This study aimed to examine the impact of chronotype on depressive symptoms and explore the mediating effects of sleep quality, pre-sleep cognitive arousal, and social jetlag in a sample of wage earners.
A total of 3,917 waged workers were surveyed online in July 2022. Logistic regression and mediation analysis were used to assess the relationship between chronotype (morningness, intermediate, and eveningness) and depressive symptoms (Patient Health Questionnaire ≥ 5), and the mediating effects of Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and Pre-Sleep Arousal Scale (PSAS). All analyses were adjusted for age, education level, income level, marital status, coffee consumption, alcohol consumption, physical activity, occupation, employment status, and working hours to calculate odds ratios (ORs).
The chronotypes of all the participants were divided into morningness (4.7%), intermediate (93.5%), and eveningness (1.8%). Multiple logistic regression analysis showed an increased risk of depression in the eveningness chronotype (OR: 2.96; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.51, 5.86). Regarding the mediation analysis, ISI mediated 28.44% (95% CI: 16.39–40.5), PSQI for 31.25% (95% CI: 19.36, 43.15), and PSAS-Cognitive Score (PSAS-C) for 23.58% (95% CI: 10.66, 36.50) of the association between chronotype and depressive symptoms. However, social jetlag did not significantly mediate this relationship. (percentage mediated = 0.75%, 95% CI: −3.88, 5.39)
Evening chronotypes exhibit an increased risk of depressive symptoms, which ISI, PSQI, and PSAS-C partially mediated. This suggests that interventions to improve sleep quality and maintain adequate sleep habits may effectively prevent and treat depression in employees with an eveningness chronotype.
Citations
In Korea, little research has focused on the relationship between discrimination in the workplace and sleep health. Thus, this study aims to investigate the association between such discriminatory experiences and insomnia, a common sleep disorder, using Korean employees’ data.
This study used data from the 6th Korea Working Conditions Survey. Discrimination experiences due to age, ethnic background, nationality, race, sex, religion, disability, sexual orientation, educational level, hometown, and employment status were investigated. The Minimal Insomnia Symptom Scale estimated insomnia symptoms. The association between discrimination experience and insomnia symptoms were analyzed using survey-weighted logistic regression analysis.
Based on experiences of discrimination over the past 12 months, insomnia symptoms were associated with discrimination experience due to religion (odds ratio [OR]: 3.70; 95% confidential interval [CI]: 1.58–8.69), sex (OR: 2.51; 95% CI: 1.87–3.37), age (OR: 2.30; 95% CI: 1.88–2.81), hometown (OR: 2.07; 95% CI: 1.44–2.97), employment status (OR: 1.69; 95% CI: 1.37–2.10), and educational level (OR: 1.67; 95% CI: 1.31–2.14). Furthermore, the prevalence of insomnia symptoms increased with the number of discrimination experiences.
In this study, discrimination experiences due to religion, sex, age, hometown, employment status, and educational level were significantly associated with insomnia symptoms. Furthermore, as the number of discrimination experiences increased, so did the prevalence of insomnia. Preventing workplace discrimination may improve workers’ sleep health.
The current 52-hour workweek in South Korea consists of 40 hours of regular work and 12 hours of overtime. Although the average working hours in South Korea is declining, it is still 199 hours longer than the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development average of 1,716 hours per year. In view to this, the South Korean government has now proposed to reform the workweek, mainly intending to increase the workweek to 69 hours when the workload is heavy. This reform, by increasing the labor intensity due to long working hours, goes against the global trend of reducing work hours for a safe and healthy working environment. Long working hours can lead to increased cerebrovascular and cardiovascular diseases, industrial accidents, mental health problems, and safety accidents due to lack of concentration. In conclusion, the Korean government’s working hour reform plan can have a negative impact on workers’ health, and therefore it should be thoroughly reviewed and modified.
Citations
In Korea, few studies clarify insomnia and its association and absenteeism or presenteeism. Therefore, this study aims to examine the association between insomnia and absenteeism/presenteeism using the sixth Korean Working Conditions Survey.
Insomnia was evaluated by the Minimal Insomnia Symptoms Scale (MISS). Absenteeism and presenteeism were assessed by asking if the employee had experienced absence or working despite being ill for the prior 12 months at the point of the survey. Multiple logistic analyses were conducted to explore insomnia and its association with absenteeism and presenteeism.
The odds ratios of insomnia for absenteeism and presenteeism were 3.48 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.76–4.39) and 3.68 (95% CI: 3.18–4.26) in the fully adjusted model. As the MISS scores increased, absenteeism and presenteeism showed the increasing trend that odd ratios increased accordingly from the first to the fourth quartile.
