OBJECTIVES: This cross-sectional study investigated the relationship between job stress and needlestick injury the nurses at a University hospital in Incheon, Korea. METHODS: A questionnaire survey was conducted targeting 476 nurses, of which 320 (67.2%) questionnaires were returned and 256 (53.8%) were regarded as being reliable data for analyses. We estimated the relation of job stress to needlestick injury using univariate and multiple logistic regression analyses. RESULTS: One hundred sixty-five nurses (64.5%) had suffered at least one needlestick injury (included sharp injuries) during the previous year. After adjusting for potential confounders, we found that the high job control group was less likely than the other group to experience needlestick injury (OR=0.51, 95% CI=0.27-0.97). Job demand and social support, however, were unrelated to needlestick injury. The high job strain group was more likely to experience needlestick injury (OR=2.57, CI=1.13-5.83) than the low job strain group. CONCLUSIONS: Our results tend to suggest that nurses who were in the low job control or high job strain status were more likely to suffer a high rate of needlestick injury.
Cross-Sectional Studies ; Incheon ; Korea ; Logistic Models ; Needlestick Injuries* ; Questionnaires

OBJECTIVE: This study was performed to evaluate relationship of burdened work and musculoskeletal symptoms in small-to-medium sized enterprises. METHOD: After a questionnaire survey was administered to 9,950 workers in 122 workplace, 7,626 workers(76.6%) were finally selected for the study analysis. Industrial hygienists visited 122 small-to-medium sized enterprises to investigate the presence of burdened works within the workplace. The selection of jobs with significant burden was based on the Ministry of Labor's recent notification in 11 types of job description associated with musculoskeletal disorders. The subjects of this study were then divided into three categories. 1) non-burdened white collar workers, 2) non-burdened blue collar workers, and 3) burdened workers (include some VDT workers). Multiple logistic regression was used to evaluate the relationship between burdened work and musculoskeletal symptoms. RESULTS: The burdened workers reported significantly more musculoskeletal symptoms than non-burdened white collar workers and non-burdened blue collar workers(OR:1.57, 95% CI: 1.314-1.875). There was no significant difference in reports of musculoskeletal symptoms between non-burdened white and blue collar workers. CONCLUSION: To prevent or diminish musculoskeletal disorders in small-to-medium sized enterprises, we need to better manage burdened works.
Job Description ; Logistic Models ; Questionnaires

OBJECTIVES: This cross-sectional study investigated the relationship between job stress and psychosocial stress among nurses at a university hospital in Incheon, Korea. METHODS: A questionnaire survey was administered to 476 nurses, of which 320 (67.2%) questionnaires were returned and 299 (62.8%) were regarded as containing reliable data for analyses. A structured self-reported questionnaire was used to assess each respondent's sociodemographics, sleep quality, physical burden, job stress and psychosocial stress. Seven domains of occupational stress (e.g., Job demand, Insufficient job control, Interpersonal conflict, Job insecurity, Lack of reward, Organizational system and Occupational climates) according to the Korean Occupational Stress Scale (KOSS) were used and psychosocial stress was measured using Dr. Chang's PWI-SF (Psychosocial Well-being Index-Short Form). We estimated the relation of job stress to psychosocial stress using univariate and logistic regression analyses. RESULTS: The logistic regression analyses indicated that the groups with high stress in 'Insufficient job control' (OR=2.67, 95% C.I.=1.37-5.23), 'Interpersonal conflict' (OR=2.32, 95% C.I.=1.19-4.51), 'Job insecurity' (OR=2.51, 95% C.I.=1.17-5.36), 'Organizational system' (OR=2.80, 95% C.I.=1.39-5.63), and 'Lack of reward' (OR=2.98, 95% C.I.=1.55-5.74) were more likely to experience high psychosocial stress. CONCLUSIONS: Our results tend to suggest that job stress is associated with psychosocial stress. The importance of job stress should be acknowledged and stress management programs need to be instigated to minimize the psychosocial stress caused by job stress.
Cross-Sectional Studies ; Incheon ; Korea ; Logistic Models ; Questionnaires ; Reward