The Relationship between Occupational Status and Physical Activity in Korea

This study examined the association between occupational status and physical activity (PA) in Korea. A total of 9,000 Koreans age 10 to 89 years participated in the Korean Survey of Citizens' Sports Participation project in 2012. However, 3,851 participants were excluded from the analysis (housewives, students, and the jobless), providing a sample size of 5,149 participants (3,165 men and 1,984 women) for this study. The association between occupational status and PA was then evaluated using multivariate logistic regression analysis. The odds ratios (ORs; 95% confidence interval [CI]) for reporting at least weekly PA according to job intensity, after adjusting for sex and age, were as follows: moderate-intensity jobs, 1.164 [1.026, 1.320], p = .018; and vigorous-intensity jobs, 1.591 [1.318, 1.921], p < .001, compared with low-intensity jobs as a reference category. For PA intensity in low- and moderate-intensity jobs, after adjusting for sex and age, the ORs (95% CI) were as follows: low-intensity PA, 1.355 [1.033, 1.778], p = .028, moderate PA, 1.227 [1.096, 1.487], p = .002, and vigorous PA, 1.570 [1.213, 2.032], p < .001, compared with sedentary as a reference category. For the intensity of PA among participants with low- or vigorous-intensity jobs, after adjusting for sex and age, the ORs (95% CI) were as follows: low-intensity PA, 1.015 [0.649, 1.586], p = .948, moderate-intensity PA, 1.890 [1.416, 2.522], p < .001, and vigorous-intensity PA, 2.403 [1.395, 4.139], p = .002, compared with sedentary as a reference category. For the intensity of PA between moderate-intensity and vigorous-intensity jobs, after adjusting for sex and age, the ORs (95% CI) were as follows: low-intensity PA, 1.010 [0.759, 1.344], p = .945, moderate-intensity PA, 1.381 [1.136, 1.678], p = .001, and vigorous-intensity PA, 1.595 [1.023, 2.486], p = .039, compared to sedentary as a reference category. The presented findings show a strong association between occupational status and PA patterns for Koreans.