Association between job-related stress and experience of presenteeism among Korean workers stratified on the presence of depression
10.35371/aoem.2019.31.e26
- Author:
Jihyun KIM
1
;
Yeong Kwang KIM
;
Sung Ho LEEM
;
Jong Uk WON
Author Information
1. Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Severance Hospital, Yonsei University Health System, Seoul, Korea. juwon@yuhs.ac
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Presenteeism;
Job-related stress;
Job demands;
Interpersonal conflicts
- MeSH:
Atmosphere;
Depression;
Humans;
Labor Unions;
Logistic Models;
Male;
Odds Ratio;
Presenteeism
- From:Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
2019;31(1):e26-
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
BACKGROUND: Presenteeism refers to the phenomenon of working while sick. Its development can be attributed to not only somatic symptoms but also underlying social agreements and workplace atmosphere. In this study, we analyzed presenteeism among workers from various industries, focusing on job-related stress with stratification on the presence of depression. METHODS: We conducted the study with data from questionnaires filled in by different enterprises enrolled in the Federation of Korean Trade Unions. Workers' depressive symptoms were investigated using the Patient Health Questionnaire-2, while questions on job-related stress and presenteeism were derived from the short form of the Korean Occupational Stress Scale and the official Korean version of the Work-Productivity and Activity Impairment Questionnaire-General Health, respectively. Multilevel logistic analysis was conducted to determine the statistical differences derived from the differences between companies. RESULTS: In total, 930 participants (753 men and 177 women) from 59 enterprises participated in the research. We conducted multilevel logistic regression to determine the association between the variables and presenteeism, with stratification by the presence of depression. Higher job demands and higher interpersonal conflict showed significantly elevated odds ratios (ORs) in univariate models and in the multivariate multilevel model. In the final model of total population, fully adjusted by general and work-related characteristics, higher job demands (OR: 3.29, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.08–5.21) and interpersonal conflict (OR: 1.87, 95% CI: 1.29–2.71) had significantly higher ORs—a tendency that remained in participants without depression. CONCLUSIONS: This study reflected the factors associated with presenteeism among workers from various enterprises. The findings revealed that job-related stress was closely related to presenteeism in both the total population and in the population without depression. Thus, it emphasized interventions for managing job stress among workers to reduce presenteeism in general workers' population.
