The Association between Shift Work and Health-Related Productivity Loss due to Either Sickness Absence or Reduced Performance at Work: A Cross-Sectional Study of Korea

Presenteeism and sleep duration on workdays and days off

BACKGROUND

Presenteeism refers to being present at work but experiencing reduced productivity due to health problems, and has been known to be related to sleep loss. Workers commonly sleep longer on days off than on workdays, and presenteeism may be reduced with extended sleep on days off.

AIMS

This study aimed to determine the association between sleep duration both on workdays and days off and presenteeism.

METHODS

The participants were 1967 workers who engaged in work for 5 days and rested for 2 days weekly. Sleep duration was classified into less than 6 hours (short; S), 6-8 hours (medium; M), and 9 hours or longer (long; L), for workdays and days off, respectively. Presenteeism was assessed using the World Health Organization Health and Work Performance Questionnaire.

RESULTS

On both workdays and days off, compared to medium sleep duration, short sleep duration was significantly associated with increased odds of presenteeism. The odds of presenteeism were significantly increased for S-S (odds ratio [OR] 2.17, 95% confidence interval [CI]1.40-3.37), S-M (OR 1.59, 95% CI 1.14-2.22), S-L (OR 2.71, 95% CI 1.05-7.00), and M-S (OR 6.82, 95% CI 2.71-17.17) combined sleep duration for workdays and days off, respectively, compared to an M-M (reference).

CONCLUSIONS

Sleep loss on workdays cannot be compensated for with longer sleep on days off. This study suggests that sufficient sleep duration on both workdays and days off is important for reducing presenteeism.

Indoor air quality and sick building syndrome symptoms in administrative office at public university

Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) is an illness among workers linked to time spent in a building. This study aimed to investigate the Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) and symptoms of Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) among administrative office workers. The IAQ parameters consist of ventilation performance indicators, and physical and chemical parameters were measured using specified instruments for three days during weekdays. The SBS symptoms were assessed by a questionnaire adopted from the Industry Code of Practice of Indoor Air Quality (ICOP-IAQ) 2010 among 19 employees from the office in East Coast Malaysia. Relationship between past symptoms and present symptoms which are draught (past symptoms) with feeling heavy headed (present symptoms) (r = 0.559, p < 0.05), room temperature too high (past symptoms) was highly correlated with feeling heavy headed (present symptoms) (r = 0.598, p < 0.01) and cough (present symptoms) (r = 0.596, p < 0.01). Room temperature (past symptoms) has a positive medium relationship with cough (present symptoms) (r = 0.477, p < 0.05) and scaling itching scalp or ears (present symptoms) has a relationship between stuffy bad air (r = 0.475, p < 0.05) and dry air (r = 0.536, p < 0.05). There was a significant association between RH with drowsiness (χ2 = 7.090, p = 0.049) and dizziness (χ2 = 7.090, p = 0.049). The association was found between temperature and SBS symptoms between temperature with headache (χ2 = 7.574, p = 0.051), feeling heavy-headed (χ2 = 8.090, p = 0.046), and skin rash itchiness (χ2 = 7.451, p = 0.044). Air movement also showed a positive association with symptoms of feeling heavy-headed (x2 = 8.726, p = 0.021). PM10 has positive significance with SBSS which are feeling heavy-headed (χ2 = 7.980, p = 0.023), and eyer's irritation (χ2 = 7.419, p = 0.038). The conclusion of this study showed that there were positive significant between temperature and relative humidity toward SBSS.

Comparison of the Association Between Presenteeism and Absenteeism among Replacement Workers and Paid Workers: Cross-sectional Studies and Machine Learning Techniques

Background

Replacement drivers represent a significant portion of platform labor in the Republic of Korea, often facing night shifts and the demands of emotional labor. Research on replacement drivers is limited due to their widespread nature. This study examined the levels of presenteeism and absenteeism among replacement drivers in comparison to those of paid male workers in the Republic of Korea.

Methods

This study collected data for replacement drivers and used data from the 6th Korean Working Conditions Survey for paid male workers over the age of 20 years. Propensity score matching was performed to balance the differences between paid workers and replacement drivers. Multivariable logistic regression was used to estimate the adjusted odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals for presenteeism and absenteeism by replacement drivers. Stratified analysis was conducted for age groups, educational levels, income levels, and working hours. The analysis was adjusted for variables including age, education, income, working hours, working days per week, and working duration.

Results

Among the 1,417 participants, the prevalence of presenteeism and absenteeism among replacement drivers was 53.6% (n = 210) and 51.3% (n = 201), respectively. The association of presenteeism and absenteeism (adjusted OR [95% CI] = 8.42 [6.36-11.16] and 20.80 [95% CI = 14.60-29.62], respectively) with replacement drivers being significant, with a prominent association among the young age group, high educational, and medium income levels.

