• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.264-275
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• 2006

MSDs(Musculoskeletal Disorders) and Job Stress have been recognized as one of major problems in industry these days according to the results of most industrial health/safety studies. Specifically, MSDs have been growing problems in Korea as well as in US and European countries with higher incidence rate every year. This study tries to understand characteristics of job stress and association between MSDs and job stress for the workers at automobile manufacturing industry. This study also tries to understand the differences in terms of job stress between white collar and blue collar workers. The results showed that there was definite association between symptoms of MSDs and some of major job stress factors. However, there were big differences in terms of associations between two groups(white collar and blue collar workers). The first group(white collar workers) showed more associations between symptoms of MSDs and some of major job stress factors than that of the second group(blue collar workers) although symptom rate of the second group was higher than that of the first group. It could be concluded that symptoms of the first group had more effects from job stress while symptoms of the second group had more effects from typical job risk factors based on the results of the study.

• Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
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• v.35
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• pp.1.1-1.11
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• 2023

Background: Although it is well known that the usage of visual display terminal (VDT) at the workplace causes computer vision syndrome (CVS), previous studies mainly focused on computer use and the health of white-collar workers. In this study, we explored the relationship between the usage of VDT including various devices, and symptoms related to CVS in a large population including pink-collar workers and blue-collar workers. Methods: 21,304 wage workers over the age of 20 years were analyzed from the 6th Korean Working Conditions Survey. To investigate the association between VDT use at work and symptoms related to CVS among wage workers, odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated by multivariate logistic regression models. Results: In the group with the highest VDT usage at work, the OR of headache/eyestrain was 2.16 (95% CI: 1.86-2.52). The OR of suspected CVS patients was significantly increased in the highest group of usage of VDT at work (OR: 1.69; 95% CI, 1.39-2.06). Compare with the reference group, the OR for headache/eyestrain in the highest group of VDT usage was 2.81 (95% CI: 2.13-3.70) in white-collar workers, 1.78 (95% CI: 1.32-2.40) in pink-collar workers, and 1.59 (95% CI: 1.18-2.15) in blue-collar workers. Conclusions: We observed a relationship in which the use of VDT in the workplace increases the risk of headache/eyestrain regardless of occupational classification. Our findings emphasize the importance of paying attention to the health of VDT workers and making plans to improve their working conditions.

• Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
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• v.19 no.37
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• pp.103-109
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• 1996

A systematic study on the job process is required for effective and efficient control of human resource that is one of the most important elements for the growth of the enterprise. This study, therefore, provides the practical model for the job analysis technology focusing on the job process as a tool to improve the productivity of white collar workers.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.123-149
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• 1991

This study has been attempted to be helpful for the back rehabilization of Korean workers by analyzing the general, occupational, social aspects of low back pain and to identify possible risk factors for back pain in White and Blue collar workers. The primary data were collected from 380 workers in Seoul city by means of a Questionnaire with random which was distributed from March 10 to 31, 1990. For the test of statistical significance, chi-square analysis was used to compare the back pain characteristics between above two groups. The results were as follows : 1. The incidence of low back pain in all walkers studied was $79.7\%$. The incidence of Blue collar with low back pain $(87.2\%)$ was higher than that of White collars $(75.0\%)$. 2. With regard to the relationship of back pain to the occupational characteristics, statistically significant differences were observed between workers with and without back pain concerning the job factors on work-time, job satisfaction, mental stress, chair fittness, work posture, work rotation, weight lifting, monotonous repetitive movements, vibration, and heavy noise (p<0.05). 3. With regard to the relationship of back pain to the social characteristics, there were no differences with respect to having car, personality types, drinking habits, and leisure-time activities. However, significant differences were showed between no pain and pain groups for the using bed, sleeping posture, traffic time amount, walking health state, smoking habits, and physical exercise (p<0.05). 4. The comparative analysis of back pain related to work factors showed highly significant differences with respect to mental stress, chair fittness, work posture, trunk rotation, weight lifting, monotonous repetitive work in White collar group (p<0.01) ; and job satisfaction, mental stress, trunk rotation, weight lifting, monotonus repetitive work, exposure to vibration and heavy noise in Blue collar group(p<0.01). 5. The comparative analysis of social factors in two groups showed differences with respect to the using bed, sleeping posture, walking amount, health state, physical exercise, smoking habits in White cellar group (p<0.05) ; and walking amount, traffic time amount, health state, smoking habits, physical exercise in Blue cellar group (p<0.05). 6. In regard to the general aspects of back pain between two groups, there were differences concerning etiolgy of back pain, counselling partners, treatment types, and sick-leaves(p<0.05), except pain duration, and awareness of back pain.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.250-259
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• 2008

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the relation of Job Stress, Heart Rate Variability, Blood Pressure and Lifestyle on White-Collar Workers. Method: Data were collected from August to December in 2007. HRV was measured using Freeze-Framer. WSRI and Lifestyle data were collected from the self-reported questionnaire. Result: 1) Total score of WSRI was 32.88, H score was 47.92, L score was 16.90, systolic blood pressure was 138.88mmHg, diastolic blood pressure was 81.20 mmHg. 2) WSRI correlated with L score of HRV, BP, smoking, drinking positively. WSRI correlated with H score, exercise times negatively. H correlated with exercise positively and had negative correlation with BP and L. Systolic pressure correlated with smoking and drinking positively. Conclusion: WSRI, HRV, BP and lifestyle are interrelated strongly and they need to be monitor continually. It is considered that education of health and intervention with HRV make white-collar workers concern more about their health and care.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.12 no.8
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• pp.411-421
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• 2014

