A Path Analysis of Musculoskeletal Disases and Related Factors in Shipbuilding Workers

조선소 근로자의 근골격계 질환과 관련 요인 간의 경로 분석

The purpose of this study was to examine the path analysis of factors related to musculoskeletal diseases of shipbuilding workers by considering related factors synthetically. The survey was completed by 1,536 shipbuilding workers and except for poor responses, 1,532 were analyzed. The survey consisted of questions about lifestyle, duration of service, physical and mental stress, and musculoskeletal diseases. The collected data was analyzed with SPSS/PC+ (a descriptive statistics program) and with AMOS 4.0 (a statistical program for path modeling) to test whether the hypothesized path model fitted the collected data. The results of the correlation analysis showed that musculoskeletal disease was associated with duration of service (r=-.095), physical stress (r=.077), and mental stress (r=.602). The results of the hypothesized path model satisfied the criteria required in relation to fitting the collected data. Musculoskeletal disease was directly affected by mental stress but not by physical stress, duration of service and life style. Thus, it is suggested that reducing mental stress is a strategy for the prevention for musculoskeletal disease.