Job Stress-attributable Burden of Disease in Korea

As job stress is associated with various diseases and psychiatric conditions, we aimed to estimate the job stress-attributable burden of disease in Korea based on the concept of disability-adjusted life years (DALY).

We selected ischemic heart disease (IHD), stroke, major depressive disorder (MDD), and suicide as health outcomes from job stress, because of the ease of access to data estimating burdens and of important meaning of them in Korean occupational background.

Our findings demonstrated that approximately 21% of Korean workers were exposed to high job strain, which was attributable for approximately 6.7% of IHDs, 6.9% of strokes, 13.6% of MDDs, and 4% of suicides. In terms of job stress-attributable DALY, the burdens of disease per 100,000 people were 38 for IHD, 72 for stroke, 168 for MDDs, and 44 for suicides.

The present findings suggested that one-fifth of Korean workers were suffering from high job strain. Although the figures may not be accurate due to several assumptions, job stress is an important risk factor for health in working environment in Korea.