A criterion oriented validation study of the OSI outcome measures on a sample of health service employees

The Occupational Stress Indicator (OSI) was used on 1042 employees of a district health authority in the North West of England. They consisted of 524 nurses, 61 junior doctors, 144 staff of professions allied to medicine, 62 scientific and technical staff, 26 catering staff, 38 maintenance staff, 12 general managers and 48 of unknown occupation. There were highly significant positive correlations between mental and physical ill‐health and self‐reported sickness absence, and a highly significant inverse correlation between job satisfaction and sickness absence.