Research in Community and Public Health Nursing (지역사회간호학회지)

Korean Academy of Community Health Nursing (한국지역사회간호학회)
권호 표지
DOI QR코드

DOI QR Code

Effects of Working Environment and Socioeconomic Status on Health Status in Elderly Workers: A Comparison with Non-Elderly Workers

고령근로자의 작업환경, 사회경제적 상태가 건강수준에 미치는 영향: 비고령 근로자와의 비교를 중심으로

  • Lee, Bokim (Department of Nursing, University of Ulsan)
  • Received : 2017.08.04
  • Accepted : 2017.11.19
  • Published : 2017.12.31
Download PDF
⟨ Previous Next ⟩

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study were to compare working condition, socioeconomic status, and health status between elderly and non-elderly workers and to examine the influencing factors of health status according to age groups. Methods: This study is a secondary analysis of data extracted from the 2014 Korean Working Conditions Survey. For the present analysis, 15,980 elderly workers over the age of 55 and 32,037 non-elderly workers under the age of 55 were selected. Results: The prevalence of subjective unhealthy status and poor mental health were significantly higher among the elderly workers than the non-elderly workers. The elderly workers were more likely to have lower level of education and income than the non-elderly workers. They also reported less support from colleagues and managers, however, have more decision authority. Among the elderly workers, long working hours, awkward posture, physical environmental risks, quantitative demand, decision authority, social support, age discrimination, education level, and income level were significant predictors of subjective health status or mental health. Conclusion: For keeping elderly workers healthy and productive, work environment needs to become more age-friendly. An age-friendly workplace may include: accommodative support, workers' participation, minimization of environment risk, etc.

