Multimorbidity and its Associated Factors in Korean Shift Workers: Population-Based Cross-Sectional Study

Area of Science:

• Occupational Health
• Epidemiology
• Public Health

Background:

• Multimorbidity significantly impacts health outcomes, quality of life, and healthcare utilization.
• Shift work, prevalent in the global workforce, is linked to increased chronic disease risk and multimorbidity.
• Limited data exists on multimorbidity prevalence and associated factors among Korean shift workers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the prevalence of multimorbidity in Korean shift workers.
• To identify demographic, occupational, and behavioral factors associated with multimorbidity.
• To explore patterns and clustering of chronic diseases within this population.

Main Methods:

• Population-based cross-sectional study using 2016-2020 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data.
• Included 1704 Korean shift workers (weighted n=2,697,228) aged 19+; multimorbidity defined as ≥2 chronic diseases.
• Analyzed demographic, job-related, and health behavior variables using logistic regression and network analysis.

Main Results:

• The prevalence of multimorbidity was 13.7% among Korean shift workers.
• Significant factors associated with multimorbidity included age, income, regular work status, and obesity.
• Network analysis identified three distinct clusters: cardiometabolic, musculoskeletal, and other chronic diseases.

Conclusions:

• Socioeconomic and behavioral factors are significantly associated with multimorbidity in Korean shift workers.
• Policy development for work schedule modification and organization-level interventions are recommended.
• Longitudinal studies are suggested to confirm the impact of job-related factors and health behaviors.