Multidimensional sleep quality of dependent self-employment workers

Teleworking Is Significantly Associated with Anxiety Symptoms and Sleep Disturbances among Paid Workers in the COVID-19 Era

Due to social distancing during COVID-19, teleworking has spread in Korea. Accordingly, the effects of teleworking on physical and mental health have emerged. We aim to determine the association between teleworking and mental health, including anxiety symptoms and sleep disturbance, in paid workers. The data of paid workers from the Sixth Korean Working Conditions Survey, collected between October 2020 and April 2021, were analyzed. Gender stratification analysis and propensity score matching were performed for variables relevant to sociodemographic and occupational characteristics. Adjusted odds ratios (AORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for each sex were analyzed using multivariable logistic regression, adjusting for sociodemographic and occupational characteristics. Among 28,633 participants, analyses were performed for anxiety symptoms (teleworkers vs. non-teleworkers; men: 12.1% vs. 4.9%; women: 13.5% vs. 5.3%) and sleep disturbance (men: 33.6% vs. 21.3%; women: 39.7% vs. 25.3%). In male teleworkers, the AORs for anxiety symptoms and sleep disturbance were 1.86 (95% CI: 1.14-3.04) and 1.52 (95% CI: 1.10-2.11), respectively. In female teleworkers, the AORs for anxiety symptoms and sleep disturbance were 1.66 (95% CI: 1.13-2.43) and 1.65 (95% CI: 1.28-2.14), respectively. Our results emphasize the importance of mental health and the need for continuous education and care for teleworkers, given the rapid increase in teleworking.

Association between physical risk factors and sleep disturbance among workers in Korea: The 5th Korean Working Conditions Survey

OBJECTIVE

Sleep disturbance is associated with negative effects to workers' health and productivity; hence, it is important to find which population of workers are associated with sleep disturbance. This study aimed to investigate the association between physical risk factors (vibration, noise, high, and low temperatures) and sleep disturbance in the Korean working population.

METHODS

We analyzed data on 29,213 paid workers from the 5th Korean Working Conditions Survey. Individual and occupational characteristics, physical risk factors exposure, and sleep disturbance were collected using self-reported questionnaires. To assess the association between physical risk factors and sleep disturbance, the chi-square test and multivariable logistic regression models were conducted. All statistical analyses were performed in sex-based subgroups.

RESULTS

We observed that all physical risk factors are associated with sleep disturbance. The adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence interval [CI]) of severe exposure to vibration, noise, high and low temperature were 1.69 (CI:1.47-1.94), 2.52 (CI:2.17-2.92), 3.09 (CI:2.69-3.56), and 1.96 (CI:1.68-2.28) in male workers and 2.27 (CI:1.89-2.72), 3.52 (CI:2.92-4.24), 3.30 (CI:2.81-3.87), and 2.87 (CI:2.44-3.38) in female workers, respectively. The prevalence of sleep disturbance increased with increased exposure to physical risk factors, indicating a dose-response relationship.

CONCLUSIONS

Physical risk factors exposure in the workplace was associated with sleep disturbance of workers, indicating a dose-response relationship. Given the impact of sleep disturbance on workers' health and efficiency, it may be important to control exposure to physical risk factors in the working environment with regards to sleep conditions.

Self-employment and health inequality of migrant workers

Background

Self-employment is one of the most common forms of employment for migrant workers in China. However, migrant workers’ lifestyle and behavior, as well as health disparities among them, would be impacted by self-employment. This research aims to explore the mechanism and group differences of the effect of self-employment on health inequality among Chinese migrant workers.

Materials and methods

To explore the effect of self-employment on health inequalities among migrant workers, this research uses the data from the 2018 China Migrant Workers Dynamic Monitoring Survey, and the RIF-I-OLS decomposition method.

Results

We find that self-employment will reduce the health inequality of Chinese migrant workers significantly, especially among migrant workers with low education, low income, and low social integration. A further examination reveals that self-employment can directly promote the self-rated health of migrant workers. Additionally, it indirectly alleviates the health inequality among migrant workers by mediating effect of expanding access to public welfare, such as by establishing health records and strengthening health education.

Conclusion

The government should permit and encourage migrant workers to engage in self-employment. It is necessary to provide public services such as health education, health records, and health rights for migrant workers, and focus on the employment of migrant workers in city, especially those with low income and low education. we believe that measures should be taken to enhance migrant workers’ sense of belonging in urban China Only on this basis can health inequality among migrant workers be truly reduced.

Mental health symptoms among dependent contractors in Korea: a cross-sectional study based on the Fifth Korean Working Condition Survey

Background

Recently, there has been a call to improve the holistic welfare of dependent contractors (DCs). Thus, our study examined the relationship between DCs and mental health symptoms and how this relationship was modified by age, sex, and income status of workers.

Methods

A total of 27,980 workers from the Fifth Korean Working Conditions Survey are included in our study. The participants who reported having depression or anxiety over the last 12 months are defined those who had mental health symptoms. We performed exact matching for age group and sex, followed by conditional logistic regression with survey weights. Finally, stratified analyses by age, sex and income level were conducted.

Results

DCs were found to be at increased risk of depression/anxiety compared to other workers. The odds ratio (OR) is 1.52 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.06–2.17). In the stratified analyses, vulnerable groups were middle-aged (OR [95% CI]: 1.68 [1.10–2.54]), female (OR [95% CI]: 1.85 [1.20–2.84]), and low-income (OR [95% CI]: 3.18 [1.77–5.73]) workers.

Conclusions

Our study's results reinforce those of other studies that show that DCs are at greater risk of experiencing mental health issues than other workers and that and this risk is greater for middle-aged, female, and low-income workers. These results suggest that appropriate policy efforts should be made to improve the psychological well-being of DCs.

The Impact of Mandate Contract and Self-Employment on Workers' Health-Evidence from Poland

The purpose of the study is to analyze the correlations between two clearly defined forms of non-standard employment (self-employment and mandate contract) and workers' health. The study also addressed such variables as gender, age, length of service, and the reason for employment (voluntary vs. non-voluntary). The research was carried out in Poland in 2020 using the CATI method (a telephone interviewing technique), and it covered a sample of 200 workers (100 self-employed and 100 working under a mandate contract). Most of the respondents declared that their form of employment did not affect their health. However, the statistical analysis showed significant differences in health status between the self-employed and those working on a mandate contract. Self-employed respondents experienced mental health impacts more often, whereas those working under a mandate contract more frequently declared that their physical health was affected. The length of service was only important for mental health, having a negative impact on it. The respondents' age and gender turned out to be statistically insignificant, which is in contradiction to many previous research findings. The inability to choose one's form of employment resulted in worse physical health. These findings demonstrate the importance of certain variables that were not prioritized in previous studies and emphasize the need to clearly define what non-standard and precarious forms of employment are, as well as revealing new correlations between the studied categories and providing directions for further research.