Keywords

References

  1. Statistics Korea. Population projections for Korea: 2015-2065. Statistics Report. Daejeon: Author; 2017 Feburuary. Report No.: 11-1240000-000125-13.
  2. Ministry of Employment and Labor. 2015 Survey report on labor conditions by employment type. Labor Condition Report. Sejong: Author; 2016 June. Report No.: 11-1490000-000336-10.
  3. Statistics Korea. Monthly report on the economically active population survey. Employment Report. Daejeon: Author; 2017 October.
  4. Kim YS, Kim BH, Kim HM. A study on occupational accident of older workers and vulnerable working condition. Health & Social Science. 2014;35:309-329.
  5. Choi SH. The economic review for industry safety and health for ageing society. The Journal of Korean Association Occupational Therapy Policy for Aged Industry. 2014;6(1):1-12.
  6. Lee BI. Job and life satisfaction of nonstandard workers in South Korea. Workplace Health & Safety. 2013;61(8):355-363. https://doi.org/10.1177/216507991306100806
  7. Eurofound. Sustainable work and the ageing workforce. Research Report. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union; 2012. https://doi.org/10.2806/42794
  8. Taimela S, Laara E, Malmivaara A, Tiekso J, Sintonen H, Justen S, et al. Self-reported health problems and sickness absence in different age groups predominantly engaged in physical work. Occupational Environmental Medicine. 2007;64(11):739-746. https://doi.org/10.1136/oem.2006.027789
  9. Porta M. International epidemiological association. A dictionary of epidemiology. 6rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2014. 343 p.
  10. Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute. The user manual of the 4th Korean Working Conditions Survey Data. Mannual Report. Ulsan: Author; 2016 April.
  11. World Health Organization Regional Office For Europe. Wellbing measures in primary health care/The depcare project. Report on a WHO Meeting. Copenhagen: Author; 1998 February. Report No.: EUR/ICP/QCPH 05 01 03.
  12. Debrand T, Lengagne P. Working conditions and health of European older workers. Working Papers. Paris: IRDES Institut for research and information in health economics; 2008 February. Report No.: DTN8.
  13. Niedhammer I, Chastang JF, David S. Importance of psychosocial work factors on general health outcomes in the national French SUMER survey. Occupational Medicine. 2008;58(1):15-24. https://doi.org/10.1093/occmed/kqm115
  14. Leoni T. What drives the perception of health and safety risks in the workplace? Evidence from European labour markets. Empirica. 2010;37(2):165-195. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10663-010-9129-0
  15. Shirom A, Toker S, Berliner S, Shapira I, Melamed S. The effects of physical fitness and feeling vigorous on self-rated health. Health Psychology. 2008;27(5):567-575. https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-6133.27.5.567
  16. Grimshaw D. What do we know about low wage work and low wage workers?: Analysing the definitions, patterns, causes and consequences in international perspective. Working Papers. Geneva: International Labour Organization; 2011. Report No.: ILO Conditions of Work and Employment Series No.28
  17. Yun HS. Changes in the relative importance of the minimum wage, income support and employment support programs. KDI Focus. 2016;71:1-7.
  18. Jones MK, Latreille PL, Sloane PJ, Staneva AV. Work-related health risks in Europe: Are older workers more vulnerable? Social Science & Medicine. 2013;88:18-29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2013.03.027
  19. Kim JH. The experience of ageism and meaning of aging among the Korean elderly by qualitative analysis. Korea Journal of Population Studies. 2015;38(1):69-104.
  20. Virtanen M, Ferrie JE, Singh-Manoux A, Shipley MJ, Stansfeld SA, Marmot MG, et al. Long working hours and symptoms of anxiety and depression: A 5-year follow up of the WhitehallII study. Psychological Medicine. 2011;41(12):2485-2494. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291711000171
  21. Lee YJ, Kim HL. Influences of working conditions and health status on absence due to sickness in health and medical related workers. Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing. 2016;25(3):216-226. https://doi.org/10.5807/kjohn.2016.25.3.216
  22. Choi ES, Jeon KS. The impacts of psychosocial work conditions on self-rated health among Korean Workers. Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing. 2016;25(4):300-310. https://doi.org/10.5807/kjohn.2016.25.4.300
  23. Kim MK, Chung WJ, Lim SG, Yoon SJ, Lee JY, Kim EK, et al. Socioeconomic inequity in self-rated health status and contribution of health behavioral factors in Korea. Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health. 2010;43(1):50-61. https://doi.org/10.3961/jpmph.2010.43.1.50
  24. Gonzales E, Marchiondo L, Ran S, Brown C, Goettge K. Age Discrimination in Workplace and its Association with Health and Work: Implications for Social Policy. Boston, MA: Boston University, Research Brief 201502; 2015. 4 p.
  25. Lee BI. Gender differences in psychosocial working conditions and psychological well-being among Korean interactive service workers. Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing. 2015;24(2):132-141. https://doi.org/10.5807/kjohn.2015.24.2.132
  26. Yi YJ, Jung HS. Analysis on female workers' job stress in scales and retail industries. Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing. 2009;18(1):22-32.
  27. Yoon BJ. Differential effects on self-rated health by socioeconomic class. Journal of Health Informatics and Statistics. 2016;41(1):35-42. https://doi.org/10.21032/jhis.2016.41.1.35
  28. Handy JA. Maintaining family life under shiftwork schedules: A case study of a New Zealand petrochemical plant. New Zealand Journal of Psychology. 2010;39(1):29-37.
  29. Lee SH, Moon EY, Kim BR. A study on family policy for baby boomers in Seoul. Research Report. Seoul: Seoul Foundation of Women & Family; 2014 December. Report No.: 2014-Policy research-06.
  30. Baek JT, Cho YC. The relationships between emotional labour, depressive symptoms and presenteeism among counselors in call centers. Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society. 2015;16(6):4086-4097. https://doi.org/10.5762/KAIS.2015.16.6.4086

Cited by

  1. Factors Affecting the Quality of Life of Working Cancer Survivors: Based on the 6th and 7th (2014, 2016, 2018) Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) vol.20, pp.4, 2017, https://doi.org/10.5388/aon.2020.20.4.171
  2. 근로빈곤과 건강불평등 vol.31, pp.4, 2017, https://doi.org/10.12799/jkachn.2020.31.4.514