This study observed that insomnia was related to both absenteeism and presenteeism among Korean employees.
Citations
Shift work that interferes with normal sleep patterns, is known to be a cause of sleep disturbance and has been studied through various occupational groups. However, it is not known which shift type is better for sleep health.
This study included 568 firefighters. Sleep quality was evaluated using Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Sleep quality was categorized into 2 groups; good quality (≤ 5 points) and poor quality (≥ 6 points). Demographic variables, depression, anxiety, type of shift, and job were collected by self-reported questionnaires. The χ2 test, t-test, and multiple logistic regression analysis were used to evaluate the effect of shift type on the sleep quality of firefighters.
Three hundred thirty-seven firefighters (59.3%) have poor sleep quality. Compared to day workers, the odds ratios (ORs) of poor sleep quality were 2.169 (95% confidence interval: 1.137–4.134) in 6-day cycle, 2.161 (1.150–4.062) in 9-day cycle, 1.805 (1.087–2.997) in 21-day cycle, and 1.485 (0.718–3.069) in 3-day cycle. The ORs of poor sleep quality were 1.697(1.021–2.823) in fire suppression and 2.325 (1.213–4.455) in emergency medical service compared to administration.
All shift work type except for the 3-day cycle was associated with poor sleep quality compared to day work.
Citations
As self-employed workers are vulnerable to health problems, this study aimed to analyze mental health problems and sleep disturbances among self-employed workers compared with paid workers in Korea.
A total of 34,750 workers (23,938 paid workers and 10,812 self-employed workers) were analyzed from the fifth Korean Working Condition Survey, which included 50,205 households collected by stratified sampling in 2017. To compare mental health problems and sleep disturbance among self-employed workers and paid workers, multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed.
The odds ratio in self-employed workers compared with paid workers was 1.25 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.09–1.42) for anxiety, 1.11 (95% CI: 1.04–1.17) for overall fatigue, 1.11 (95% CI: 1.04–1.20) for difficulty falling asleep, 1.10 (95% CI: 1.02–1.18) for difficulty maintaining sleep and 1.24 (95% CI: 1.16–1.32) for extreme fatigue after waking up.
Self-employed workers in Korea have a higher risk of self-reported mental health problems and sleep disturbances than paid workers. Further studies with a longitudinal design and structured evaluation are required to investigate the causal relationship between health problems and self-employment.
Citations
Occupational injury has been a serious social problem steadily. Sleep disturbance is a risk factor for occupational injury. However, there were few researches studied on the linking between sleep disturbance and occupational injury in general working population of Korea. Therefore, we explored the association between sleep disturbance and occupational injury among Korean workers.
This study used data from the 5th Korean Working Conditions Survey. Occupational injury was assessed by asking work related injury for 12 months prior to the point of the survey. Sleep disturbance was assessed using the Minimal Insomnia Symptoms Scale (MISS). To analyze the association between sleep disturbance and occupational injury, multiple logistic regression analysis was conducted.
The odds ratio (OR) of sleep disturbance group for occupational injury was 2.57 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.68–3.93) in the fully adjusted model. For the association between MISS score and occupational injury, it showed increasing trend that ORs increase from the 1st to the 4th quartiles. The OR of 2nd quartile was 1.10 (95% CI: 0.60–2.01), the OR of 3rd quartile was 2.27 (95% CI: 1.53–3.38) and the OR of 4th quartile was 2.80 (95% CI: 1.84–4.26).
Sleep disturbance was associated with occupational injury. In addition, increasing trend was observed between MISS score and occupational injury. These findings imply that developing of intervention programs to manage sleep disturbance and fatigue may be necessary to prevent occupational injury.
Citations
Studies have investigated the relationship between long work hours and sleep disorders; however, they have focused on shift workers or specific workers who are at high risk of industrial accidents rather than wage workers in general. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of long work hours on sleep disorders among non-shift daytime wage workers.
We conducted a secondary analysis of data from the 5th Korean Working Conditions Survey. From the 50,205 total participants, we included 26,522 non-shift daytime wage workers after excluding self-employed people, business owners, unpaid family employees, and wage workers who work nights and shifts. Sleep disorders were categorized into “difficulty in falling asleep,” “frequent waking,” and “waking up with fatigue.” Logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the influence of long work hours on sleep disorders, and the odds ratios (ORs) were calculated.
The OR of working > 52 hours per week was 1.183 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.002–1.394) for the risk of developing insomnia compared with working ≤ 40 hours per week. The OR of waking up with fatigue was 1.531 (95% CI: 1.302–1.801). Long work hours showed no significant relationship with difficulty in falling asleep or with frequent waking.
Working for extended hours was associated with increased fatigue upon waking in non-shift daytime wage workers.
Citations
Job insecurity and emotional labor are poor job-related factors that are known to cause sleep disturbances in customer service workers. This study investigates the combined effect of emotional labor and job insecurity on sleep disturbance.
This study used data from the Fifth Korean Working Condition Survey and included 15,147 paid workers who serve customers below 65 years. We re-classified into 6 groups based on whether the degree of emotional labor increased (Rarely/Sometimes/Always) or whether job insecurity (No/Yes) was present. We performed propensity score matching for several covariates and calculated odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for sleep disturbance by logistic regression models using only matched subjects.
Workers exposed to emotional labor and job insecurity had significantly higher risk for 3 dimensions of sleep disturbance (difficulty falling asleep, waking up repeatedly during the sleep, and waking up with feeling of fatigue) (OR [95% CI]: 1.44 [1.22–1.69], 1.18 [0.99–1.40], 1.52 [1.30–1.79] for emotional labor; and 2.00 [1.75–2.29], 2.20 [1.91–2.53], 1.67 [1.45–1.92] for job insecurity). Compared to those who were exposed to both emotional labor rarely and without job insecurity, when workers had both poor job factors, the OR (95% CI) for sleep disturbance for difficulty falling asleep, waking up repeatedly during the sleep, and waking up with feeling of fatigue were 3.05 (2.42–3.86), 2.89 (2.26–3.69), and 2.60 (2.06–3.29), respectively. The relative excess risk due to Interaction of job insecurity and emotional labor was significant only for difficulty falling asleep, but not the other 2 sleep disturbance dimensions.
Customer service workers suffered from severe sleep disturbances according to the existing degree of emotional labor and job insecurity. The combined effect of both could have an additive influence on serious sleep disturbance among customer service workers.
Citations
We aimed to find the relationship between sleep duration and impaired fasting glucose according to working type in non-regular workers using the 2016 and 2017 Korean National Health And Nutrition Examination (KNHANE, 7th revision).
In the 1st and 2nd year (2016, 2017) of the 7th KNHANE, 16,277 people participated. Minors were excluded because this study was intended for individuals aged 19 years and older. As this study was based on wage workers, unemployment, self-employed workers, employers, unpaid family workers, and those who have insufficient answers such as unknown or no response were excluded. Regular workers were excluded because this study was intended for non-regular workers. Finally, a total of 2,168 people were included in the survey, except those who had been diagnosed with diabetes, had a fasting blood glucose level of 126 mg/dL or higher, or taking hypoglycemic agents or receiving insulin injections. To find the relationship between sleep duration and impaired fasting glucose according to work type in non-regular workers, multiple logistic regression analysis was performed by adjusting the general and occupational characteristics after stratification according to work type. All statistical analyses were performed using the SPSS software (version 26.0; SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA).
In the case of insufficient sleep duration in irregular female workers, the odds ratio (OR) of impaired fasting glucose was statistically insignificant, but in the case of insufficient sleep duration in irregular male workers who have shift work, the odds ratio (OR) of impaired fasting glucose was significantly higher than that of sufficient sleep duration (Model 1, OR: 3.05, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.18–7.90; Model 2, OR: 2.81, 95% CI: 1.08–7.29).
Our findings demonstrate that insufficient sleep duration was associated with an increase in fasting blood glucose levels in non-regular male workers working shifts. This means that non-regular workers are in desperate need for adequate sleep and health care. We hope that our study will help improve the health of non-regular workers and more systematic and prospective follow-up studies will be conducted to further improve the health of non-regular workers.
Citations
Change in working time arrangement (WTA) can be harmful to workers' sleep and health. This study aimed to investigate the association between change in working time arrangement and sleep disturbance.
This study used data from the Fifth Korean Working Condition Survey and included 33,203 paid workers. We performed a stratified analysis by sex. After dividing the participants into 6 groups based on whether or not they experienced WTA changes, and their weekly working hours (≤40, 41–52, ≥53 hours), we calculated odds ratio (OR) using the weekly working hours ≤40 hours and with no WTA change as the reference group.
