• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.63-72
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• 1994

The purpose of this study was to estimate the industrial worker's knowledge, attitude, and practice about occupational health and to provide the basic data for the development of industrial health services. The study was undertaken from January 15 to January 30, 1993. 549 industrial workers at the Industrial Complex located in Chonbuk Province were participated in this study. The results were as follows; 1. The Knowledge, Attitude and Practice leveles of Workers about Occupational Health. The levels were measured by five point scale. The mean score of knowledge was 2. 59 point out of 4. The mean score of attitude was 2.37 point out of 4. The mean score of practice was 2. 38 point out of 4. 2. The analysis of their knowledge" attitude, and practice about general characteristics. 1) There was significant difference among different age groups. $(P{\leqq}0.0001)$ -. The group of age 25-29 was the highest value in knowledge and attitude. -. The group of age over 50 was highest value in practice. 2) There was significant difference between sexual groups in all items. -. Male workers were higher than Female workers in all items. (P=0.0000) 3) There was significant difference according to the marital status in all items. -. Married workers were higher than Single workers in all items. (P = 0.0000) 4) There was significant difference among different groups of educational level in attitude and practice. (P<0.05) The value was positivly correlated to their educational level. 5) There was significant difference among the groups of job-part in knowledge and practice. (P=0.000, P=0.031) -. Office workers were higher than Production workers in all items. 6) There was significant difference among different group of job experience in knowledge and attitude. (P=0.0000. P=0.0387) The value was positively correlated to the years length of job experience. 7) There was significant difference among the groups of different monthly income in all items. (P=0.000) The value was positively correlated to their monthly income.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.273-279
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• 2023

Objectives: Objectives of this study were: 1) to introduce industrial situation and health hazards of synthetic fiber, 2) to review a case of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in a worker exposed to synthetic fiber reported to the Korea Occupational Disease Surveillance Center, and 3) to suggest supplementary measures for the occupational health system for workers exposed to synthetic fibers. Methods: Respiratory exposure, health hazards, and exposure standards for synthetic fiber dust in Korea and other countries were reviewed. In addition, a case of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease due to exposure to nylon dust reported to the Korea Occupational Disease Surveillance Center was reviewed and summarized. Results: The worker was a 53-year-old non-smoking male who had been involved in the nylon weaving process for 26 years. He had shortness of breath from three years ago. He was diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. PM1.0, PM_2.5, and PM10 were measured at 26.6 ㎍/m³, 48.2 ㎍/m³, and 91.7 ㎍/m³, respectively. Fiber components estimated as nylon fiber were detected in the microscopic examination of a solid sample. Conclusions: For workers exposed to synthetic fiber dust, special health examinations of the respiratory system, regular work environment measurement, and work environment management through workplace health management should be performed. It is necessary to research on health effects of synthetic fibers.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.22-33
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• 1989

Rapid socio-cultural and economic changes in the country has brought with it changes in the society's value system. For a traditional society that is increasingly being exposed to modernization but where sex norms are still very restrictive, the adolescent sexual mores takes on added significance. Adolescents are caught between two opposing forces, the changing environment that allows for freer and liberal mores and the traditional society that cannot keep pace with the changing environment and therefore demands resistance to changes. This paper focuses on problems of adolescent sexuality in this country and considers the countermeasures for the existing problems. Amongst the problems are: (a) increasingly younger age of the adolescents who start sexual intercourse (b) non-use of contraception, (c) unwanted pregnancies, (d) increase in the number of induced abortion and (e) increase in the number of unwanted children and unmarried mothers. The Korean adolescent's sexual behavior seems to follow that of the developed countries. In other words, many western modes of life and sexual values seem to bave been copied in Korea and yet Korean adolescents lack in their knowledge of sex related matters such as reproductive physiology and contraception. Among middle and high school students, female students are reported to have less knowledge on sex than male students according to a 1988 survey by KIPH. Even among the unmarried famale factory workers, only 42.5 percent replied they know of the condom, and 25.1 percent and 23.1 percent said they had knowledge of spermicide and menstrual regulation respectively. However, 14.9 percent and 13.9 percent reported that they had a knowledge of the loop and female sterilization respectively according to the 1984 study by KIPH. Among the middle school students 0.8 percent said they had experience in sexual intercourse, while 7.3 percent of the high school students reported having had sexual intercourse. The sexual intercourse experience rate among the unmarried female factory workers is 37.8 percent. Among those female factory workers with sexual experience, 46.7 percent had more than one sex partners. Only 39.1 percent of male students and 18.9 percent of female students among those with sexual intercourse experience have used contraceptives. mostly condoms and oral pills 45.1 percent of female factory workers with sexual intercourse experience used contraceptives such as pills, condoms and rhythm methods. The pregnancy experience rate among the female factory workers who had experience in sexual intercourse is 29.5 percent, which is 11.1 percent among the total respondents. Out of the 102 pregnant female workers, 98 workers(96.1 percent) terminated their pregnancy by induced abortion and 2 workders(2 percent) in natural abortion, while 1 worker(1 percent) was in pregnancy and another 1 worker had normal birth that was subsequently sent to orphanage. In order to cope with the problem of adolescent sexuality, a drastic and strong policy measures should be taken by the government. The most effective countermeasure to the adolescent sexual problems appears to the education. The sex and population education in the school is very much in need. In addition, sex education program through mass media and at the job sit-should be promoted for a healthy development of adolescents' sexual behavior. Also, the existing national family planning program, which has focused on the married couples, should be extended to the unmarried people in its scope and contents of the program.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.30 no.2 s.57
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• pp.293-307
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• 1997

