BACKGROUND: Worldwide, exposure to second-hand smoke (SHS) has been responsible for more than 0.6 million deaths and 10.9 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYS) lost in never smokers in 2004. The world health organization (WHO) reported smoking-related death of 58,000 per year in South Korea. There is recent emerging evidence of the associations of SHS exposure with anxiety or depression and poor mental health. Although exposure to second-hand smoke (SHS) has been associated with various physical health conditions and mental health, we are unaware of any studies examining its association with psychological well-being as mental factor. This study aimed to investigate the association between self-reported exposure to SHS and well-being among non-smoking wageworkers.  METHODS: The Third Korean Working Conditions Survey (KWCS, 2011) was conducted on a representative sample of economically active population aged 15 years or over, who were either employees or self-employed at the time of interview. In this study, after removing inconsistent data, 19,879 non-smoking wageworkers among 60,054 workers were participated. Psychological well-being was measured through the WHO-Five Well-Being Index (1998 version). Univariate and multiple logistic regression models were used to examine the association of SHS exposure with psychological well-being. RESULTS: The unadjusted OR of poor psychological well-being (OR: 1.594, 95 % CI: 1.421-1.787) was significantly higher for SHS exposure group compared to non-exposure group. Multiple logistic regression analysis results indicated that these relationships were still significant after adjusting for potential confounders (adjusted OR: 1.330, 95 % CI: 1.178-1.502). CONCLUSIONS: Exposure to SHS was associated with poor well-being measured by the WHO-5 well-being index, indicating the importance of reducing SHS exposure at the workplace for psychological well-being amongst non-smoking wageworkers.
Anxiety ; Depression ; Korea ; Logistic Models ; Mental Health ; Republic of Korea* ; Smoke* ; World Health Organization

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to investigate whether type of work is associated with anxiety and depression using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Additionally, we investigated the impact of number of working hours on anxiety and depression. METHODS: A total of 1774 workers participated and completed the HADS to determine their levels of anxiety and depression. All subjects were employed at one of two manufacturing plants for the same company. Of all participants, 222 were employed in office jobs and 1552 in manufacturing jobs. RESULTS: Results of multivariate logistic regression analysis including age, sex, body mass index, smoking status, alcohol consumption, regular exercise, factory region, and working hours, indicated that employment in an office job was associated with a 2.17-fold increase in the odds of anxiety compared to a manufacturing job (odds ratio [OR] = 2.17; 95 % confidence interval [CI], 1.24–3.80). Office jobs were also associated with a 1.94-fold increase in the odds of depression (OR = 1.94; 95 % CI, 1.34–2.82). In addition, number of hours worked was significantly associated with depression, and working hours significantly modified the effect of office job employment on the risk of depression. CONCLUSIONS: Office job workers had higher levels of anxiety and depression than those working in manufacturing jobs. Our findings suggest that occupational physicians should consider the organizational risks faced by office job employees, and consider the differences in psychological health between office and manufacturing job workers when implementing interventions.
Alcohol Drinking ; Anxiety* ; Body Mass Index ; Depression* ; Employment ; Logistic Models ; Smoke ; Smoking

BACKGROUND: 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. METHODS: 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. RESULTS: 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). CONCLUSION: 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. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40557-016-0131-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Discrimination (Psychology) ; Employment ; Female ; Humans ; Korea ; Logistic Models ; Odds Ratio ; Quality of Life ; Sleep Wake Disorders* ; Stress, Psychological

