Background

The socioeconomic burden of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) is significant, and kitchen work is a high-risk occupation for MSDs due to the intensive manual workload and repetitive movements that are involved. However, there are very few studies on MSDs and rest breaks as a workplace intervention among kitchen workers. This study examined the relationship between insufficient rest breaks and increased MSD risk among Korean kitchen workers.

Methods

Sociodemographic and occupational factors of 1,909 kitchen workers were collected from the 3rd–4th Korean Working Conditions Survey data. Five items on rest breaks at work were categorized into two groups, “sufficient” and “insufficient.” The number of MSDs and work-related MSDs (WMSDs), an outcome variable, was obtained from the sum of MSDs/WMSDs in three anatomical sites (back, neck, and upper limb, lower limb). The association between rest breaks and MSDs was estimated using zero-inflated negative binomial analyses, with adjustments for age, education level, and weekly working hours, and the analyses were stratified by sex.

Results

After adjustment, significant associations were found between insufficient rest breaks and an increased risk of MSDs (odds ratio [OR] 1.68 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.11–2.54) and WMSDs (OR 1.40 95% CI 1.01–1.96) among female kitchen workers. Insufficient rest breaks were significantly associated with MSDs in female kitchen workers in all three anatomical sites.

Conclusion

This study emphasizes the need for rest breaks as a workplace intervention for preventing MSDs in kitchen workers. Further studies to reveal the causality of this relationship are required.

中文翻译：

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工作场所休息不足和韩国厨房工人的肌肉骨骼疾病

背景

肌肉骨骼疾病 (MSD) 的社会经济负担很重，厨房工作是 MSD 的高危职业，因为需要大量的体力劳动和重复性动作。然而，很少有关于 MSD 和休息时间作为厨房工人工作场所干预的研究。本研究调查了韩国厨房工人休息不足与 MSD 风险增加之间的关系。

方法

从第 3-4 次韩国工作条件调查数据中收集了 1,909 名厨房工人的社会人口统计和职业因素。工作中休息的五个项目被分为两组，“足够”和“不足”。MSDs 和工作相关 MSDs (WMSDs) 的数量是一个结果变量，是从三个解剖部位（背部、颈部和上肢、下肢）的 MSDs/WMSDs 的总和中获得的。休息时间和 MSD 之间的关联是使用零膨胀负二项式分析估计的，并调整了年龄、教育水平和每周工作时间，分析按性别分层。

结果

调整后，发现休息不足与女性厨房患 MSD（比值比 [OR] 1.68 95% 置信区间 [CI] 1.11-2.54）和 WMSD（OR 1.40 95% CI 1.01-1.96）风险增加之间存在显着关联工人。在所有三个解剖部位，休息不足与女性厨房工人的 MSD 显着相关。

结论

这项研究强调需要休息作为工作场所的干预措施，以防止厨房工人患 MSD。需要进一步研究以揭示这种关系的因果关系。