In Korea, sudden deaths of middle-aged and older male workers who are the responsible persons at home as well as workplace, have aroused social concern. Besides, U. N. has reported recently that mortality of Korea male in 40-50's was one of the highest among newly developed countries in 1992. Not much is, however, known about the nature of the work contributing to the mortality of different groups of workers. Therefore, this study was done to examine mortality of public servants, comprising about 5% of all the employed in Korea, according to their job titles and grades. The datas of 1753 official deaths, comprised 323 (only disease-oriented deaths) applicants of survivors' compensation, were used to examine age-adjusted Standardized Mortality Ratios(SMRs) according to their job titles, grades, tenures and cause of deaths. Controlling age and sex difference was conducted using 26,950,481 general population, 95,340 general deaths and 864,560 working public servants. All the groups were aged 20-64, who were being observed January - December in 1993, at the same time. Results and discussions are as follows. 1. SMRs standardized by general population was significantly low (SMR 44.9 CI 42.8-52.7) for all job titlses. Of public servants, 90.0% was graduated from high school, although 17.5% in general population. The distinction of social status such a education may produce a strong healthy worker effect. Besides, SMRs for different tenure groups showed a steady increase as tenure increases. This suggests that the magnitude of healthy-worker effect may be greater with increasing tenures. 2. SMRs standardized by own public servants was significantly elevated for work-men(SMR 121.0, CI 110.2-132.6) in solitue. When SMRs for different grade, of work-men was examined, 9th(SMR 124.2, CI 104.4-146.7) and 10th(SMR 137.9 CI 120.8-156.8)grade, lower grade in workmen, showed significantly elevated SMRs. Of workmen, 57.0% were graduated from high school and 50.1% in 9th grade, as well. These mean that low economic states made up social class, education may increase mortality rate. 3. Of SMRs according to all causes of death, only policemen on 'cause of death related hypertensive disease'(SMR 282.5, CI 121.6-556.7) was significantly high except for' cause of death related other signs, symptoms and ill-defined conditions'. 4. When SMRs on cause of death related hypertensive disease for different grade of policemen was examined, senior policemen(SMR 241.9), in charge of the front service, showed elevated SMR, in spite of statistical no significance. Especially, the working hour of senior policemen is quite long and also the work schedule is even more irregular for policemen. The results of this study showed that mortality for different jobs differed, and it differed also for different grades in the same job. This difference in mortality may reflect the difference in the nature of job contents, and further studies are warranted to elucidate which job characteristics are responsible.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.133-137
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• 2016

The aims of this study were to analyze the Korean fire fighters' applications for the public worker's compensation between 2011 and 2013 and to suggest a feasible solution for prevention of work-related musculoskeletal disorders. The Korean Ministry of Public Safety and Security provided the complete list of fire fighters' application from January 2011 to December 2013. 510 applicants with chief complaint of musculoskeletal disorders were screened out of all 1596 applicants. Male applicants were 92%. Fire fighters in their early 40's applied most frequently, followed by those in early 30's. Musculoskeletal disorders of fire fighters were reported most frequently in May and June. Regionally, Seoul had most applicants and Jeonbuk showed the highest prevalence. Low back was the most frequently reported body part followed by the knee. Ligament was insured most frequently followed by vertebral disc and bone. The fire fighter's injury occurred while fire extinguish (38.3%), emergency medical service (37.7%), rescue (12.4%), and other duties. Result of this study suggests further investigation on the large variation in regional prevalence and on the injury mechanism of musculoskeletal disorders especially during the fire extinguish and emergency medical service.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.115-129
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• 1999