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between lifestyle and health status among employees in a community. The participants were 199 white collar workers in J city. Data were collected from August 7 to 24, 2012 using the self-report questionnaire. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA and Pearson coefficient correlation with SPSS/Win 17.0. There was a statistically significant correlation between lifestyle and health status(r= .164, p= .020). Mental component summary of health status was a statistically significant correlated with leisure activity(r= .270, p= .000) and regular exercise(r= .180, p= .011). Therefore, this study provided support for associations between lifestyle and health status. We suggest that strategies to emphasize leisure activity and regular exercise would be important for white collar workers to improve their mental health.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.419-424
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• 2015

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the effects of lumbar stabilization exercise on the abdominal muscle-back muscle ratio in white-collar workers. Methods: Forty white-collar workers without any pain who worked at an information technology (IT) company located in the Gyeonggi province were included in this study. Of these, 20 subjects were randomly allocated to the lumbar stabilization exercise group, whereas the remaining 20 were randomly allocated to the control group. The lumbar stabilization exercise group performed a 40-minute-long exercise once a week for 8 weeks. The strength of the abdominal and back muscles was measured using the CENTAUR 3-D Spatial Rotation Device (BFMC, Germany). Data analysis was conducted using SPSS 18.0 for Windows. The Paired t-test was performed to compare the values measured before and after exercise within each group. The independent sample t-test was performed to analyze the differences between the 2 groups. The statistical significance for all the analyses was set at .05. Results: The strength of the abdominal muscles after the exercise significantly differed between the lumbar stabilization exercise group and the control group (p<0.05). However, the increase in the abdominal muscle-back muscle ratio was significant in only the lumbar stabilization exercise group (p<0.05), but not in the control group (p>0.05). Conclusion: The improvement of the abdominal muscle-back muscle ratio through lumbar stabilization exercise may have positive effects on lumbar stabilization. Moreover, lumbar stabilization exercise is considered beneficial for the prevention of back pain and musculoskeletal diseases.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.18 no.8
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• pp.190-199
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• 2017

The purpose of this study is to propose the standard of health-related fitness evaluation according to the working styles of male manufacturing workers. The subjects were 15,329 male manufacturing workers aged from 40 to 59 years old who had taken a health-related fitness test by K Institution. Health-related fitness components are cardiorespiratory endurance, muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility and body composition. We measured Vo2max, grip strength, sit-up, trunk flexion forward, and body fat percentage to ascertain each component. Data were analyzed with Two-way ANOVA, T-test, One-way ANOVA(Scheffe) and Percentile using SPSS version 18.0 program. The analysis results are as follows. First, the health-related fitness of manufacturing workers varied significantly according to their working styles(maximum oxygen uptake : F=88.67(p<.001), grip strength : F=20.09(p<.001), sit-up : F=42.06(p<.001), trunk flexion forward : F=69.44(p<.001), body fat percentage : F=136.75(p<.001)).Therefore, the evaluation standard was set based on the percentile of health fitness items. Second, the average Vo2max, grip strength, and trunk flexion forward of blue-collar workers were higher than those of white-collar workers at all ages. On the other hand, the average sit-up and body fat percentage of white-collar workers were higher than those of blue-collar workers at all ages. Third, these evaluation criteria differed greatly when compared with the results of the National Physical Fitness Survey. Therefore, we have confirmed that the evaluation criteria should be applied differently according to the working style of a worker when evaluating his health-related fitness.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.160-168
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• 2002

Objectives : This study was intended to investigate the differences of job stressors between managers and low level employees among white-collar workers. Another objective of this study was to examine whether the effects of job stressors on mental health differ between the two groups. Methods : Data was obtained from 204 managers and 258 low level employees who were employed in white-collar jobs. Fourteen job stressors and seven job stress variables were measured. Results : Among the 14 job stressors, role overload, job insecurity, and work-family conflict were higher job stressors for the manager group whereas role conflict, work-aptitude incongruity, participation in decision making, and promotion problems were higher job stressors for the low level of employees. There were no differences in job stress scores between the two groups. However, differences in the effects of job stressors on job stress were found between the two groups. For the manager group, job insecurity, work-aptitude incongruity, and work-family conflict significantly affected in explanation of job stress whereas for the low level employees, role underload, peer satisfaction, and environmental problems significantly explaining the job stress variables. Conclusions : There were significant differences in job stressors between managers and low level employees among white-collar workers. Additionally there were differences in the effects of job stressors on job stress between the two groups.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.61-71
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• 2007

Objectives: The research was conducted to evaluate the socio-demographic, life style and work related factors of stress and fatigue, and correlation between them in the white collar workers. Methods: This study was targeted on white collar workers of medium-sized company in Kimhae city including 249 people; 167 of males, 82 of females. The data was collected by structured questionnaires and analyzed using t-test, ANOVA, Pearson correlation and stepwise multiple regression with SPSS 12.0. Result: Both stress and fatigue levels were higher for female of gender, 20s of age, single of marital status in socio-demographic factors. The stress level was higher for current smokers and lower frequency of regular exercise per week, and both stress and fatigue levels were higher for unsatisfied sleeping in lifestyle factors. The stress level was lower for 5-day workweek system and experience of downsizing, and both stress and fatigue levels were higher far lower period of employment in work related factors. The correlation coefficient(r) between stress and fatigue level was 0.578, which was highly statistically significant. According to stepwise multiple regression analysis, factors affecting stress were unsatisfied sleeping, female and lower frequency of regular exercise per week, and those affecting fatigue were younger age and unsatisfied sleeping. Conclusion: This study provided strong support for associations between stress and fatigue, and we suggest that modifiable factors such as regular exercise and satisfied sleeping would be important for white collar workers to reduce their stress and fatigue.