Impact of supervisor support on work ability in an IT company.

BACKGROUND Work ability is the ability of a worker to perform his job. The authors hypothesized that supervisor support influences the work ability of workers working in an information technology company located in Tokyo. AIMS To assess whether or not support from supervisors influences work ability. METHODS Two surveys using the Brief Job Scale Questionnaire and the Work Ability Index (WAI) were conducted, one in October 2007 and the other in October 2008 on the same cohort. Two cross-sectional analyses and a 1-year longitudinal analysis were conducted using multiple regression analysis. In addition, the relationships between supervisor support and each dimension of WAI were analysed separately. RESULTS The number of participants was 1157 males. Significant relationships were observed between supervisor support and WAI scores in both survey periods after adjusting for age, job demand, job control, work group size, job rank and job type. The 2007 Supervisor support was a significant predictor of 2008 WAI that raised the possibility that supervisor support does influence WAI scores. From the analysis of each dimension of WAI, a strong relationship between supervisor support and WAI was observed for the sections of the WAI that assessed work capacity but not for the sections that assessed the personal health status of respondents. CONCLUSIONS Supervisor support is an important predictor of work ability. Supervisor support is associated with the questions of the WAI that assess not only work demands but also person's resources of the work ability model.