Working hours and depressive symptomatology among full-time employees: Results from the fourth Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2007–2009)

Abstract

We found an association between long working hours and depressive symptomatology. The full-time employees who worked long hours showed higher prevalence of depressive symptomatology after the data were adjusted for individual characteristics, socioeconomic factors, health behaviors, and work schedules. Affiliation 515Original article Scand J Work Environ Health. 2013;39(5):515-520. doi:10.5271/sjweh.3356 Working hours and depressive symptomatology among full-time employees: Results from the fourth Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2007Survey ( -2009 Objective This study aimed to examine the distribution of working hours and the association between working hours and depressive symptomatology using representative data from a national, population-based survey. Method Data came from the fourth Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2007-2009),which employed a systematic, stratified cluster-sampling method. We used logistic regression procedures to estimate the importance of weekly working hours as a predictor of depressive symptomatology. ResultsThe prevalence of depressive symptomatology was 10.2%. The work week, which averaged 48.3 hours for the sample as a whole, was longer for men (49.8 hours) than women (45.3 hours), and 12.1% of respondents were engaged in shift work. In logistic regression analyses, compared to those working <52 hours per week, the odds ratios (OR) of working hours as a predictor of depressive symptomatology were 1.19 [95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.77-1.85] for those working 52-59 hours per week and 1.62 (95% CI 1.20-2.18) for those working ≥60 hours per week, after adjustment for demographic characteristics, health behaviors, socioeconomic status, employment status, and work schedules. It showed a positive dose-response relationship between working hours and depressive symptomatology (P=0.0059).Conclusions Working hours in Korea are long. There is an association between working hours and depressive symptomatology, and there seems be a trend in working hours and depressive symptomatology.

Working Hours and Cardiovascular Disease in Korean Workers: A Case‐control Study

“…The effect due to selection bias may not be significant, because the proportion of control participants working long hours did not differ greatly from nationally representative data. The proportions of workers who worked more than 48 hours per week were 37 and 42.4% based on the Korean Working Conditions Surveys of 2006 and 2010, respectively, and 29.5% worked more than 52 hours according to the fourth Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2007−2009) 28,29) . In this study, the proportions of controls who worked more than 48 hours or 52 hours was 39.9 and 26.3%, respectively.…”

Work‐related Risk Factors for Workplace Violence among Korean Employees

“…Because this limit does not include overtime work performed on holidays, work hours in Korea may be substantially longer. Kim et al reported that the average Korean employee spends 48.57 hours a week in the workplace, that 20.72% of the employed work more than 60 hours a week and that working more than 60 hours a week is associated with increased health problems 32) . A study on healthcare staff in Japan also showed that the risks of both physical aggression and verbal abuse were significantly higher in workers with long working hours 25) .…”

Weekend work and depressive symptoms among Korean employees

“…After controlling for age, marital status, education, income, type of employment contract, night shift work, occupation, company size, and number of hours worked per week, weekend work was associated with depressive symptoms in both males and females. An explanation for the elevated ORs of depressive symptoms in weekend workers might be physical/ psychological workload and lack of recovery time (Kim et al, 2013a;Virtanen et al, 2011) because weekend work is closely linked with long working hours in Korea. In support of this hypothesis, the OR for depressive symptoms in males was decreased in multiple logistic regression model 2, which controlled for the number of hours worked per week, compared with the OR in model 1.…”

“…Psychosocial work characteristics as risk factors for depression or depressive symptoms have been studied extensively in the work environment (Bonde, 2008). Besides work-related psychosocial factors, several studies have reported associations between working hours or shiftwork and depressive symptoms (Driesen et al, 2010(Driesen et al, , 2011Kim et al, 2013a;Virtanen et al, 2011). However, to our knowledge, the impact of weekend work on mental health has not been studied.…”

“…In Korea, weekend work is usually linked with long working hours and an intense workload. Long working hours have a negative effect on mental health (Kim et al, 2013a;Virtanen et al, 2011). Adequate recovery is needed to relieve fatigue related to occupational demand (Sluiter et al, 2003) and rest days decrease the physical and psychological workload and provide the opportunity to recover.…”