This study was conducted to investigate the kinds of health promotion program which workers want, worker's intention for participation, proper method, time, duration and manager. A self-administered questionnaire method was used to collect data from 412 employees of 3 worksites in Chungpook and Kyungkee. This survey was carried out from Aug. 10 to Aug. 20, 1998. The results of this study are as follows: 1. In male, among health promotion programs, favorite ones were physical fitness(32.2%), periodic health check-up(24.6%), and stress management(18.0%). In female, among health promotion programs, favorite ones were periodic health check-up(26.0%), physical fitness(22.0%), and body weight control(19.5%). 2. The more young subjects are, the more they like physical fitness program, and the female like body weight control program regardless of BMI. Manufacturing worker preferred back pain prevention program to clerical worker did. In female, drinker preferred stress management program to non-drinker did. 3. The more old subjects are, the more they like back pain prevention program, and non-smoker preferred body weight control program to smoker did. 4. In health promotion program format which the subjects wanted, learning of self-examination techniques was 41.1%, worksite screening was 3l.0%, availability of pamphlets and audiovisual materials was 20.0%, presentation of worksite educational sessions was 7.9%, and the most wanted manager for the program was medical doctor and then nurse, physical trainer, psychological counselor. The favorite health promotion program duration was less than 30 minutes(49.6%), and the favorite time was before work(49.6%). 5. Among respondents, 48.5% was smokers, 81.8% was drinkers, 39.9% engaged in the regular exercise, 68.2% engaged in regular diet habit. In vaccination, 50.2%, if possible, wanted to be vaccinated and 37.6% never wanted to be vaccinated. 6. Ex-smoker, ex-drinker, the subjects in the regular exercise, and in the regular diet habit responded they were in good health. There was a significant difference between exercise and health status. Need and intention for participation of health promotion program were high in ex-smoker, ex-drinker, the subjects in the regular exercise, and in the regular diet habit. According to results for this study, if the favorite programs, exercise, periodic health check-up, stress management program, are operated at a proper time and with managers they want, this programs can really raise the participation of employees. And as employees want to learn self-examination techniques if worksite educational sessions are performed, health promotion program can effectively be operated.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.133-140
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• 2017

This study was conducted to determine the casual relationship among family support, social support, workplace spirituality, and quality of life (QOL) for middle-aged, male office workers, as well as the effects of family support, and social support on their QOL with the mediation of workplace spirituality. The participants were 288 middle-aged, male office workers, and the data were collected from 14 October to 30 November, 2016, through questionnaires. The data were analyzed with descriptive statistics and Pearson's correlations using PASW 21.0, while the AMOS 18.0 program was used for structural equation modeling (SEM), and the fitness of the final model was determined using RMSEA .05, GFI .98, AGFI .94 and NFI .96. The results of this study can be summarized as follows. There were correlations between family support, social support, workplace spirituality, and QOL for the middle-aged, male office workers. Second, family support (${\beta}=.60$, p<.001) and social support (${\beta}=.47$, p<.001) had a direct effect on their workplace spirituality. Third, family support had direct (${\beta}=.12$, p=.002) and indirect (${\beta}=.10$, p<.001), while social support also had direct (${\beta}=.12$, p<.001) and indirect (${\beta}=.08$, p<.001) effects on their QOL. The findings also suggested that workplace spirituality had a partial mediating effect between the family support, social support, and QOL of the middle-aged, male office workers.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.138-148
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• 2017

