Additive Interaction of Work-Related Stress and Sleep Duration on Arthritis Among Middle-Aged Civil Servants

Po-Chang Tseng; Ping-Yi Lin; Wen-Miin Liang; Wen-Yu Lin; Hsien-Wen Kuo

doi:10.2147/PRBM.S331533

Additive Interaction of Work-Related Stress and Sleep Duration on Arthritis Among Middle-Aged Civil Servants

Psychol Res Behav Manag. 2021 Dec 16:14:2093-2101. doi: 10.2147/PRBM.S331533. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Po-Chang Tseng^{1

2}, Ping-Yi Lin^{3

4}, Wen-Miin Liang⁵, Wen-Yu Lin^{1

6}, Hsien-Wen Kuo^{1

7}

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan.
² Health Promotion Administration, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Taipei, Taiwan.
³ Department of Nursing, Hungkuang University, Taichung, Taiwan.
⁴ Department of Medical Research, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.
⁵ Department of Health Services Administration, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.
⁶ Environmental Protection Administration, Executive Yuan, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁷ Institute of Public Health, National Defense University, Taipei, Taiwan.

Abstract

Aim: Occupational strain is recognized as a risk for arthritis, yet little is known about how psychological stress affects arthritis moderated by sleep duration. The objective of this study is to assess work-related stress using the effort-reward imbalance (ERI) model and the job-demand-support (JDS) model on arthritis moderated by sleep duration.

Methods: A nationwide cross-sectional study randomly collected a total of 11,875 middle-aged, employed civil servants from 647 registered governmental institutions. Each participant anonymously and voluntarily filled out a web-based questionnaire and informed consent at the time of the study. Psychosocial work stress was assessed by ERI and JDS measured by a Chinese version of the job content questionnaire.

Results: There were significant odds ratios (ORs) of arthritis positively associated with high ERI (OR = 1.58), high overcommitment (OC) (OR = 1.57), and job demand (OR = 1.31) and negatively associated with job support (OR = 0.69) using multivariate analysis after being adjusted for covariates. For the short sleep duration group, there was an interaction effect of both high ERI and OC on arthritis, with a synergy index of 18.91 and 1.52, respectively. Similarly, there are high ORs of arthritis in both the high job demand and low job support groups.

Conclusion: Work-related stress related to arthritis moderated by sleep duration for civil servants. Civil servants with high job demand and low job support should use caution to reduce the risk of arthritis.

Keywords: ERI; JDS; arthritis; civil servants; effort-reward imbalance; job-demand-support; psychological work stress; sleep duration.

Grants and funding

This study was supported by funding from TobaccoHealth and Welfare Surcharge, Health Promotion Administration, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Executive Yuan, Taiwan, ROC (Civil servants health survey program 2016/B1050406), China Medical University (CMU-110-S-17 and CMU-110-S-24), and Ministry ofScience and Technology, Taiwan (MOST 109-2410-H-039-002, MOST 110-2314-B-A49A-526 and MOST 110-2410-H-039-002).