• Health Policy and Management
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.114-125
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• 2010

Objectives : This study investigates the determinants of contingent workers' ratio in public health centers. Since the economic crisis in 1997, there have been many studies on contingent workers in Korea. But, previous studies have been not conducted focusing on public health center. Methods : This study used 253 public health centers, installed and operated since December 31, 2008. in Korea as units of analysis. To examine the determinants of contingent workers' ratio, this study uses Pearson correlation and multiple regression analysis. Results : The following appeared as significant variable affecting contingent workers' ratio in public health centers; degree of the local government's financial independence(p<0.001), rate of increase/decrease in ages 65 and over(p<0.001), rate of increase/decrease in basic livelihood security recipients(p<0.01) and rate of increase/decrease in registered disabled persons(p<0.01). In contrast, internal organizational environment characteristics related variables were not statistically significant. Conclusions : Contingent workers' ratio in public health center is significantly affected by financial vulnerability of the local government and increase in demand of health care services.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.63-72
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• 2015

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship of occupational stress and psychosocial stress to health promotion behaviors depending on characteristics of female office workers and emotional labor workers for sales. Methods: A survey of 207 female service workers engaging in sales of cosmetics in major department stores and 149 females working in the offices of cosmetics companies was carried out using a self-administered questionnaire. Results: It showed a significant difference in job demand and insufficient job control which are sub-domains of stress. The percentage of emotional laborers exposed to a high risk of psychosocial stress was higher than office workers. In office workers, occupational stress stemmed from insufficient job control and low reward of work was significantly related to psychosocial stress. But in emotional labor workers, stress from job insecurity, and organizational system were added. The relevant factors that affect health promotion behaviors were type of occupational stress, psychosocial stress, marital status, educational level and working career. Conclusions: Occupational stress and psychosocial stress were closely associated with health promotion behaviors. It was suggested that the development of health promotion programs which reduce the stress in female office and emotional labor workers.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.354-360
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• 2001

This study was carried out to investigate the present status of nutrition services for infants in public health centers and the need for nutrition services of health workers and infants mothers. The study subjects were 146 health workers and 197 infants mothers. The results were as follows : At present, the only major nutrition services for infants were vaccination and dental care. Proper nutrition management services were available to infants. Nutrition knowledge scores were 16.8 for health workers and 15.3 for mothers out of 20 possible points. Health workers strongly demanded a well-organized nutrition education program, government support, audio-visual materials and the employment of a community nutritionist. The public health workers, in particular, demanded the development of education programs for breastfeeding and weaning. The infants mothers demanded services of nutrition information and teaching of cooking and menu planning. Based on this, the results suggest that the employment of a community nutritionist and the development of practical nutrition service programs for infants are needed very urgently for public health centers.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.438-444
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• 2023

Background: To examine the influences of psychosocial work conditions on mental health risk and intention to leave the public sector among workers of public health agencies in Taiwan. Methods: We surveyed 492 public health workers in March 2022 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Information on job demands, job control, workplace justice, experiences of workplace violence and its type and origin, and mental health status (assessed by the 5-item Brief Symptom Rating Scale, BSRS-5) was obtained. Of them, 192 participated in a follow-up survey conducted in May 2023 that assessed mental health status, employment changes, and intention to leave. Results: In the initial survey, 32.93% of participants reported poor mental health status, defined by having a score of BSRS-5 ≧ 10, and 48.17% experienced some form of workplace violence over the past year. Notably, high psychosocial job demands (OR = 3.64, 95% CI = 1.93-6.87), low workplace justice (OR = 2.58, 95% CI = 1.45-4.58), and workplace violence (OR = 2.38, 95% CI = 1.51-3.77) were significantly associated with increased risk of mental disorders. Among those who participated in the followup survey, 22.40% had persistent poor mental health, and 30.73% considered leaving or have left the public sector. Longitudinal analyses indicated that job demands predicted persistent mental disorders and intention to leave the public sector, and the experience of workplace violence added additional mental health risks. Conclusion: The public health workforce is crucial for effective and resilient public health systems. Our findings that public health workers were at high mental health risk and had a high intention to leave the job warrant attention and policy interventions.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.28 no.2 s.50
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• pp.497-510
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• 1995

This study was carried out to assess work ability of manufacturing workers and managerial workers. Subjects were 446 manufacturing workers and 278 managerial workers employed in Gumi industrial complex and the observation period was for 1 month(February to March), 1995. In this study, as a questionnaire for the assessment of work ability, we used the Work Ability Index(WAI) which was developed by Institute of Occupational Health in Finland. Major findings obtained from this study were as follows ; WAI was poor in lower economic condition, shift work, irregular diet group(p<0.05). There were no evident trends of WAS in sex, educational level, obesity index, exercise, smoking, and alcohol drinking. In the groups of sensitive to perception of stress, other industrial classification except textile and electronics, the more than 9 hours work, the evident trends of poor WAS were observed(p<0.01). In the groups of $30\sim39$ years old, $40\sim49$ years old, unmarried, high school, shift work, standard body weight, and regular .diet, WAI between manufacturing workers and managerial workers was significantly different(p<0.01) and WAI of managerial worker was worse than that of manufacturing worker.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.337-344
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• 2005

Objectives : Job insecurity, such as non-standard work, is reported to have an adverse impact on health, regardless of health behaviors. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between non-standard employment and health in Korea. Methods : We analyzed a representative weighted sample, which consisted of 2,112 men and 1,237 women, aged 15-64, from the 1998 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Non-standard employment included part-time permanent, short time temporary and daily workers. Self-reported health was used as a health indicator. Results : This study indicated that women were more likely to report poorer health than men with standard jobs. Of all employees, 20.3% were female manual workers. After adjusting for potential confounders, such as age, education, equivalent income, marital, social and self-reported economic status and health behavior factors, nonstandard employment was found to be significantly associated with poor health among female manual workers (OR, 1.86; 95% CI, 1.24 to 2.79). No significant association was found in other working groups Conclusions : Among female manual workers, nonstandard employees reported significantly poorer health compared with standard workers. This result raises concern as there are increasing numbers of non-standard workers, particularly females.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.73-83
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• 2015

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to identify the effects of sleep quality and occupational stress on health-related quality of life among a university's security workers. Methods: 128 security workers voluntarily participated in the study. The survey asked demographic, health related, job related factors, the Korean Occupational Stress Scale Short Form(KOSS-SF), sleep quality questionnaire, and 12-Short Form Health Survey version 2.0(SF-12v2). The data were analyzed by using descriptive analysis, t-test, ANOVA, multiple linear regression, and multiple logistic regression. Results: The interrupted rest time was significantly negatively related to occupational stress. The occupational stress significantly affected sleep quality. The significant variable affecting Physical Component Score(PCS) and Mental Component Score(MCS) was sleep quality and occupational stress, respectively. Conclusions: HRQOL was founded to be affected by occupational stress and sleep disorder among the security workers. Based on this study, we suggest that the management of both occupational stress and sleep quality is crucial to improve the HRQOL.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.9-16
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• 2024

Background: E-waste workers in Hong Kong are handling an unprecedented amount of e-waste, which contains various neurotoxic chemicals. However, no study has been conducted to evaluate the neurological health status of e-waste workers in Hong Kong. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of neurobehavioral alterations and to identify the vulnerable groups among Hong Kong e-waste workers. Methods: We recruited 109 Hong Kong e-waste workers from June 2021 to September 2022. Participants completed standard questionnaires and wore a GENEActiv accelerometer for seven days. Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and Questionnaire 16/18 (Q16/18) were used to assess subjective neurobehavioral alterations. The GENEActiv data generated objective sleep and circadian rhythm variables. Workers were grouped based on job designation and entity type according to the presumed hazardous level. Unconditional logistic regression models measured the associations of occupational characteristics with neurobehavioral alterations after adjusting for confounders. Results: While dismantlers/repairers and the workers in entities not funded by the government were more likely to suffer from neurotoxic symptoms in Q18 (adjusted odds ratio: 3.18 [1.18-9.39] and 2.77 [1.10-7.46], respectively), the workers from self-sustained recycling facilities also have poor performances in circadian rhythm. Results also showed that the dismantlers/repairers working in entities not funded by the government had the highest risk of neurotoxic symptoms compared to the lowest-risk group (i.e., workers in government-funded companies with other job designations). Conclusion: This timely and valuable study emphasizes the importance of improving the working conditions for high-risk e-waste workers, especially the dismantlers or repairers working in facilities not funded by the government.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.126-133
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• 2023

Objectives: This study was conducted to find out the prevalence and risk factors of anemia according to shift work. Methods: Data from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Survey (2016-2020) were used. 9,787 workers were divided into shift workers and non-shift workers. The work type between 6AM-6PM was defined as day work, and other work types were defined as shift work. A chi-square test was used to indicate the distribution of risk factors expected to affect shift work in both frequency and percentage. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to find out the relationship between anemia prevalence and shift work. Results: As a result of analysis, multiple logistic regression analysis of anemia prevalence and shift work, the OR (95% CI) of male workers on shift work was 2.186 (1.139 to 4.194) and there was a statistically significant difference. Conclusions: In conclusion, anemia in male shift workers should be considered a possibility of health problems. In the future, research based on various data collection should be conducted for research to reveal various causes or diseases of anemia in the future.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.28 no.3 s.51
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• pp.663-677
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• 1995

Special health examination institute has done periodic health examination for workers who have worked in the hazardous workplace. However, assessment on outcome in special health examination institute about detection ability of occupational disease has not been. In this circumstances, we studied on the differences of health examination outcome among special health examination institutes and identified related factors which affected outcome of special health examination in the special health examination institutes. The summary of the results were as follows. 1. 50 special health examination institutes were examined in this study. Among them, university institutes were 13 cases(26.0%), hospitals were 20 cases(40.0%), a corporation aggregates were 9 cases(18.0%) and an auxiliary organs of company were 8 cases(16.0%). There were 29(58.0%) institutes with a preventive medicine specialist, but 21 institutes(42.0%) were not. 2. Total workers examined in 50 institutes were 606,948 and workers diagnosed as occupational disease$(D_1)$ were 3,156. The rate of occupational disease was 6 workers per 1,000 examined workers. Workers needed for close observation(C) were 95,809 and the rate of workers needed for close observation was 141 per 1,000 examined workers. 3. The rate of occupational disease of university institutes was highest(11.3 per 1,000 examined workers), and followed by hospitals(6.0 per 1,000 examined workers), a corporation aggregates(4.2 per 1,000 examined workers), and an auxiliary organs of company(1.2 per 1,000 examined workers). The difference of the rate of occupational disease between university institutes and an auxiliary organs of company was statistically moderate significant(p<.1). The rate of occupational disease in special health examination institutes with establishment duration was more than 10 years was statistically higher than institutes with establishment duration was less than 10 years(p<.1). 4. The results of multiple regression, $R^2$ was 0.3394(adjusted $R^2$ was 0.2109), F-value was 2.6416(p<.05), and statistically significant variables were establishment duration(p<.01), number of examined workers per one doctor(p<.1), and auxiliary organs of company(p<.1), which dependent variable was the rate of occupational disease and independent variables were number of examined workers per one doctor, classification of institute, the rate of working environment exceeding TLV, duration of institute establishment, presence of a preventive medicine specialist.