Of the 33,203 paid workers, participants who experienced change in working time arrangement had higher prevalence of all three types of sleep disturbance symptoms (difficulty in falling asleep, waking up repeatedly during sleep, and waking up with a feeling of exhaustion and fatigue) in both sexes. Compared to the reference group at 95% confidence interval (CI), the group with change in WTA showed elevated OR values of 1.91 (95% CI: 1.73–2.11), 1.93 (95% CI: 1.74–2.14), 2.47 (95% CI: 2.26–2.71) for male workers; and 1.93 (95% CI: 1.73–2.16), 2.02 (95% CI: 1.80–2.27), 2.24 (95% CI: 2.01–2.50) for female workers, for difficulty in falling asleep, waking up repeatedly during the sleep, waking up with a feeling of exhaustion, and fatigue, respectively.
Workers who experience change in work time arrangement show a high risk of sleep disturbance in both sexes.
Citations
Sleep disorders are common and serious problems for mental health. This study investigated the relationship between spouses' weekly working hours (SWWH) and sleep problems by using the data from the 5th Korean Working Conditions Survey.
Data from 14,921 wage workers were used in the 5th Korean Working Conditions Survey. General and occupational characteristics, sleep problems are included in the questionnaire. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used after adjustment for general and occupational characteristics to find the relationship between SWWH and sleep problems.
Compared to those whose spouses worked less than 40 hours per week, risk of trouble falling asleep, waking up repeatedly while sleeping, and waking up with a feeling of exhaustion and fatigue was significantly higher as SWWH increase among those whose spouses worked 53 or more hours per week (odds ratio [OR]: 1.40, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.16–1.70; OR: 1.50, 95% CI: 1.23–1.82; OR: 1.51, 95% CI: 1.24–1.83).
SWWH were related to sleep problems among Korean wage workers.
Citations
There have been no health-related studies of pre-employed firefighters without firefighter-specific job-related factors (FSJRF). This study aimed to evaluate the sleep quality of pre-employed firefighters and to examine the relationship between sleep quality and psychosocial factors.
We conducted a self-report questionnaire survey for 602 pre-employed firefighters at 3 Fire Service Academies after brief lecture about sleep. Sleep quality and psychosocial variables such as depression, anxiety, stress and social support were evaluated. The independent 2 sample t-test, χ2 test and multiple logistic regression analysis were used to evaluate the effect of the variables on the sleep quality of pre-employed firefighters.
Among a total of 602 people, 347 (57.6%) had good sleep quality and 255 (42.4%) had poor sleep quality. Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index score of them was 3.29 ± 1.41) and 7.87 ± 2.20), respectively. 24 (4.0%) were evaluated to have insomnia by Insomnia Severity Index. Logistic regression analyses showed that the depression (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 5.940, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 3.124–11.292), anxiety (aOR: 4.233, 95% CI: 2.138–8.381), stress (aOR: 2.880, 95% CI: 1.915–4.330) and social support (aOR: 0.959, 95% CI: 0.939–0.980) have a significant effect on sleep quality after adjusted by sex, age, smoking status, drinking status, caffeine intake, past shift working and circadian rhythm type.
Depression, anxiety, stress and social support were associated with sleep quality among pre-employed firefighters. Repeated follow-up studies of pre-employed firefighters are needed to further assess their change of sleep quality and identify the FSJRF that may affect the sleep quality of firefighters.
Citations
The number of workers in non-standard employment (NSE) is increasing due to industrial change and technological development. Dependent self-employment (DSE), a type of NSE, was created decades ago. Despite the problems associated with this new type of employment, few studies have been conducted on the effects by DSE on health, especially sleep quality. This study aims to determine the relationship between DSE and sleep quality.
This study analyzed data of 50,250 wage workers from the fifth Korean Working Conditions Survey. Workers that did not respond or refused to answer any questions related to variables were excluded, and finally 36,709 participants were included in this study. A total of 2,287 workers (6.2%) were compared with non-DSE (34,422; 93.8%) workers, and multiple logistic regression analyses were applied.
DSE status had a significant association with difficulty falling asleep (odds ratio [OR]: 1.331, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.178–1.504), difficulty maintaining sleep (OR: 1.279; 95% CI: 1.125–1.455), and extreme fatigue after waking up (OR: 1.331; 95% CI: 1.184–1.496). A multiple logistic regression of the variables for sleep quality in DSE showed a significant association with exposure to physical factors for all types of poor sleep quality as well as shift work for difficulty maintaining sleep with extreme fatigue after waking up. Long working hours and emotional labor were also associated with extreme fatigue after waking up.
This study shows a significant association between DSE and poor sleep quality, especially when workers were exposed to physical risk factors (noise, vibration, abnormal temperature, etc.) and shift work.
Citations
This study was conducted to identify the sleep status of daytime workers who do not work in shifts. This study analyzed factors affecting sleep duration and sleep quality.
