Insufficient Rest Breaks at Workplace and Musculoskeletal Disorders Among Korean Kitchen Workers

Background: The socioeconomic burden of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) is significant, and kitchen work is a high-risk occupation for MSDs due to the intensive manual workload and repetitive movements that are involved. However, there are very few studies on MSDs and rest breaks as a workplace int...

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Main Authors: Sungjin Park, Jongin Lee, June-Hee Lee
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2021-06-01
Series:Safety and Health at Work
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2093791121000147
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spelling doaj-c1818677114f4a43bf77c86ffacf095c2021-06-11T05:12:55ZengElsevierSafety and Health at Work2093-79112021-06-01122225229Insufficient Rest Breaks at Workplace and Musculoskeletal Disorders Among Korean Kitchen WorkersSungjin Park0Jongin Lee1June-Hee Lee2Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Cheonan Medical Center, Cheonan, Republic of KoreaDepartment of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Seoul St.Mary’s Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Republic of KoreaDepartment of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Soonchunhyang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Corresponding author. Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Soonchunhyang University College of Medicine, 140-887, 59, Daesagwan-ro (657 Hannam-dong), Yongsan-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea.Background: The socioeconomic burden of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) is significant, and kitchen work is a high-risk occupation for MSDs due to the intensive manual workload and repetitive movements that are involved. However, there are very few studies on MSDs and rest breaks as a workplace intervention among kitchen workers. This study examined the relationship between insufficient rest breaks and increased MSD risk among Korean kitchen workers. Methods: Sociodemographic and occupational factors of 1,909 kitchen workers were collected from the 3rd–4th Korean Working Conditions Survey data. Five items on rest breaks at work were categorized into two groups, “sufficient” and “insufficient.” The number of MSDs and work-related MSDs (WMSDs), an outcome variable, was obtained from the sum of MSDs/WMSDs in three anatomical sites (back, neck, and upper limb, lower limb). The association between rest breaks and MSDs was estimated using zero-inflated negative binomial analyses, with adjustments for age, education level, and weekly working hours, and the analyses were stratified by sex. Results: After adjustment, significant associations were found between insufficient rest breaks and an increased risk of MSDs (odds ratio [OR] 1.68 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.11–2.54) and WMSDs (OR 1.40 95% CI 1.01–1.96) among female kitchen workers. Insufficient rest breaks were significantly associated with MSDs in female kitchen workers in all three anatomical sites. Conclusion: This study emphasizes the need for rest breaks as a workplace intervention for preventing MSDs in kitchen workers. Further studies to reveal the causality of this relationship are required.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2093791121000147Manual workersMusculoskeletal diseaseRestaurant cooksSupplementary breaksWorkplace intervention
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Sungjin Park
Jongin Lee
June-Hee Lee
spellingShingle Sungjin Park
Jongin Lee
June-Hee Lee
Insufficient Rest Breaks at Workplace and Musculoskeletal Disorders Among Korean Kitchen Workers
Safety and Health at Work
Manual workers
Musculoskeletal disease
Restaurant cooks
Supplementary breaks
Workplace intervention
author_facet Sungjin Park
Jongin Lee
June-Hee Lee
author_sort Sungjin Park
title Insufficient Rest Breaks at Workplace and Musculoskeletal Disorders Among Korean Kitchen Workers
title_short Insufficient Rest Breaks at Workplace and Musculoskeletal Disorders Among Korean Kitchen Workers
title_full Insufficient Rest Breaks at Workplace and Musculoskeletal Disorders Among Korean Kitchen Workers
title_fullStr Insufficient Rest Breaks at Workplace and Musculoskeletal Disorders Among Korean Kitchen Workers
title_full_unstemmed Insufficient Rest Breaks at Workplace and Musculoskeletal Disorders Among Korean Kitchen Workers
title_sort insufficient rest breaks at workplace and musculoskeletal disorders among korean kitchen workers
publisher Elsevier
series Safety and Health at Work
issn 2093-7911
publishDate 2021-06-01
description Background: The socioeconomic burden of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) is significant, and kitchen work is a high-risk occupation for MSDs due to the intensive manual workload and repetitive movements that are involved. However, there are very few studies on MSDs and rest breaks as a workplace intervention among kitchen workers. This study examined the relationship between insufficient rest breaks and increased MSD risk among Korean kitchen workers. Methods: Sociodemographic and occupational factors of 1,909 kitchen workers were collected from the 3rd–4th Korean Working Conditions Survey data. Five items on rest breaks at work were categorized into two groups, “sufficient” and “insufficient.” The number of MSDs and work-related MSDs (WMSDs), an outcome variable, was obtained from the sum of MSDs/WMSDs in three anatomical sites (back, neck, and upper limb, lower limb). The association between rest breaks and MSDs was estimated using zero-inflated negative binomial analyses, with adjustments for age, education level, and weekly working hours, and the analyses were stratified by sex. Results: After adjustment, significant associations were found between insufficient rest breaks and an increased risk of MSDs (odds ratio [OR] 1.68 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.11–2.54) and WMSDs (OR 1.40 95% CI 1.01–1.96) among female kitchen workers. Insufficient rest breaks were significantly associated with MSDs in female kitchen workers in all three anatomical sites. Conclusion: This study emphasizes the need for rest breaks as a workplace intervention for preventing MSDs in kitchen workers. Further studies to reveal the causality of this relationship are required.
topic Manual workers
Musculoskeletal disease
Restaurant cooks
Supplementary breaks
Workplace intervention
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2093791121000147
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