Conclusion

The results demonstrated that replacement drivers were more significantly associated with presenteeism and absenteeism than paid workers. Further studies are necessary to establish a strategy to decrease the risk factors among replacement drivers.

Seeking Treatment Profile of Male Shift Workers With Hypertension and Diabetes

OBJECTIVE

This study was identified seeking treatment for hypertension and diabetes among male shift workers.

METHOD

This retrospective cohort study included nine large companies in Japan. Data were collected from health checkup, health insurance records, and self-administered questionnaires in 2017 and 2020. Data were analyzed using Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox regression.

RESULT

Person-days shift workers and day workers seeking treatment for hypertension were 41,604 and 327,301, respectively and, for diabetes, were 7326 and 60,735, respectively. The log ranks were statistically significant. Shift workers were 46% and 56% less likely to seek treatment for hypertension and diabetes, respectively, than day workers were after adjustment for age, marital status, education level, and intention to modify lifestyle (model 2) ( P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS

Male shift workers are less likely to seek treatment for hypertension and diabetes compared with day workers.

Latent Classes of Circadian Type and Presenteeism and Work-Related Flow Differences Among Clinical Nurses: A Cross-Sectional Study

OBJECTIVE

To classify the characteristics of circadian type among clinical nurses and examine their relationships with presenteeism and work-related flow.

METHODS

Using a cross-sectional design, 568 nurses were recruited through convenience sampling in January 2021 from three hospitals in Shandong Province, China. The data were collected using self-report measures, including the 11-item Circadian Type Inventory, Stanford Presenteeism Scale-6, and Work-Related Flow Inventory. Latent class analysis was performed to identify any clustering of circadian types. One-way analysis was performed to compare the differences between presenteeism and work-related flow in different circadian types.

RESULTS

Four latent classes were identified, including high response class (14.4%), high flexible class (20.1%), high languid class (51.1%), and low response class (14.4%). Regarding presenteeism, the high languid class had higher scores than others. Regarding work-related flow, the scores of high flexible class were higher than those of high languid class, while the differences in all three dimensions were statistically significant.

CONCLUSION

Although the shift work mode is not expected to change, nursing managers could use circadian type as a predictive index to select and employ individuals for shift work to enhance work performance and provide sufficient support to staff who are intolerant to shift work.

Shiftwork Is Associated with Higher Food Insecurity in U.S. Workers: Findings from a Cross-Sectional Study (NHANES)

The number of shift workers has increased substantially within the last decades to keep pace with the increasingly complex societal need for 24 h services. Shift work has been associated with unhealthy lifestyles and a lower overall diet quality. Little is known, however, with regard to food security and consumer behavior in shift workers. The present study sought to address this gap in the literature, exploring a sample of n = 4418 day workers and n = 1065 shift workers in the United States. Using cross-sectional data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES, 2007−2010), we found that shiftwork was associated with a lower amount of money spent on eating out and higher food insecurity issues. Compared to day workers, a higher proportion of shift workers reported receipt of food stamps (12.5% vs. 23.4%, p < 0.001) and worried about running out of food (3.95% vs. 8.05%, p < 0.001). These associations remained significant after adjustment for confounders when using multivariate logistic regression. The number of not-home-prepared meals did not differ between both groups. In light of the population health disparities and adverse health outcomes associated with food insecurity, novel strategies are urgently warranted to improve the situation of shift workers.

The Impact of Shift Work on Occupational Health Indicators among Professionally Active Adults: A Comparative Study

The analysis of the impact of shift work on occupational health still needs further contributions. Therefore, we developed this research with the purpose of assessing the impact of shift work on occupational health indicators, namely burnout, work-engagement, occupational self-efficacy, and mental health functioning (symptoms of depression and anxiety), by comparing workers who did shift work (44.2% of participants) with workers who did not (55.8% of participants). A total of 695 Portuguese professionally active adults between 18 and 73 years of age (M_age = 37.71; SD = 12.64) participated in this study and completed a survey containing a sociodemographic questionnaire and four occupational health measures: The Burnout Assessment Tool, The Work-Engagement questionnaire (UWES), The Occupational Self-Efficacy Questionnaire, and the BSI-18 for mental health symptoms. Results showed statistically significant differences (p < 0.05) for all indicators, demonstrating that participants who worked shifts presented lower scores of work-engagement and occupational self-efficacy, and higher scores of burnout, depression, and anxiety when compared to participants who did not work shifts. Linear regressions showed that shift work explained significant but low percentages of anxiety symptoms, low work-engagement, depression symptoms, low occupational self-efficacy, and burnout. We concluded that non-standard working hours (by shifts) are detrimental to employee occupational health, by increasing the risk of anxiety and depression levels, and burnout, and by reducing work-engagement (as a well-being indicator) and occupational self-efficacy perceptions.