This study was conducted on 1171 daytime workers at a manufacturing workshop. We used a self-administered questionnaire to investigate demographic variables, work type, working period, musculoskeletal symptoms and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index to assess sleep. Regular health checkup was conducted for the worker’s clinical examination.
The mean sleep duration was 6.36 h and the mean score on the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index was 4.46. Work type and obesity were related to sleep duration. Age, obesity and musculoskeletal pain were significantly related to sleep quality. The prevalence ratio of researcher group for short sleep duration was 1.27 (95% confidence interval: 1.02–1.58). The prevalence ratio of those aged 50 years and over was 0.47 (0.25–0.91) and of those in their 40s was 0.56 (0.35–0.91) for poor sleep quality compared to those in their 20s. The prevalence ratio of the obesity group for poor sleep quality was 1.53 (1.10–2.12). The prevalence ratio of musculoskeletal pain group for poor sleep quality was 1.92 (1.29–2.84).
Age, obesity and musculoskeletal pain were factors affecting the poor quality on sleep of daytime workers. In addition, work type related to short sleep duration.
Citations
Korean teacher’s working conditions are deteriorating. There is concern about the deterioration of teachers’ health and voice disorder is one of the most common problems. Teacher’s vocal health is important for them and their students. The aim of the present study was to investigate working conditions that may affect voice disorders.
In all, 79 primary and secondary schools were randomly selected for a nationwide school system survey (
Teachers who reported voice symptoms more than once a week (fVD) made up 11.6%. In a multiple logistic regression, fVD was significantly associated with female, difficulty in applying for sick leave as needed, music teachers (primary school), and less than 6 h of sleep per day (primary school). The aOR for fVD was 2.72 (0.83–8.10) in the longest working hours group (> 52 h/wk) among the primary school teachers, and 1.90 (0.80–4.73) in the longest class hour group (≥ 20 h/wk), 1.52 (0.90–2.62) in homeroom teachers among the secondary school teachers, but not statistically significant.
Korean teachers’ working conditions are associated with fVDs. The school health system must take steps to prevent and treat voice disorders of teachers.
Citations
Numerous studies have shown that healthcare professionals are exposed to psychological distress. However, since most of these studies assessed psychological distress using self-reporting questionnaires, the magnitude of the problem is largely unknown. We evaluated the risks of mood disorders, anxiety disorders, sleep disorders, and any psychiatric disorders in workers in healthcare industry using Korea National Health Insurance (NHI) claims data from 2014, which are based on actual diagnoses instead of self-evaluation.
We used Korea 2014 NHI claims data and classified employees as workers in the healthcare industry, based on companies in the NHI database that were registered with hospitals, clinics, public healthcare, and other medical services. To estimate the standardized prevalence of the selected mental health disorders, we calculated the prevalence of diseases in each age group and sex using the age distribution of the Korea population. To compare the risk of selected mental disorders among workers in the healthcare industry with those in other industries, we considered age, sex, and income quartile characteristics and conducted propensity scored matching.
In the matching study, workers in healthcare industry had higher odds ratios for mood disorders (1.13, 95% CI: 1.11–1.15), anxiety disorders (1.15, 95% CI: 1.13–1.17), sleep disorders (2.21, 95% CI: 2.18–2.24), and any psychiatric disorders (1.44, 95% CI: 1.43–1.46) than the reference group did. Among workers in healthcare industry, females had higher prevalence of psychiatric disorders than males, but the odds ratios for psychiatric disorders, compared to the reference group, were higher in male workers in healthcare industry than in females.
The prevalence of mood disorders, anxiety disorders, sleep disorders, and all psychiatric disorders for workers in the healthcare industry was higher than that of other Korean workers. The strikingly high prevalence of sleep disorders could be related to the frequent night-shifts in these professions. The high prevalence of mental health problems among workers in healthcare industry is alarming and requires prompt action to protect the health of the “protectors.”
Citations
Obstetrics Healthcare Providers’ Mental Health and Quality of Life During COVID-19 Pandemic: Multicenter Study from Eight Cities in Iran
This study was conducted to analyze the distribution of the psychosocial well-being index among adults living in two rural communities in Korea and to examine its correlation with lifestyle variables such as sleep duration, regular exercise, and sedentary time.
