O2B.4 Factors on sickness absence among workers and moderating effect of job stress in korea

ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to analyze the various factors affecting the sickness absence of Korean workers and to confirm the moderating effect of job stress.MethodWe analyzed the data of nationwide labor environment survey conducted by the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency (KOSHA) in 2011. This study covered 49 870 workers, excluding abnormal values. We analyzed the effects of the work environment and the moderating effect of job stress to the absence of sickness.ResultsThe number of sickness absent from the study was 4621 (9.3%), total sickness absence was 30,640 days, and the average period of sickness absence was 6.6 days. The factor with significant difference of illness absenteeism was education, monthly income, size of workplace, drinking opportunity, worker position, musculoskeletal disease risk factor, and subjective health status. The interaction effect between the control variable and the independent variable was significantly different from the job stress ×musculoskeletal disorder factor.Sickness absence was higher in middle school graduates, monthly incomes more than one million won, workplaces with 10 or more workers, and in the non-alcoholic group.Musculoskeletal disorders and subjective health status showed a positive effect on sickness absence. The number of days of sickness absence increased and the subjective health condition got worse as the musculoskeletal disorders increased. As job stress increased, sickness absence increased. We found that the job stress interacted with musculoskeletal disease factors and affected sickness absence.ConclusionIt is necessary to prepare measures to improve subjective health condition, and to fully utilize the moderating job stress factors to reduce the factors of musculoskeletal diseases.