Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine

  • Volume 34
  • /
  • Pages.36.1-36.12
  • /
  • 2022
  • /
  • 1225-3618(pISSN)
  • /
  • 2052-4374(eISSN)
The Korean Society of Occupational & Environmental Medicine (대한직업환경의학회)
권호 표지
DOI QR코드

DOI QR Code

Association between working evening shifts and mental health among Korean employees: data from the 5th Korean Working Conditions Survey

  • Seongchan Heo (Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Dongguk University Gyeongju Hospital) ;
  • Yunrae Cho (Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Dongguk University Gyeongju Hospital) ;
  • Man-Joong Jeon (Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Dongguk University Gyeongju Hospital)
  • Received : 2022.04.20
  • Accepted : 2022.10.03
  • Published : 2022.12.31
Download PDF
⟨ Previous Next ⟩

Abstract

Background: Many studies have been conducted to investigate the harmful effect of shift work on physical and mental health. Although, by definition, "working evening shift" is included in the scope of shift work, most related studies conducted thus far have focused on working night shifts, overtime work, or different types of shift work, with little research effort dedicated to "working evening shifts." Therefore, to fill this research gap, we investigated the effect of working evening shifts on workers' mental health. Methods: The participants of this study were 16,692 employees of the 50,205 that participated in the 5th wave of the Korean Working Conditions Survey. We performed χ2 test and logistic regression analysis to analyze the effects of independent variables on health problems and calculated odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results: In the logistic regression analysis adjusted for sociodemographic characteristics, health-related factors, and work-related characteristics, employees who worked evening shifts showed higher levels of depression and anxiety compared to those that did not. In particular, the adjusted odds ratios of the group working evening shifts between one and nine times a month were the highest with 2.723 (95% CI: 2.014-3.682) for depression, 3.294 (95% CI: 2.547-4.259) for anxiety. Conclusions: The results of our study suggest that working evening shifts has a negative effect on employees' mental health. This trend decreased with an increase in the monthly frequency of evening work.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

The authors would like to thank the Safety and Health Policy Research Department (Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute, OSHRI) for offering raw data of Korean Working Conditions Survey (KWCS). The paper's contents are solely the responsibility of the author and do not necessarily represent the official views of the OSHRI.

