine indicators of workload and work characteristics selected via focus groups and interviews with Royal Netherlands Marechaussee personnel. We determined if the profiles differed significantly across all indicators with an analysis of variance. Then, we used binominal logistic regression to determine the odds ratio (OR) for the indicators on profile membership. RESULTS: We discovered two profiles that were distinct across all indicators. Experience (OR = 1.02, 95% CI [1.00-1.04]), autonomy (OR = 1.18, 95% CI [1.06-1.31]), task clarity (OR = 1.49, [1.32-1.69]), and work support (OR = 2.63, 95% CI [2.26-3.09]) were all predictors for a low perceived occupational demand profile. In contrast, mental (OR = 0.18, 95% CI [0.13-0.25]) and physical (OR = 0.42, 95% CI [0.32-0.54]) fatigue, and boredom (OR = 0.14, 95% CI [0.10-0.20]) were predictors for high perceived occupational demand profiles. CONCLUSION: We established two distinct profiles that describe the characteristics reported by the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee personnel based on workload and work characteristics. High scores on autonomy, work support, and task clarity predict favorable perceived occupational demands, whereas fatigue and boredom predict unfavorable occupational demands. Remarkably, the physical workload did not predict high perceived occupational demands.

The influence of stride-length on plantar foot-pressures and joint moments.

PURPOSE: Joint moments have been acknowledged as key factors in understanding gait abnormalities. Gait velocity is further known to affect joint moments and foot pressures. Keeping gait velocity constant is thus a strategy to cancel out the influence of different preferred gait speed between groups. But even if gait velocity is controlled, individuals can choose different stride length-stride frequency combinations to cope with an imposed gait velocity. SCOPE: To understand the influence of stride frequency-stride length on joint moments and plantar pressures. METHODS: Twenty healthy young adults had to cross an 8m walkway with a walking speed of 1.3ms(-1). The wooden walkway was equipped with a force and a pressure platform. While walking speed was kept constant each participant walked with five different imposed stride lengths (SL): preferred (SL0); with a decrease of 10% (SL-10); with a decrease of 20% (SL-20); with an increase of 10% (SL+10) and with an increase of 20% (SF+20). RESULTS: Ankle and knee joint moments significantly decreased with a decrease in SL. A significant (p<.05) lower peak pressure was achieved with a decreased SL under the heel, toes and midfoot. DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION: The results showed that a change in stride lengths alters both, joint moments and foot pressures with clinically interesting indications. Redistribution of joint moments in the elderly for example might rather result from decreased SL than from age.