The association of work stress with somatic symptoms in Chinese working women: a large cross-sectional survey.
It has been suggested that the relationship between work stress and somatic symptoms (e.g., cardiopulmonary, gastrointestinal complaints, general pain, and fatigue) is particularly pronounced in women. As evidence from China is sparse, we used a large sample of Chinese working women to test those potential associations.



Data were obtained from a cross-sectional study of 6826 working women in five urban areas in China who were free from major clinical disease. The sample was drawn from five occupations (physicians, nurses, school teachers, bank employees, and industrial workers). The Effort-Reward Imbalance Questionnaire and Patient Health Questionnaire-15 were used to measure work stress and somatic symptoms, respectively. Multivariate ordinal logistic regression was performed to analyze the associations.



52.6% participants reported high work stress in terms of concurrent high effort and low reward. The distribution of severity of somatic symptoms covered the full range from minimal (37.3%) and low (30.6%), to medium (19.7%) and high (12.4%). The adjusted odds ratio of somatic symptoms by high work stress was 2.45 (95% confidence interval=2.24-2.68), and all single psychosocial work factors (effort, reward, and over-commitment) exerted substantial effects on somatic symptoms (odds ratios>2.00).



Work stress is strongly associated with somatic symptoms in Chinese working women. Future longitudinal studies and intervention studies are needed to understand and improve women's psychosocial work environment and their psychosomatic health in China and elsewhere.
Institute of Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, Centre for Health and Society, Faculty of Medicine, University of Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany.
Jian
J
Li
Beijing Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, Beijing, China; School of Public Health, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China. Electronic address: dingdingumea@163.com.
Hui
H
Ding
Shaanxi Provincial People's hospital, Xi'an, China.
Wei
W
Han
Tongzhou Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital, Beijing, China.
Lei
L
Jin
Tongzhou Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital, Beijing, China.
Ling-Na
LN
Kong
Haidian Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital, Beijing, China.
Kang-Na
KN
Mao
Shenzhen Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital, Shenzhen, China.
Hong
H
Wang
Nanjing Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital, Nanjing, China.
Jiang-Ping
JP
Wu
Nanjing Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital, Nanjing, China.
Ying
Y
Wu
Shenyang Women and Children Health Care Center, Shenyang, China.
Liu
L
Yang
Haidian Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital, Beijing, China.
Yu
Y
Zhou
Beijing Municipal Key Laboratory of Clinical Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China; School of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Perth, Australia.
You-Xin
YX
Wang
Beijing Municipal Key Laboratory of Clinical Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China; School of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Perth, Australia.
Wei
W
Wang
Institute of Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, Centre for Health and Society, Faculty of Medicine, University of Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany.
Adrian
A
Loerbroks
Institute of Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, Centre for Health and Society, Faculty of Medicine, University of Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany.
Peter
P
Angerer
D000328:Adult; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D000071896:Medically Unexplained Symptoms; D008875:Middle Aged; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014931:Women, Working / Q000523:psychology*; D016526:Workload / Q000523:psychology*; D017132:Workplace / Q000523:psychology*
China; Effort-reward imbalance; Somatic symptoms; Women's health; Work stress