Using the cohort data of the Atherosclerosis Risk of a Rural Area Korean General Population, this study examined 3631 participants living in Wonju and Pyeongchang in Gangwon Province; their preliminary data were established from 2005 to 2007 while their follow-up data were collected 3 years later. This study investigated demographic characteristics, lifestyle habits, disease history, Psychosocial Well-being Index-Short Form (PWI-SF) scores, sleep duration, regular exercise, and sedentary time during work. Using repeated measures ANOVA, this study examined how the variables and PWI-SF scores changed over the course of 3 years and identified the correlation between them based on mixed model analysis. Afterwards, using the generalized estimation equation, this study identified each variable’s risk towards the PWI-SF high-risk group and performed a stratified analysis by occupation after dividing the participants into farmers and non-farmers.
The PWI-SF high-risk group was found to be 18.9% of the participants from preliminary data and 15.5% from follow-up data. The odds ratio towards the PWI-SF high-risk group was 1.503 (95% CI 1.241–1.821) in the short sleep duration group and 1.327 (95% CI 1.136–1.550) in the non-regular exercise group. A stratified analysis by occupation showed that middle and long sedentary time in the white-collar group increased the risk toward the PWI-SF high-risk group.
Short sleep duration, no regular exercise, and long sedentary time in the white-collar group were identified as risk factors toward the PWI-SF high-risk group in the rural communities, and policy interventions are needed to address this issue.
Citations
Sleep disorders and depression/anxiety disorders are long-standing and significant problem for mental health. Also there are already known so many negative health effect of these disorders. But there were few studies to examine the association between activities outside work and forementioned disorders. So this study aimed the association of those things by using the Republic of Korean data.
Data from 32,232 wage workers were used in the 4th Korean Working Condition Survey. General and occupational characteristics, sleep disorders, depression/anxiety disorders and activities outside work are included in questionnaire. To find the relationship between activities outside work and sleep, depression/anxiety disorders, multivariate logistic regression analysis was used after adjusting for general and occupational characteristics.
We observed that volunteer activities increased the odds ratio of both sleep disorders and depression/anxiety disorders(Odds ratio[OR] = 1.35, 95% confidence interval[CI]: 1.03–1.78 and OR = 1.54, 95% CI: 1.29–1.84, respectively). And self-development activities increase the odds ratio of sleep disorders(OR = 1.35, 95% CI: 1.17–1.57). Gardening activities lowered the odds ratio of depression/anxiety disorders(OR = 0.74, 95% CI: 0.59–0.94).
Some of activities outside work were related to sleep disorders and depression/anxiety disorders among Korean wage workers. Our results showed negative health effect of some kinds of activities outside work such as volunteering and self-devlopment compared to other studies that emphasized positive effect of those activities for health.
Citations
Sleepiness while driving has been regarded as a major cause of death due to traffic accidents. We compared the degree of sleepiness across five different working time periods (first, morning, post-lunch, afternoon, and last) among Korean bus drivers with different shift types (Daily two shift/Alternating day shift).
We interviewed 332 bus drivers with two shift types (Daily two shift, 128; Alternating day shift, 204). The questionnaire included demographic information (age, alcohol consumption and history of disease), a sleep disorder diagnosed by a doctor, job duration, the number of workdays in the past month, average working hours per workday and week, sleepiness while driving (Karolinska Sleepiness Scale), and sleeping time for both workdays and off-days. We conducted log-binomial regression analyses and produced prevalence ratios (PRs) of severe sleepiness (KSS ≥ 7) while driving with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) to identify the difference in sleepiness for five working times between both groups.
For the first and morning periods, there were no statistically significant differences in the KSS scores between the two groups. However, from lunch to last driving, drivers with Alternating day shift had a much larger proportion of severe sleepiness than those on Daily two shift. Thirteen (10.2%), 2 (1.6%) and 7 (5.5%) Daily two shift workers reported severe sleepiness in the post-lunch, afternoon and last periods. In contrast, 81 (39.7%), 63 (30.9%) and 64 (31.4%) of Alternating day shift drivers experienced severe sleepiness during the post-lunch, afternoon and last driving periods (
We found that Alternating day shift bus drivers suffered from more sleepiness while driving from lunch to last driving than Daily two shift bus drivers. This difference may be because Alternating day shift drivers had more irregular work schedules and longer working hours per day and week.
Citations
The aim of this study was to investigate the association between insomnia and hearing impairment among workers exposed to occupational noise.
This study included 809 male workers exposed to occupational noise. The participants underwent audiometric testing, and their insomnia was examined based on the Insomnia Severity Index test. Hearing impairment was defined as hearing threshold >25 dB hearing level in the range of 1–4 kHz.
