Association between Emotional Labor and Work Absence Due to Dental Treatment in Korean Workers
10.17135/jdhs.2024.24.4.350
- Author:
Ji-Young SON
1
;
Se-Hwan JUNG
;
Jae-In RYU
;
Dong-Hun HAN
Author Information
1. Department of Preventive and Social Dentistry, School of Dentistry, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea
- Publication Type:RESEARCH ARTICLE
- From:
Journal of Dental Hygiene Science
2024;24(4):350-358
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
Background:The prevalence of service-oriented roles in the contemporary workplace has led to an increased demand foremployees to engage in emotional labor to navigate the challenges of a service-oriented economy. This study aimed to examine the association between emotional labor and work absence due to dental treatment and assess the role of various factors between emotional labor and work absence due to dental treatment.
Methods:Four hundred and eighty-three workers participated in this survey. Work absence was an outcome variable, andemotional labor was an independent variable. Logistic regression analyses were performed to find the association between emotional labor and work absence due to dental treatment controlling for age, sex, and education. The impacts of mediators (work type, employment type, and stress) were also assessed. Furthermore, the association between emotional labor and absenteeism due to dental treatment was assessed according to the stress level.
Results:Emotional labor was associated with a 1.75 times higher risk of absenteeism due to dental treatment (95% confidenceinterval 1.04∼2.83) across adjusted models among Korean workers. The impact of stress was the highest among the mediators.Despite the non-statistical significance of the results, it was observed that elevated stress levels were correlated with increased dental absenteeism due to emotional labor.
Conclusion:The findings of this study indicate that the performance of emotional labor is associated with an increased prevalenceof absenteeism due to dental treatment. High stress levels may result in even higher rates of absenteeism among Korean workers.
