ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES: A growing body of research has documented that occupational stress is closely associated with increased risk of fatigue. This study was conducted in an effort to assess the relationship of occupational stress to self-perceived fatigue among Korean white collar employees. METHODS: Data were obtained from the National Study for Development and Standardization of Occupational Stress (NSDSOS Project, 2002-2004). Among them, a total of 4,502 white collar employees were recruited. A structured questionnaire was employed to evaluate the participants' sociodemographics, job-related factors, health-related behaviors, occupational stress, and self-perceived fatigue. Occupational stress and self-perceived fatigue were assessed using the Korean Occupational Stress Scale-Short form (KOSS-SF) and the Multidimensional Fatigue Scale (MFS), respectively. RESULTS: In logistic regression analyses, occupational stress was associated with an increased risk of fatigue, and some domains of occupational stress had different effects on fatigue by gender (job demand, job insecurity, and lack of reward for men, job demand, lack of reward, and discomfort in occupational climate for women), which indicates that occupational stress may perform a slightly different role in increasing the risk of fatigue by gender. CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that occupational stress is a determinant predictor of selfperceived fatigue. Thus, a stress management program for the reduction of occupational stress, and the promotion of white collar worker's health and quality of life is strongly recommended. Some limitations of this study and considerations for future studies were also discussed.
Subject(s)
Humans , Male , Climate , Fatigue , Logistic Models , Quality of Life , Surveys and Questionnaires , RewardABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: This prospective study was performed to investigate the association between occupational stress and the development of cerebrovascular and cardiovascular diseases. METHODS: A total of 8,429 employees were selected from a nationwide sample, proportional to both the Korean Standard Industrial Classification and the Korean Standard Occupational Classification. A structured self-reported questionnaire was used to access the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, health behavior and work related characteristics. 43-items of the full version of Korean Occupational Stress Scale (KOSS) were used to access the participants occupational stress. New cases of hospitalization due to cerebrovascular and cardiovascular diseases were evaluated using medical utilization files received from the National Health Insurance Corporation for the period of March 2004 to December 2005. A logistic regression analysis was performed to investigate the association between occupational stress and cerebrovascular and cardiovascular diseases. RESULTS: 43 new cases of hospitalization due to cerebrovascular and cardiovascular diseases were found. According to the results of the logistic regression analysis, job stressors were related with circulatory diseases after adjustment for gender, age, number of workers, employment type, shift work, smoking, alcohol intake, and regular exercise. Of the 8 subscales, insufficient job control (Adj. RR 2.802; 95% CI 1.038-7.564) and occupational climate (Adj. RR 2.365; 95% CI 1.087~5.143) were significantly associated with cerebrovascular and cardiovascular diseases. However, no significant relationships were found between the 6 KOSS subscales and cerebrovascular and cardiovascular diseases. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the short-term follow-up of about two years, the KOSS subscales of insufficient job control and occupational climate were significantly associated with cerebrovascular and cardiovascular diseases.