According to analysis of covariance, it was observed that pure tone audiometry thresholds at 1–2 kHz in the right ear and at 1 kHz in the left ear were significantly higher among workers with insomnia compared to those with no insomnia. Multiple logistic regression analysis of insomnia for hearing impairments was performed, which showed the odds ratio was 1.806 (95% confidence intervals: 1.022–3.188,
Insomnia could be associated with hearing impairment in workers who are exposed to occupational noise. Additionally, insomnia may be associated with decreased hearing at low frequencies. Especially, more efforts are required to improve the quality of sleep for workers who are exposed to loud occupational noise. Further well- designed prospective studies are needed to clarify the relationship between insomnia and hearing impairment.
Citations
Although recent studies have investigated the influence of vitamin D on sleep patterns, there is a lack of research on the relationship between vitamin D and sleep patterns in Korean workers. This study focused on the relationship between serum vitamin D levels and sleep in fixed day indoor field workers in the electronics manufacturing industry in Korea.
The 1472 subjects who were included in this study were selected from fixed day workers in the electronics manufacturing industry who had received a worker’s special health examination at a hospital in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province between January 2015 and December 2015. Nighttime workers and those who showed symptoms of depression were excluded from this study. The sociodemographic and lifestyle variables of the participants were investigated, including age, sex, marital status, level of education, body mass index, smoking habits, alcohol consumption habits, and regular exercise. Work-related factors were evaluated, such as employee tenure and occupational stress. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D was measured as an indicator of vitamin D levels, and quality of sleep was evaluated using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) translated into Korean.
The subjects had a mean serum vitamin D level of 13.70 ± 5.93 ng/mL. Vitamin D deficiency, defined as a serum vitamin D level of <10 ng/mL, was found in 24.8% of males and significantly more frequently in females (47.6%). Poor sleep quality was reported by 19.8% of participants with serum vitamin D levels ≥10 ng/mL and by 21.7% of those with serum vitamin D levels <10 ng/mL, which was a significant difference (
This study investigated serum vitamin D levels in fixed day indoor field workers in the manufacturing industry in Korea and analyzed the relationship of vitamin D deficiency with sleep quality. A significant correlation was found between serum vitamin D deficiency and poor sleep quality. Based on the results of this study, sleep disorder management for workers can be improved by providing regular examinations checking their serum vitamin D levels and supplying vitamin D to workers with serum vitamin D deficiency to enhance their quality of sleep.
Citations
The present study analyzed relationship of workplace violence and perpetrators of violence on sleep disturbance among wage workers in Korea.
The present study used data from the 4th Korean Working Conditions Survey (KWCS) of 2014 in selecting a total of 25,138wage workers as the study population, which excluded those who failed or refused to respond to questions required for the present study. The workplace violence experience group included people who satisfied at least one of six relevant criteria (verbal abuse, unwanted sexual attention, threatening or humiliating behavior, physical violence, bullying/harassment, and sexual harassment) and the group was divided according to whether the perpetrator of violence was a client or colleague. Presence of sleep disturbance was determined based on subjective symptoms felt within the past 12 months by each individual. A multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the effects on sleep distance according to general, occupational, and psychosocial characteristics, as well as the types of workplace violence and perpetrators of violence.
Workplace violence was found as a factor affecting sleep disturbance (OR = 3.773, 95 % CI = 3.058–4.655), and with respect to perpetrators of violence, complaint of sleep disturbance symptoms was higher when the perpetrator was a colleague or boss (OR = 5.688, 95 % CI 4.189–7.723) than a client (OR = 2.992, 95 % CI 2.301–3.890).
Workplace violence had an effect on occurrence of sleep disturbance and when the perpetrators of violence was a boss or colleague at work, the risk for symptoms such as sleep disturbance increased, which indicated the need for appropriate intervention from a workplace healthcare perspective, including preventive education of workplace violence among employees.
Citations
Sleep disorder is a disease that causes reduction in quality of life and work efficiency of workers. This study was performed to investigate the relationship between job-related stress factor and sleep disorder among wageworkers in Korea.
This study was based on analysis of the 3rd Korean working conditions survey. We analyzed 35,902 workers whose employment status is wageworker. We classified the job-related stress factor into 12 sections. Logistic regression was performed to estimate the relationship between job-related stress factor and sleep disorder and Odds ratio and 95 % CI were calculated using the SPSS version 23.0 program.
