Korean J Occup Environ Med.  2012 Sep;24(3):263-273.

Association between Job Stress, Psychosocial Well-being and Presenteeism, Absenteeism: Focusing on Railroad Workers

Affiliations
  • 1Yonsei University Graduate School of Public Health, Institute for Occupational Health, Korea.
  • 2Yonsei University College of Medicine, Korea Railroad Corporation, Korea.
  • 3Yonsei University Graduate School of Public Health, Korea.
  • 4Department of Preventive Medicine, Institute for Occupational Health, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Korea. juwon@yuhs.ac

Abstract


OBJECTIVES
The purpose of this study was to determine the current status of presenteeism and absenteeism among railroad workers as well as to investigate whether or not job stress level and psychosocial well-being status are associated with presenteeism and absenteeism.
METHODS
As the cross-sectional design, a self-reported questionnaire using the Korean Occupational Stress Scale(KOSS), Psychosocial Well-being Index(PWI), and Work Productivity and Impairment-General Health(WPAI-GH) was administered to railroad workers. Univariate and multivariate logistic regressions were used to analyze the association between job stress, psychosocial well-being status and presenteeism, absenteeism in 1,099 subjects.
RESULTS
Among the study subjects, 52.0% and 22.0% experiened presenteeism and absenteeism, respectively. Job stress level in railroad workers was higher than that in general workers. Multivariate logistic regression with presenteeism as the dependent variable showed an elevated odds ratio of 3.56(95% CI 1.48-8.54) in the highest job stress group, and an odds ratio of 3.20(95% CI 1.94-5.26) in the high-risk psychosocial stress group. There was no significant association between job stress level and absenteeism, whereas weak association between psychosocial stress and absenteeism was found.
CONCLUSIONS
Since railroad workers have a high level of job stress and elevated experience of presenteeism, a management strategy is required to control presenteeism and absenteeism in order to promote railroad workers' health and safety.

Keyword

Sick leave; Absenteeism; Stress; Psychological; Railroads

MeSH Terms

Absenteeism
Efficiency
Logistic Models
Odds Ratio
Questionnaires
Railroads
Sick Leave

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