References

  1. Parent-Thirion A, Fernandez Macias E, Hurley J, Vermeylen G. Fourth European Working Conditions Survey. Dublin: European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions; 2007.
  2. Rivera AS, Akanbi M, O'Dwyer LC, McHugh M. Shift work and long work hours and their association with chronic health conditions: a systematic review of systematic reviews with meta-analyses. PLoS One 2020;15(4):e0231037.
  3. Messenger J. Working time and the future of work. https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---cabinet/documents/publication/wcms_649907.pdf. Updated 2018. Accessed April 12, 2022.
  4. Pega F, Nafradi B, Momen NC, Ujita Y, Streicher KN, Pruss-ustun AM, et al. Global, regional, and national burdens of ischemic heart disease and stroke attributable to exposure to long working hours for 194 countries, 2000-2016: a systematic analysis from the WHO/ILO Joint Estimates of the Work-related Burden of Disease and Injury. Environ Int 2021;154:106595.
  5. Virtanen M, Ferrie JE, Gimeno D, Vahtera J, Elovainio M, Singh-Manoux A, et al. Long working hours and sleep disturbances: the Whitehall II prospective cohort study. Sleep 2009;32(6):737-45.
  6. International Labour Organization. Night work convention. https://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:12100:0:NO:P12100_ILO_CODE:C171. Updated 1990. Accessed January 24, 2022.
  7. Hansen J. Night shift work and risk of breast cancer. Curr Environ Health Rep 2017;4(3):325-39.
  8. Lunde LK, Skare O, Mamen A, Sirnes PA, Aass HC, Ovstebo R, et al. Cardiovascular health effects of shift work with long working hours and night shifts: study protocol for a three-year prospective follow-up study on industrial workers. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2020;17(2):589.
  9. Pepin E, Gillet P, Sauvet F, Gomez-Merino D, Thaon I, Chennaoui M, et al. Shift work, night work and sleep disorders among pastry cookers and shopkeepers in France: a cross-sectional survey. BMJ Open 2018;8(5):e019098.
  10. Daley M, Morin CM, LeBlanc M, Gregoire JP, Savard J, Baillargeon L. Insomnia and its relationship to health-care utilization, work absenteeism, productivity and accidents. Sleep Med 2009;10(4):427-38.
  11. Kim KJ. Current status and tasks of the working time act. Korea Labor and Employment Relations Association. 2018;5-21.
  12. Gartner J, Rosa RR, Roach G, Kubo T, Takahashi M. Working Time Society consensus statements: Regulatory approaches to reduce risks associated with shift work-a global comparison. Ind Health 2019;57(2):245-63.
  13. Puttonen S, Harma M, Hublin C. Shift work and cardiovascular disease - pathways from circadian stress to morbidity. Scand J Work Environ Health 2010;36(2):96-108.
  14. Lee SA, Park EC, Ju YJ, Nam JY, Kim TH. Is one's usual dinner companion associated with greater odds of depression? Using data from the 2014 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Int J Soc Psychiatry 2016;62(6):560-8.
  15. Torquati L, Mielke GI, Brown WJ, Burton NW, Kolbe-Alexander TL. Shift work and poor mental health: a meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. Am J Public Health 2019;109(11):e13-20.
  16. Ulhoa MA, Marqueze EC, Kantermann T, Skene D, Moreno C. When does stress end? Evidence of a prolonged stress reaction in shiftworking truck drivers. Chronobiol Int 2011;28(9):810-8.
  17. Zhao Y, Richardson A, Poyser C, Butterworth P, Strazdins L, Leach LS. Shift work and mental health: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 2019;92(6):763-93.
  18. Barton J. Choosing to work at night: a moderating influence on individual tolerance to shift work. J Appl Psychol 1994;79(3):449-54.
  19. Sweeney E, Cui Y, Yu ZM, Dummer TJ, DeClercq V, Forbes C, et al. The association between mental health and shift work: findings from the Atlantic PATH study. Prev Med 2021;150:106697.
  20. Chae CH, Park YS. Shift work and anxiety symptoms at an electronic manufacture company: the mediating effect of vitamin D and sleep quality. J Korean Soc Occup Environ Hyg 2020;30(3):321-30.
  21. Driesen K, Jansen NW, Kant I, Mohren DC, van Amelsvoort LG. Depressed mood in the working population: associations with work schedules and working hours. Chronobiol Int 2010;27(5):1062-79.
  22. Weil ZM, Hotchkiss AK, Gatien ML, Pieke-Dahl S, Nelson RJ. Melatonin receptor (MT1) knockout mice display depression-like behaviors and deficits in sensorimotor gating. Brain Res Bull 2006;68(6):425-9.
  23. Nieuwenhuijsen K, Bruinvels D, Frings-Dresen M. Psychosocial work environment and stress-related disorders, a systematic review. Occup Med (Lond) 2010;60(4):277-86.
  24. Ganster DC, Rosen CC. Work stress and employee health: a multidisciplinary review. J Manage 2013;39(5):1085-122.
  25. Noblet A, Lamontagne AD. The role of workplace health promotion in addressing job stress. Health Promot Int 2006;21(4):346-53.
  26. Sparks K, Faragher B, Cooper CL. Well-being and occupational health in the 21st century workplace. J Occup Organ Psychol 2001;74(4):489-509.
  27. Chirico F. Job stress models for predicting burnout syndrome: a review. Ann Ist Super Sanita 2016;52(3):443-56.
  28. Coffey LC, Skipper JK Jr, Jung FD. Nurses and shift work: effects on job performance and job-related stress. J Adv Nurs 1988;13(2):245-54.
  29. Cannizzaro E, Cirrincione L, Mazzucco W, Scorciapino A, Catalano C, Ramaci T, et al. Night-time shift work and related stress responses: a study on security guards. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2020;17(2):562.
  30. Kim YM, Yi YJ. Influence of job stress and empowerment on clinical nurses' performance in small and medium hospitals. Korean J Occup Health Nurs 2012;21(3):258-65.
  31. Karimi G, Vard B, Riyahi R, Motlagh ME, Heshmat R, Kelishadi R. Association between family dinner frequency and mental health in children and adolescents; the CASPIAN-V study. Int J Food Sci Nutr 2020;71(5):628-34.
  32. Spitzer RL, Kroenke K, Williams JB. Validation and utility of a self-report version of PRIME-MD: the PHQ primary care study. Primary Care Evaluation of Mental Disorders. Patient Health Questionnaire. JAMA 1999;282(18):1737-44.
  33. Park SJ, Choi HR, Choi JH, Kim KW, Hong JP. Reliability and validity of the Korean version of the patient health Questionnaire-9. Anxiety Mood 2010;6(2):119-24.
  34. Han C, Jo SA, Kwak JH, Pae CU, Steffens D, Jo I, et al. Validation of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 Korean version in the elderly population: the Ansan Geriatric study. Compr Psychiatry 2008;49(2):218-23. 
  35. Lowe B, Decker O, Muller S, Brahler E, Schellberg D, Herzog W, et al. Validation and standardization of the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Screener (GAD-7) in the general population. Med Care 2008;46(3):266-74.
  36. Kim Y, Park Y, Cho G, Park K, Kim SH, Baik SY, et al. Screening tool for anxiety disorders: development and validation of the Korean anxiety screening assessment. Psychiatry Investig 2018;15(11):1053-63.
  37. Kunst JR, Loset GK, Hosoy D, Bjorvatn B, Moen BE, Mageroy N, et al. The relationship between shift work schedules and spillover in a sample of nurses. Int J Occup Saf Ergon 2014;20(1):139-47.
  38. Ruiz-Fernandez MD, Perez-Garcia E, Ortega-Galan AM. Ortega-GalanAM. Quality of life in nursing professionals: burnout, fatigue, and compassion satisfaction. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2020;17(4):1253.
  39. Jorgensen JT, Hansen J, Westendorp RG, Nabe-Nielsen K, Stayner LT, Simonsen MK, et al. Shift work and incidence of dementia: a Danish Nurse Cohort study. Alzheimers Dement 2020;16(9):1268-79.
  40. Jorgensen JT, Karlsen S, Stayner L, Hansen J, Andersen ZJ. Shift work and overall and cause-specific mortality in the Danish nurse cohort. Scand J Work Environ Health 2017;43(2):117-26.
  41. Lim IS, Han SW, Park JY. The effect of paid work and unpaid housework quality on depression of Korean men and women. Korean J Sociol 2012;46(2):176-202.