Impact of Decreased Night Work on Workers’ Musculoskeletal Symptoms: A Quasi-Experimental Intervention Study

Hye-Eun Lee, Min Choi, Hyoung-Ryoul Kim and Ichiro Kawachi
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Hye-Eun Lee: Korea Institute of Labor Safety and Health, Seoul 07023, Korea
Min Choi: Korea Institute of Labor Safety and Health, Seoul 07023, Korea
Hyoung-Ryoul Kim: Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul 06591, Korea
Ichiro Kawachi: Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 23, 1-9

Abstract: A possible association between night shift work and musculoskeletal disorder has been suggested. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of decreased night work on musculoskeletal pain. Difference-in-difference estimation was used to compare changes in musculoskeletal pain between shift workers ( N = 122) and non-shift workers ( N = 170) in a manufacturing company before and after the introduction of a new shift system eliminating overnight work. Musculoskeletal pain was measured by a questionnaire asking if workers had symptoms in specific body parts, including the neck, shoulder, arm/elbow, wrist/hand, back, and leg/foot, over the past year. Generalized estimating equation models were used to estimate changes in pre- versus post-intervention musculoskeletal pain rates between the treated and control group. In the difference-in-difference (DID) models, prevalence of musculoskeletal pain for shoulder (−10.3%), arm (−12.9%), all sites combined (−9.2%), and upper extremity combined (−14.8%) showed significant decreases from pre- to post-intervention among the treated group (shift workers) compared to the control group (non-shift workers) after controlling for age and weekly working hours. Decreasing night work was related to improvement in musculoskeletal pain in shift workers.

Keywords: night shift work; musculoskeletal; difference-in-difference; organizational intervention; South Korea (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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