Association between work stress and health behaviours in Korean and Japanese ageing studies: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

ObjectivesLimited research has focused on the association between work stress and health behaviours in Asian countries. We aimed to explore the effect of work stress on two health behaviours among employees aged 45 years or above in two countries with ageing populations, Korea and Japan.DesignA cross-sectional study.SettingThis secondary data analysis was conducted on baseline data from the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging (KLoSA, 2006) and the Japanese Study of Aging and Retirement (JSTAR, 2007 and 2009).ParticipantsIncluded in the analytical sample were 4982 responders without missing data aged 45 years or older who reported work positions and hours (KLoSA n=3478, JSTAR n=1504).Main outcome measuresWork stress was represented by the short version of the effort-reward imbalance (ERI) model. We used logistic regression and multinomial logistic regression to investigate the association between work stress and smoking (binary current smoking) and between work stress and drinking (categorical volume of alcohol). Socioeconomic and work-related characteristics were taken into consideration, and we examined the potential interaction between ERI and gender.ResultsWork stress as measured by ERI ratio was significantly associated with both smoking and drinking in the KLoSA analysis; after the model was fully adjusted, ORs were 1.45 (95% CI 1.17 to 1.80) and 1.44 (95% CI 1.09 to 1.90), respectively. In analysis of the data from JSTAR, the ERI ratio was associated with smoking (OR 1.37, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.89) but not with drinking. No statistically significant interaction was found between ERI and gender in any model (p=0.82 in KLoSA data and p=0.19 in JSTAR data).ConclusionsStatistically significant associations were found between work stress and both smoking and drinking behaviours in Korea and between work stress and smoking in Japan. Government integration of effort-reward balance programmes and health promotion programmes could effectively promote population health in these two Asian countries.