BackgroundWe investigated the association between long workhours and marital status change from married to divorced or separated status that might have bad health effects.MethodsA total of 40,654 participants with married status in 2014 were followed up in 2015. Weekly workhours were categorized into four groups: ≤ 40, 41–52, 53–60, and > 60 hours per week. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to determine the relationship between groups of workhours and marital status change after adjusting for age, total monthly household income, working type, and depression with sex stratification.ResultsThe study populations consisted of 8,346 (20.5%) females and 32,308 (79.5%) males. Odd ratios (ORs) of marital status change for females working for more than 60 hours per week was 4.26 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.25–14.5), when working less than or equal to 40 hours per week was used as reference in the crude model. ORs of working more than 60 hours per week was 4.57 (95% CI: 1.02–20.5) in female workers when considering age, total household earning per month, working type of daytime, and depression in a dose-response manner. However, for male workers, long workhours were not significantly related to change of marriage status.ConclusionsLong workhours for more than 60 hours per week had significantly higher risk of divorce or separation in females, but not in males. Further follow-up studies are needed to evaluate long term effects of long workhours on divorce risk.

BackgroundPrevious studies have reported the effects of direction of shift rotation on sleep, however, the findings are inconsistent. In this study, we investigated sleep quality related to direction of shift rotation using large-scale data from shiftwork-specific health examinations of electronics workers.MethodsThis study included 4750 electronics workers working in a rotating 3-shift system who completed a medical examination for shift workers survey from January 1 to December 31, 2014, at a general hospital. The subjects were categorized into one of two groups according to direction of shift rotation. We compared sleep quality index between the subjects who worked in forward rotation and backward rotation systems.ResultsBackward rotation was positively associated with prevalence of poor sleep quality. In the multivariable-adjusted model, when comparing backward rotation to forward rotation, the odds ratio (OR) with 95 % confidence interval (95 % CI) for poor sleep quality was 1.95 (1.58–2.41). After stratifying by gender, the ORs (95 % CIs) for poor sleep quality in male and female was 1.92 (1.47–2.49) and 2.13 (1.47–3.08), respectively. In subgroup analyses, backward rotation was significantly associated with poor sleep quality in workers ≥30 years of age compared with workers <30 years of age (adjusted OR 2.60 vs. 1.89, respectively; P for interaction <0.001).ConclusionsOur study supports that a backward rotation system is associated with poor sleep quality. Forward rotation systems should be considered to reduce sleep problems.

BackgroundMany studies have reported the negative effects of long working hours on various health problems. However, whether hair loss is associated with working hours has been rarely investigated so far. The main purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between long working hours and the development of alopecia among Korean male workers.MethodsA total of 13,391 male workers not to take alopecia medicine in 2013 were followed up to see if they have alopecia medicine after 4 years, and that was used to confirm the alopecia development. Weekly working hours were categorized into three groups: reference working hours (RWH; < 40 hours/week), long working hours (LWH, 40–52 hours/week), and much longer working hours (MLWH; > 52 hours/week). Multiple logistic regression analyses were conducted to investigate the relationship between long working hours and the development of alopecia after adjusting age, marital status, education, monthly household income, smoking, and work schedule within strata of the covariates.ResultsLong working hours was significantly related to the development of alopecia. The adjusted odds ratios (ORs) for the development of alopecia were 1.57 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.21–2.05) for LWH group and 1.74 (95% CI: 1.23–2.47) for MLWH group relative to RWH group.ConclusionsOur findings suggest that unintentional development of alopecia is another potential health consequence of long working hours among Korean male workers. Preventive interventions to promote appropriate and reasonable working hours are required in our society.