BACKGROUND: Harassment means systemic and repeated unethical acts. Research on workplace harassment have been conducted widely and the NAQ-R has been widely used for the researches. But this tool, however the limitations in revealing differended in sub-factors depending on the culture and in reflecting that unique characteristics of the Koren society. So, The workplace harassment questionnaire for Korean finace and service workers has been developed to assess the level of personal harassment at work. This study aims to develop a tool to assess the level of personal harassment at work and to test its validity and reliability while examining specific characteristics of workplace harassment against finance and service workers in Korea. METHODS: The framework of survey was established based on literature review, focused-group interview for the Korean finance and service workers. To verify its reliability, Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was calculated; and to verify its validity, items and factors of the tool were analyzed. The correlation matrix analysis was examined to verify the tool’s convergent validity and discriminant validity. Structural validity was verified by checking statistical significance in relation to the BDI-K. RESULTS: Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of this survey was 0.93, which indicates a quite high level of reliability. To verify the appropriateness of this survey tool, its construct validity was examined through factor analysis. As a result of the factor analysis, 3 factors were extracted, explaining 56.5 % of the total variance. The loading values and communalities of the 20 items were 0.85 to 0.48 and 0.71 to 0.46. The convergent validity and discriminant validity were analyzed and rate of item discriminant validity was 100 %. Finally, for the concurrent validity, We examined the relationship between the WHI-KFSW and pschosocial stress by examining the correlation with the BDI-K. The results of chi-square test and multiple logistic analysis indicated that the correlation with the BDI-K was satatisctically significant. CONCLUSION: Workplace harassment in actual workplaces were investigated based on interviews, and the statistical analysis contributed to systematizing the types of actual workplace harassment. By statistical method, we developed the questionare, 20 items of 3 categories.
Humans ; Korea ; Methods ; Reproducibility of Results*

BACKGROUND: It is thought that computer familiarity has increased significantly since 2004 as well as the use of computers. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of computer familiarity and types of keyboard and computer on the performance of the Korean computerized neurobehavioral test (KCNT), and to identify which parameters of KCNT were affected by aforementioned factors. METHODS: A total of 85 subjects were classified into three groups of computer familiarity by Korean typing speed. Their age, gender and the level of education were also collected. The parameters of KCNT included simple reaction time, choice reaction time, addition, symbol digit, and finger tapping speed. The test was conducted using three types of computers: a laptop computer, a laptop computer with a simplified keyboard, and a desktop computer with a simplified keyboard. RESULTS: Parameters including the simple reaction time, choice reaction time, addition, and symbol digit, and the finger tapping speed of non-dominant hand showed no significant differences in the results among the three groups by computer familiarity after age and educational years were controlled as covariates. The mean reaction time of the simple reaction time and the choice reaction time with a simplified keyboard was significantly shorter compared to that with a typical keyboard. With regard to type of computer, the mean reaction time of the simple reaction time and the choice reaction time was significantly reduced when performed with the desktop computer with a simplified keyboard. CONCLUSIONS: Unlike previous study results, the choice reaction time, the addition, and the finger tapping speed of dominant hand were the only parameters affected by the computer familiarity. Both the type of keyboard and the type of computer significantly influenced the simple reaction time and the choice reaction time. Therefore, it is recommended to use a desktop computer with a simplified keyboard for such parameters.
Education ; Fingers ; Hand ; Reaction Time ; Recognition (Psychology)*

BACKGROUND: This research was conducted with an aim of determining the association between employment status and self-rated health. METHODS: Using the data from the Third Korean Working Conditions Survey conducted in 2011, We included data from 34,783 respondents, excluding employers, self-employed workers, unpaid family workers, others. Self-rated health was compared according to employment status and a logistic regression analysis was performed. RESULTS: Among the 34,783 workers, the number of permanent and non-permanent workers was 27,564 (79.2 %) and 7,219 (20.8 %). The risk that the self-rated health of non-permanent workers was poor was 1.20 times higher when both socio-demographic factors, work environment and work hazards were corrected. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, perceived health was found to be worse in the non-permanent workers than permanent workers. Additional research should investigate whether other factors mediate the relationship between employment status and perceived health.
Employment* ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Surveys and Questionnaires

