The role of psychosocial and physical work-related factors on the health-related quality of life of Iranian industrial workers.
BACKGROUND
The role of psychosocial and physical work factors in predicting health related quality of life (HRQOL) has not been investigated among Iranian industrial workers.


OBJECTIVE
The present study is designed to assess these relationships among Iranian workers from steel and cosmetic factories.


METHODS
A cross-sectional study was conducted among 280 workers from two factories. Psychosocial and physical work factors and HRQOL were measured by the Persian translations of the following questionnaires: Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ) and the World Health Organization Quality of Life-Brief (WHOQOL-Brief). An instrument was developed to assess socio-demographic, health, and other work-related factors. The data were analyzed using independent t-tests, Pearson product moment correlation and hierarchical multiple regression.


RESULTS
Results revealed that the respondents generally had poor HRQOLs especially in the environmental domain. The steel factory workers who were exposed to higher levels of occupational risk factors suffered from poorer HRQOL compared to the cosmetic factory workers. The results of hierarchical regression for all participants revealed that social support, sleep quality, work schedule, smoking and exercise were significant predictors of all domains of HRQOL.


CONCLUSIONS
To improve the worker's HRQOL, intervention programs should focus on promoting social support, sleep quality, exercise and smoking habits. Moreover, reducing hazardous work environments should be considered an important intervention to promote HRQOL.
Department of Ergonomics, School of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
Hamidreza
H
Mokarami
Colorado Injury Control Research Center, Department of Psychology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA.
Lorann
L
Stallones
Department of Psychology, University of Bojnord, Bojnord, Iran.
Morteza
M
Nazifi
Kohkilouyeh & Boyer-Ahmad Health Care Management of Social Security Organization, Yasuj, Iran.
Sayed Mohammad
SM
Taghavi
D000328:Adult; D003358:Cosmetics; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran; D008297:Male; D008669:Metallurgy; D008875:Middle Aged; D016272:Occupational Health; D010561:Personnel Staffing and Scheduling; D005082:Physical Exertion; D011788:Quality of Life; D012890:Sleep; D012907:Smoking; D012944:Social Support; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017132:Workplace / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult
D003358:Cosmetics
Psychosocial work factors; WHOQOL-brief; World Health Organization Quality of Life-Brief; health-related quality of life; job content questionnaire (JCQ)