Objectives: Sleep quality is directly related to the health, quality of life and working capacity and is affected by age, gender, exercise, life habits. Gender dissimilarities in sleep quality are acknowledged. However, the gender difference in the quality of sleep in shift workers was not well known. Our aim was to study the less known gender differences in the quality of sleep of shift workers. Methods: 1,008 study subjects aged between 21 and 57 years among these, 637(525 male and 112 female workers) were daytime workers and 371(253 males and 118 female workers) were shift workers. Sleep quality was measured by self-report through the Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index(PSQI) and fatigue was measured by using the Chalder Fatigue Scale(CFS). All data was analyzed using SPSS version 19.0 program. The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of the Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute. Results: Overall, sleep quality was found to be worse in shift workers than in daytime workers and in female than in male. Fatigue in shift female workers was significantly higher than in daytime female workers and shift male workers. In Spearman correlation analysis results, fatigue were significantly associated with gender, drink habit, regular exercise, working hours and sleep quality. With group male workers as the reference, the odds ratio(OR) for having a CFS was 2.115(${\beta}$ value=0.749, p<0.01), and subjective sleep quality, sleep latency, daytime dysfunction and PSQI were 1.541(${\beta}$ value=0.432, p<0.05), 2.297(${\beta}$ value=0.831, p<0.001), 1.798(${\beta}$ value=0.587, p<0.01) and 2.224(${\beta}$ value=0.799, p<0.01), respectively. Conclusions: Shift work played an important role in lowering the quality of sleep, and the effect was more pronounced in female workers than in male workers. Sleep quality was related to fatigue, especially sleep quality, sleep duration, sleep disturbances and daytime dysfunction were significantly related. Therefore, to improve fatigue and sleep quality of shift worker, it is necessary to improve healthy habits such as regular exercise, smoking cessation, and limited drinking. In particular, it is urgent to develop and implement a regular exercise program to reduce fatigue and improve the quality of sleep in workplace.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.357-366
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• 2009

The principal objective of this study was to evaluate the association between plasma antioxidant levels and metabolic syndrome in male workers, and to provide basic information regarding the control and prevention of metabolic syndrome. We analyzed 163 male workers who had participated in annual medical examinations from January to December 2007. The subjects were classified into normal and metabolic syndrome groups according to the NCEP-ATP III criteria and the Asia-Pacific criteria for waist circumference. Anthropometric parameters, lifestyles, blood lipid profiles, and antioxidant levels were evaluated. As compared to the normal group, the metabolic syndrome group evidenced significantly higher plasma levels of $\alpha$- tocopherol(p<0.05) and retinol(p<0.05), but significantly lower plasma levels of lycopene(p<0.05) and $\beta$-carotene(p<0.05). This tendency was found to be predominantly attributable to increases in the number of metabolic syndrome components. In our simple regression analysis, higher plasma levels of $\alpha$-tocopherol($\beta$=0.001, p<0.01) and retinol($\beta$=0.021, p<0.001) were associated with significantly higher risks of metabolic syndrome, but lycopene($\beta$=-1.499, p<0.01) and $\beta$-carotene($\beta$=-0.048, p<0.01) were associated with significantly lower risks of metabolic syndrome. Retinol($\beta$=0.013, p<0.05) and $\beta$-carotene($beta$=-0.044, p<0.01) were associated significantly with metabolic syndrome, when adjusted for age and BMI. These data indicate that the plasma levels of $\alpha$-tocopherol, retinol, lycopene, and $\beta$-carotene are associated with metabolic syndrome. Specifically, low lycopene and $\beta$-carotene levels in the plasma appear to increase the risk of metabolic syndrome. Therefore, proper nutritional education programs for male workers are required to increase dietary intakes of antioxidant vitamins. Further studies will be necessary to determine whether antioxidant levels can be utilized as a predictive or a preventive factor.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.1029-1044
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• 2021

This research was conducted to investigate the prevalence of depression and convergent factors related to depression in male and female wage workers. Using data from the 2014 and 2016 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 3,763 adults (1,888 males, 1,875 females) between the ages of 19 and under 65 were analyzed. Depression was measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), and the depression (PHQ-9≥10) of all workers was 4.1% (3.2% for men, 5.0% for women). Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to evaluate the depressive factors of male and female wage workers. In male workers, work-related characteristics such as employment type and working hours per week were found to be significantly related to depression even after adjusting for socio-demographic characteristics, health-related characteristics, and life style characteristics. However, in female workers, work-related characteristics did not expose a significant relationship, showing a difference from male workers. Therefore it is necessary to develop and implement workplace counselling or mental health promotion programs that take into account the gender characteristics of depression risk factors. Also, as health-related characteristics (diagnosis of depression, suicide plan, perceived stress level, unmet medical services, self-rated health status) were found to be related to depression for both male and female workers, continuous management of these factors is required.