The Effect of Job Stress in Jobholders on Propensity to Anxiety

BACKGROUND: In modern industrial society, the complexity and diversity of social structure has deeply influenced job stress, and thereby threatens mental health of jobholders more than ever. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the effect of job stress in jobholders on propensity of anxiety. METHODS: Initially, 235 jobholders living in Cheonan, Asan or Seoul, from May to June 2003, were the subjects of this questionnaire. Only 233 jobholders were evaluated due to inadequate responses from two subjects. The questionnaire was made up of three contents: socio-demographic characteristic, Extended Karasek questionnaire for evaluation of job stress, and the Korean version of Goldberg anxiety scale for evaluation of anxiety. The data were analyzed by chi-square test and multiple logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: Univariate analysis of propensity to anxiety showed a statistical significance on age, monthly income and job characteristics. Moreover, in terms of multivariate analysis, in accordance with age, 40 to 49 (OR: 6.1), showed the highest odds ratio of propensity to anxiety, followed by 30 to 39 (OR: 5.2) and 10 to 29 (OR: 5.4). In job characteristics, high strain group (OR: 3.7) showed highest odds ratio, but neither low strain group nor active group revealed any statistical significance. In monthly income, there was no statistical significance. CONCLUSION: Job stress in jobholders and propensity to anxiety was positively associated; especially, the more stress jobholders got, the higher propensity to anxiety was.

A Case of Idiopathic Hypereosinophilic Syndrome Found in Periodic Health Examination

Hypereosinophilic syndrome is a rare disease characterized by marked peripheral eosinophilia and eosinophilic infiltration of many organs such as heart, lung, central nervous system, liver and spleen. This disease is defined by following criteria. First, sustained blood eosinophilia is greater than 1,500/mm3 longer than 6 months. Second, other apparent etiologies for eosinophilia must be absent, including parasitic infestation and allergic disease. Third, patients must have signs and symptoms of organ involvement. In Korea, some cases that eosinophil infiltrated lung, liver, gastrointestinal tract or skin were reported. In this report, we found a case showing myalgia, fatigue and eosinophilia in periodic health examination, and diagnosed hypereosinophilic syndrome.