The rapid aging trend in South Korea will cause a growing shortage of labor and decreasing quality of the labor force. The purpose of this commentary is to recommend a health care strategy to maintain and promote the work ability of employees in an aging Korea. Strategies to promote the work ability require the collaboration of governmental agencies at the central and local levels. First, the common goal should be the reinforcement of follow-up measure in general medical examinations and the promotion of healthy lifestyles for workers. Second, collaborating activities should be performed among the Worker’s Health Center, the Health Promotion Center, and community health centers. In conclusion, health care strategies for ensuring the work ability in an aging Korea require the collaboration of governmental agencies at the central and local levels.
Aging* ; Community Health Centers ; Cooperative Behavior ; Delivery of Health Care* ; Employment ; Follow-Up Studies ; Health Promotion ; Korea* ; Life Style

BACKGROUND: Cleanroom air is extremely dry, as it is maintained within 1 % of relative humidity. Few studies have assessed the dermatologic life quality of workers in ultralow-humidity environments. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the dermatologic life quality of cleanroom workers using the Skindex-29, compared to those of non-cleanroom workers. METHODS: Study participants were 501 cleanroom workers and 157 non-cleanroom workers from a secondary battery factory, who underwent an employee health examination at a single university hospital from September 2014 to September 2015. Results of the self-administered Skindex-29, and McMonnies questionnaire were analyzed. Other information and disease history were also collected during physician's medical examination. Descriptive and multivariate logistic regression analysis were performed. RESULTS: The Skindex-29 score was significantly higher in cleanroom workers than in non-cleanroom workers for all domains, Symptom (16.0 ± 15.9 vs. 6.3 ± 10.2, p < 0.001), Emotion (11.3 ± 17.4 vs. 2.5 ± 7.4, p < 0.001), Function (5.2 ± 11.1 vs. 1.6 ± 4.0, p < 0.001), and Overall (10.8 ± 13.4 vs. 3.5 ± 6.2, p < 0.001). The Skindex-29 score of cleanroom workers was similar to that of patients with skin diseases such as psoriasis, other dermatitis, corns, alopecia etc. Among the cleanroom workers, 37 workers had one or more skin diseases. Among the risk factors, ‘working at cleanroom’, ‘possessing skin disease’ and ‘McMonnies score’ had significant strong correlations with Skindex-29 score, meanwhile age, sex, smoking, drinking and exercise had weak correlations with it.‘Working at cleanroom’ and ‘possessing skin disease’ had highest odds ratios with overall 14.0 (C.I.: 5.9–33.1) and 13.4 (C.I.: 4.5–29.2), and the lowest odds ratios with function domain 3.5(C.I.: 1.7–7.1) and 4.5(C.I.: 2.1–9.5), respectively. The McMonnies score had the highest odds ratio with overall, 6.9(C.I.: 4.5–10.8) and lowest odd ratio with emotion domain 4.2 (C.I.: 2.7–6.4). CONCLUSIONS: Dermatologic life quality among cleanroom workers in the secondary battery factory is shown to be lower than that among non-cleanroom workers in this study. The study suggests that the Skindex-29 may provide helpful information on the dermatologic life quality of cleanroom workers. Therefore, regarding evaluation of dermatologic life quality using Skindex-29, preventive care is necessary for cleanroom workers in ultralow humidity environment.
Alopecia ; Callosities ; Dermatitis ; Drinking ; Humans ; Humidity ; Logistic Models ; Occupational Health ; Odds Ratio ; Psoriasis ; Quality of Life* ; Risk Factors ; Skin ; Skin Diseases ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Zea mays

BACKGROUND: 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. METHODS: 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. RESULTS: 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. CONCLUSIONS: 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.
Aircraft* ; Airports* ; Cross-Sectional Studies* ; Disorders of Excessive Somnolence ; Noise* ; Prevalence ; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders

BACKGROUND: 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. METHODS: 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. RESULTS: 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; P for interaction <0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Our study supports that a backward rotation system is associated with poor sleep quality. Forward rotation systems should be considered to reduce sleep problems.
Female ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Male ; Odds Ratio ; Prevalence