Korean J Occup Environ Med.  2010 Sep;22(3):240-250.

Self-rated Health Level Comparisons by the Criteria of Precarious Employment Status: The Korean Labor and Income Survey

• Kim K
• Chung HJ
• Chang S
• Kim H
• Noh D
• Jung-Choi

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effects of precarious employment status on the level of self-rated health, based on various criteria, by participants in the Korean Labor and Income Panel Survey.
METHODS
Data were obtained from 3,268 subjects(2,057 men and 1,211 women), who participated in the 2005-2006 Korean Labor and Income Panel Survey. Group A was classified as Non-precarious employment by both the Ministry of Labor (MoLab) and the Korea Labor and Society Institute (KLSI). The group B was classified as Non-precarious employment by the MoLab and as precarious employment by the KLSI. The group C is classified as Non-precarious employment by both MoLab and KLSI. Outcome variables were self-rated health and a panel logistic regression analysis was performed on the data.
RESULTS
The level of self-rated health was worse among group B males (OR: 1.45, C.I:1.00~2.11) and group C males (OR: 1.69, C.I:1.35~2.10) compared to group A males. A substantial difference(57.8%) in the level of self-rated health between groups A and B was attributed to the sociodemographic characteristics of the populations. The difference in self-rated health between groups A and C was explained by work environments(15.7%), as well as by sociodemographic characteristics(26.1%). For female workers, the level of self-rated health in group B and C was worse than in group A, but this finding was not statistically significant.
CONCLUSIONS
These findings suggested that the policy to improve the working environment, as well as a more comprehensive effort to reduce the disparity, is needed for the precarious employment worker.

Keyword

Self-rated health; Precarious employment; Longitudinal survey

MeSH Terms

Employment
Female
Health Status
Humans
Korea
Logistic Models
Longitudinal Studies
Male