Occupational Differences in C-Reactive Protein Among Working-Age Adults in South Korea
Yongjoo Kim1, Masayoshi Zaitsu, Kanami Tsuno
1Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (Dr Kim, Dr Zaitsu, Dr Tsuno, Dr Li, Dr Jang, Dr Kawachi); Department of Public Health, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo (Dr Zaitsu); School of Health Innovation, Kanagawa University of Human Services, Kanagawa (Dr Tsuno), Japan; Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders, Departments of Medicine and Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital (Dr Li), Boston, Massachusetts; Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Maryland School of Public Health, Maryland (Dr Lee); Red Cross College of Nursing, Chung-Ang University, Seoul, Republic of Korea (Dr Jang).
Objective:
To examine the association between occupational class and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) in Korean workers.
Methods:
We used a nationally representative sample of Koreans (n = 2591) aged 19 to 65 years from the 2015 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The concentration of hsCRP (mg/L) was assessed by a high sensitivity immunoturbidimetric assay. Current occupation was categorized as: white-collar (managers/professionals), pink-collar (clerks/service/sales), blue-collar (craft/equipment/machine-assembling, agricultural/forestry/fishery, and elementary-level labor), or unemployed. Cross-sectional linear regression models adjusted for sociodemographic/work-related/health conditions and behaviors.
Results:
Compared with blue-collar workers, white-collar workers showed significantly higher levels of hsCRP (β = 0.16, 95% CI: 0.02, 0.30) after adjusting for all covariates, whereby the pattern was more pronounced among professionals. However, the association was not significant for unemployed and pink-collar workers.
Conclusions:
Findings suggest that Korean white-collar workers, particularly professionals, have elevated levels of inflammation.
