M. Tezuka1, K. Saeki2, K. Nakatsuka2, K. Uchida2, K. Horibe2, R. Goto2, E. Perrein2, H. Encho1, K. Tamura1, M. Mukaijo1, N. Yamada1, R. Ono2
1Kobe University, Medicine Faculty of Health Sciences, Kobe, Japan, 2Kobe University, Public Health, Kobe, Japan
Background: Neck pain (NP) is a common disorder in the working population that reduces productivity for workers. A previous study has shown perceived stress was one of the risk factors of NP. There are many factors that could influence perceived stress, and workplace social capital (WSC) defined as “social cohesion, trust, reciprocity, and cooperation in the workplace” is one of them. Therefore, WSC could be associated with NP. WSC may be an important factor to prevent NP because workers spend a considerable amount of time at their workplace. According to a previous study, the association between WSC and NP among laboratory technicians was not significant. It should be to examine the relationship NP and WSC in various occupation.
Purpose: The present study aimed to examine the association between WSC and presence of NP among workers.
Methods: This study design was a cross-sectional study. We distributed the self-reported questionnaire to 928 workers working in research institutes and electrical manufacturer and 719 workers completed the questionnaire. Inclusion criteria were individuals aged 18 to 65 years, participating in the annual health checkups, working at least 1 year in the current workplace. Exclusion criteria included reported less than 30 work hours per week during past month or missing data. Data from 596 workers were available for statistical analysis. Current NP intensity was evaluated with Numeric Rating Scale (NRS), ranging from 0 to 10 (with 0 = “no pain” and 10 = “worst imaginable pain”). Presence of NP was defined as NRS>1. In accordance with previous studies, we used an 8-item measure specifically designed to measure WSC such as “Our supervisor treats us with kindness and consideration”. Responses were given on a five-point rating scale (1 = “totally disagree” and 5 = “totally agree”). The mean scores were calculated for these eight items (range = 1.00-5.00). WSC has no standard cut off point; it was divided into the following three categories based on tertile distributions: low (≦3.125), middle (＞3.125, ≦3.875), and high (＞3.875). Logistic regression models were applied, with the presence of NP as the dependent variable and WSC as the independent variable. The following variables were used as confounding factors in adjusted model: age, sex, education, BMI and work hours.
Results: In this study, 596 workers were included in the statistical analysis. The median age was 41.5 years old (IQR: 31-51, male: 91.3%). The median score for WSC was 3.62 (IQR: 3.00-4.00). The prevalence of NP was 40.1%. According to the tertile distributions, 40.2, 33.9, and 25.9% of NP prevalence were classified as having low, middle, and high WSC, respectively. After adjustment, the analysis yielded an OR of 0.57 (95% CI 0.37-0.88) for high WSC, compared with the low WSC. Low WSC was significantly associated with the presence of NP.
Conclusion(s): We investigated the association between WSC and the prevalence of NP among workers. We found that lower WSC had an independent association with a higher prevalence of NP among workers.
Implications: WSC could be an important factor to prevent onset of NP among workers.
Funding, acknowledgements: None declared.
Keywords: workplace social capital, neck pain, worker
Topic: Occupational health & ergonomics
Did this work require ethics approval? Yes
Institution: Kobe University Graduate School of Health Sciences
Committee: the Research Ethics Committee
Ethics number: 488-4
All authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.
