title: Changes in health habits of female shift workers.
abstract: This paper examines the effects of shift work on the lifestyles of female factory workers. As an indicator of healthy lifestyle habits, we used a scoring system (referred to below as the 'health score') based on Lester Breslow's health habits. The 'health score' of the women was higher than that of the men, but the shift workers' score was lower than that of the non-shift workers (p<0.01). In addition, the score of workers who had changed from non-shift work to double-shift work was remarkably low (p<0.01). These results suggest that, while the female shift workers manage to maintain relatively healthy lifestyles in comparison with the males, they have more difficulty maintaining these habits than do female workers who do not perform shift work. It can be concluded that, in addition to heightening women's consciousness of their own health, surrounding entities such as the work environment, the home, and the community in general need to pay due care to Japan's female shift workers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hygiene & Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine, Fukushima Medical University, Japan. s-kaneko@fmu.ac.jp
authors.forename: Shin-Ya
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Kaneko
authors.forename: Takafumi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Maeda
authors.forename: Akihiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sasaki
authors.forename: Akihiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: Kazuko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Toshio
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.forename: Masatoshi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Tetsuhito
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fukushima
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D016272:Occupational Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors