Work Conditions and Determinants of Health Status Among Industrial Shift Workers: a Cross-sectional Study

Overview

Journal Front Public Health

Date 2025 Jan 22

PMID 39839437

Authors

Sasha Javanmardi

Ludwig Rappelt

Christian Baumgart

Daniel Niederer

Lars Heinke

Jurgen Freiwald

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Introduction: This study investigated potential health status differences among forging, manufacturing, and logistics workers.

Methods: We included 403 participants (age: 41 ± 12 years) from a medium-sized steel company (forge: 64, manufacturing: 299, logistics: 99). Health status was multifactorial assessed: (1) Frequency of musculoskeletal complaints (German Pain Questionnaire). (2) Pain intensity, physical and psychological load [visual analog scales (VAS) 0-100 points]. (3) Occupational moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), total MVPA, and sedentary behavior [Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ)]. (4) Quality of life [Short Form Health Survey (SF-36)]. Between-group effects were analyzed via one-way ANOVAs with post-hoc Tukey correction.

Results: 308 workers (76.4%) reported at least one musculoskeletal issue. A significant between-group difference was revealed for left shoulder [(2,40) = 5.40;  = 0.008; ω = 0.17], occupational MVPA [(2,368) = 9.49;  < 0.001; ω = 0.04] and total MVPA [(2,368) = 6.90;  = 0.001; ω = 0.03]. Post-hoc tests revealed a difference ( ≤ 0.007) between manufacturing (left shoulder:  = 22; 42.5 ± 24.8; occupational MVPA:  = 219; 6,978 ± 5,137 METs min/week; total MVPA:  = 219; 8,471 ± 5,390 METs min/week) and logistics workers (left shoulder:  = 14; 70.4 ± 26.3 au; occupational MVPA:  = 96; 9,640 ± 4,605 METs min/week; total MVPA:  = 96; 10,856 ± 4,680 METs min/week). No other between-group differences were observed.

Discussion: Variations in health disparities across work conditions were observed. Yet, clear distinctions between work conditions and health outcomes remain a challenge. Effective interventions should be focused on job-specific and personalized health profiles rather than a stratification of work conditions to enhance health, productivity, and workforce sustainability.

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