Many categories of Job-related stress factor were correlated with sleep disorder (8 of 12 for women, 10 of 12 for men). The results of the regression analysis, corrected for general and occupational characteristics, indicated that sleep disorder was significantly correlated with the following categories of job-related stress: discrimination experience (OR 3.37, 95 % CI = 2.49 ~ 4.56 in women, OR 1.96, 95 % CI = 1.53 ~ 2.51 in men), direct customer confrontation (OR 2.72, 95 % CI = 1.91 ~ 3.86 in women, OR 1.99, 95 % CI = 1.45 ~ 2.72 in men), emotional stress (OR 2.01, 95 % CI = 1.30 ~ 3.09 in men), work dissatisfaction (detailed) (OR 1.99, 95 % CI = 1.36 ~ 2.93 in men), work dissatisfaction (overall) (OR 2.30, 95 % CI = 1.66 ~ 3.20 in women, OR 2.40, 95 % CI = 1.88 ~ 3.08 in men), expression of opinion difficulty (OR 0.66, 95 % CI = 0.48 ~ 0.92 in women, OR 0.57, 95 % CI = 0.45 ~ 0.73 in men).
A number of studies have reported that stress affects sleep disorder. In this study, many factors suspected to increase the risk of sleep disorder were added to previously known job stress factors. In particular, this study found a strong correlation between work-associated sleep disorder and relational and organizational job stress factors. Sleep disorder may lead to large decreases in workers’ quality of life and work efficiency. Awareness and interventions are therefore required to reduce workplace stress; additional research of this topic is also required.
The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40557-016-0131-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Citations
Previous studies have reported the effects of direction of shift rotation on sleep, however, the findings are inconsistent. In this study, we investigated sleep quality related to direction of shift rotation using large-scale data from shiftwork-specific health examinations of electronics workers.
This study included 4750 electronics workers working in a rotating 3-shift system who completed a medical examination for shift workers survey from January 1 to December 31, 2014, at a general hospital. The subjects were categorized into one of two groups according to direction of shift rotation. We compared sleep quality index between the subjects who worked in forward rotation and backward rotation systems.
Backward rotation was positively associated with prevalence of poor sleep quality. In the multivariable-adjusted model, when comparing backward rotation to forward rotation, the odds ratio (OR) with 95 % confidence interval (95 % CI) for poor sleep quality was 1.95 (1.58–2.41). After stratifying by gender, the ORs (95 % CIs) for poor sleep quality in male and female was 1.92 (1.47–2.49) and 2.13 (1.47–3.08), respectively. In subgroup analyses, backward rotation was significantly associated with poor sleep quality in workers ≥30 years of age compared with workers <30 years of age (adjusted OR 2.60 vs. 1.89, respectively;
Our study supports that a backward rotation system is associated with poor sleep quality. Forward rotation systems should be considered to reduce sleep problems.
Citations
Aircraft noise is a major environmental noise problem. This study was conducted in order to investigate the relationship between sleep disturbance and exposure to aircraft noise on the residents who are living near an airport.
There were 3308 residents (1403 in the high exposure group, 1428 in the low exposure group, and 477 in the non-exposure group) selected as the subjects for this study. The Insomnia severity Index (ISI) and Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) questionnaires were used to evaluate sleep disturbance.
The mean ISI and ESS scores were 6.9 ± 6.4 and 5.5 ± 3.7, respectively, and the average scores were significantly greater in the aircraft noise exposure group, as compared to the non-exposure group. The percentage of the abnormal subjects, which were classified according to the results of the ISI and ESS, was also significantly greater in the noise exposure group, as compared to the control group. The odd ratios for insomnia and daytime hypersomnia were approximately 3 times higher in the noise exposure group, as compared to the control group.
The prevalence of insomnia and daytime hypersomnia was higher in the aircraft noise exposure group, as compared to the control group. Further study is deemed necessary in order to clarify the causal relationship.
Citations
The aim of this study was to investigate factors associated with sleep disorders in male firefighters working in a metropolitan city in South Korea.
Self-administered questionnaires including the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire, Korean Occupational Stress Scale-Short Form, Psychosocial Well-Being Index-Short Form, Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index, and Beck-Depression Inventory-2 as well as surveys collecting socio-demographic characteristics and work-related factors were given to 730 male firefighters. After exclusion for missing data, 657 male firefighters were included, and logistic regression analysis adjusted for the work-related factors, psychosocial factors, and general risk factors were used to assess the relationship between sleep disorders and associated factors.
The prevalence of sleep disorders was 48.7%. Shift work (adjusted OR 1.58, 95% CI = 1.02-2.45), musculoskeletal symptoms (adjusted OR 2.89, 95% CI = 2.02-4.14), and depression (adjusted OR 7.04 95% CI = 4.03-12.30) were associated with sleep disorders.
Musculoskeletal symptoms, shift work, and depression are associated with sleep disorders. Integrated health management is needed to promote good sleep quality among firefighters.
Citations