Psychosocial work characteristics and sickness absence in Japanese employees.
OBJECTIVE
This study was undertaken to examine the association between sickness absence in Japanese employees and job demand/control and occupational class as psychosocial work characteristics.


METHODS
The study was cross-sectional in design with data collected from 20,464 male and 3,617 female employees, whose mean age was 40.9 years (SD +/- 9.1 years) and 36.9 years (SD +/- 10.8 years), respectively. The participants were asked to write the total number of sick leaves they had taken during the past year, and a comparison was made between the group with more than 6 days of sickness absence and the group with 0-6 days as a reference group. Job demands, job control, and worksite support from supervisors and colleagues were analyzed by the Job Content Questionnaire, and likewise by the Generic Job Stress Questionnaire of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.


RESULTS
Both low job control and low support at the worksite were associated with a high frequency of sickness absence. But there was no clear relationship between job demands and sickness absence. The lowest sickness absence rate was found in male managers and the highest in male and female laborers.


CONCLUSIONS
This is the first report of a large-scale survey of Japanese employees to show a high frequency of sickness absence associated with increased work stress and a socioeconomically low occupational class.
Ishizaki
Masao
M
Department of Hygiene, Kanazawa Medical University, 920-0293, Uchinada, Ishikawa, Japan. issa1@kanazawa-med.ac.jp
Kawakami
Norito
N
Honda
Ryumon
R
Nakagawa
Hideaki
H
Morikawa
Yuko
Y
Yamada
Yuichi
Y
D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016272:Occupational Health; D009790:Occupations / Q000145:classification*; D018582:Sick Leave; D013315:Stress, Psychological