The Association of Workplace Exposures on Quality of Life in Small and Medium Enterprises Workers: A Cross-Sectional Study in Four ASEAN Countries

Psychosocial Occupational Health-A Priority for Middle-Income Countries?

In response to new developments of work and employment in high-income countries (HICs), psychosocial aspects of work and health have received increased attention. In contrast, middle-income countries (MICs) are mainly concerned with severe challenges of noxious- and dangerous-material work environments, poor employment conditions, and deficient social policies, which leaves the psychosocial aspects with a marginal role, at best, in occupational health. More recently, differences between these two worlds were even aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, with economic globalisation and the growing worldwide interconnectivity, the world of work in MICs is being rapidly transformed, starting to share several concerns with the modern Western societies. In this process, psychosocial occupational health will become an increasingly pressing issue. This contribution explores the extent to which psychosocial aspects of work and health are already addressed in research originating from MICs. Using a narrative review approach, a selective focus on recent findings from two regions, Asia Pacific and Latin America, revealed an increasing interest in work stress-related problems, but a restricted impact of the respective research findings. It is hoped that future scientific developments in MICs will enrich the international state of the art in this field.

Quality of life, lifestyle, and working environment of women in the footwear industry

Introduction:

The footwear industry uses glue and other organic solvents (such as ethyl acetate, acetone, xylene, and toluene) in its manufacturing process; these substances, when associated with an inadequate working environment, can potentialize health problems and interfere with the perception of quality of life by female workers.

Objectives:

To verify the quality of life of women working in the footwear industry and its association with the self-reported morbidities of these workers, their working environment, and lifestyle habits.

Methods:

This is a cross-sectional study, with a quantitative approach, developed with 120 women shoemakers in the city of Franca, state of São Paulo. For evaluating quality of life, we used the abbreviated version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life instrument.

Results:

The most common self-reported morbidities were anxiety (65%), stress (62.5%), irritability (49.2%), sleep alterations (35.8%), fatigue (30%), and muscle cramps (30%). The physical domain presented the highest mean score (68.0), followed by the psychological (67.1) and social relationships domains (66.4). Environment was the domain with the lowest mean score (53.5). Quality of life was associated with the following self-reported morbidities: muscle cramps (p = 0.010), breathing difficulty (p = 0.029), tingling in the upper limbs (p = 0.010), decline in manual skills and work capacity, and pain (p < 0.001); the physical domain was the most affected. We observed a statistically significant difference in mean physical domain scores (p = 0.006) of women who used personal protection equipment; noise in the workplace interfered with the social relationships domain (p = 0.019), while working position interfered with the social relationships (p = 0.021) and environment (0 = 0.047) domains.

Conclusions:

The self-reported morbidities reported here and some working conditions negatively interfered with the women’s quality of life.

A longitudinal study of working hours and chronic kidney disease in healthy workers: The Kangbuk Samsung Health Study

OBJECTIVES

Long working hours are linked to an increased risk of exposure to work safety hazards that threaten the health of workers. To date, only a few cross-sectional studies regarding the relationship between working characteristics, such as over-workload and chronic kidney disease (CKD) have been reported. Therefore, in this longitudinal study, we aimed to examine the direct relationship between long working hours and the incidence of CKD.

METHODS

We included 97 856 participants without CKD in the Kangbuk Samsung Health Study. Using a self-report questionnaire, we evaluated weekly working hours, which were categorized into 35-40, 41-52, and >52 hours. CKD was defined as estimated glomerular filtration rate <60 mL/min/1.73 m2 . Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for incident CKD were estimated using Cox proportional hazards regression analyses with weekly working 35-40 hours as the reference.

RESULTS

During a median follow-up of 4.0 years, 185 participants developed incident CKD (incidence density, 4.83 per 104 person-years). Multivariable-adjusted HRs (95% CI) of incident CKD for weekly working >52 hours compared with working 35-40 hours were 1.99 (1.22-3.25). In subgroup analyses, the significant association between working >52 hours and incident CKD was consistently observed in groups of age ≥40 years, men, and obesity with no interaction.

CONCLUSIONS

Our large-scale cohort study of young- to middle-aged men and women demonstrated a significant association between long working hours and an increased risk of incident CKD.

Effect of Long Working Hours on Cardiovascular Disease in South Korean Workers: A Longitudinal Study

This study aimed to examine the association between working hours and onset of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) using a prospective study design. We used the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging (KLoSA) data from 2006 to 2016. A total of 2405 workers who were working 35 hours or more per week and who did not have CVD at baseline were analyzed. Cox proportional hazard model was used for the analysis to determine the association between working hours per week at baseline and the new onset of CVD. In addition, multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to test the relationship between average working hours throughout the entire follow-up period and the risk of CVD (N = 1134). Working above 52 hours per week at baseline was related to higher risk of CVD than working between 35 and 40 hours a week (hazard ratio [HR] = 2.08, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.60-2.70 for 52-60 hours; HR = 1.38, 95% CI = 1.05-1.81 for >60 hours). A worker's average working hours throughout the following period were also significantly associated with elevated risks of CVD (odds ratio = 4.40, 95% CI = 1.58-12.22 for >60 hours). The findings underline the need for more proactive interventions to protect the health of workers exposed to long working hours.

Work-Related Psychosocial Stress in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises: An Integrative Review

Background: Work-related psychosocial stress can cause mental and physical illnesses resulting in high costs for the individual, the economy and society. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) employ the majority of the world’s workforce and often have fewer financial and human resources compared to larger businesses. The aim of this review is to summarize current knowledge on work-related stress in SMEs according to well-established guidelines categorizing psychosocial factors at work. Methods: A systematic database search was carried out in PubMed, PsycINFO, PSYNDEX and Business Source Premiere from March to June 2019, updated in January 2020. Data of included studies were analyzed and mapped into five themes: “work content and task”, “organization of work”, “social relations”, “working environment” and “new forms of work”. Results: After full-text screening, 45 out of 116 studies were included for data extraction. Studies were very heterogeneous and of varying quality, mostly applying a cross-sectional study design. Psychosocial factors in SMEs have been researched with a focus on the work patterns “work organization” and “work content and task”. Conclusions: This review underlines the need for more and better quality research of psychosocial factors in SMEs, particularly in relation to ongoing and new challenges in the workplace, including stressors related to the process of digitalization or the development of safe working conditions during the emerge of new infectious diseases.

Alcohol use disorder and health-related quality of life in Korean night-shift workers: A cross-sectional study using the KNHANES 2007-2015 data

This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of night-shift work, and the association of night-shift work with alcohol use disorders(AUDs), as well as with health-related quality of life(HRQL), in Korean adult workers. A total of 26,895 adult workers aged 20–59 years were included in the analysis. AUDs were assessed using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test(AUDIT), and HRQL was measured by the EuroQol-5D questionnaire with five main dimensions. We found an interaction effect between gender and working status on AUDs (p = 0.0065), suggesting that women are more fragile than men in terms of the effects of night work but not regarding HRQL (p = 0.1729). Female night workers had higher risk of AUDs than female day workers (odds ratio(OR): 2.23, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.48–3.38) but this effect was not noted in male night workers (OR: 0.97, 95% CI: 0.69–1.37). Lower HRQL was found in depression dimension for night workers compared to day workers (OR: 1.37, 95% CI: 1.00–1.89), whereas day-night regular shift workers were protected from depression. Risk of AUDs and lower HRQL were identified in female night workers but not in male night workers. This association suggests that women are more fragile than men in terms of the effects of night work.