Additive Interaction of Work-Related Stress and Sleep Duration on Arthritis Among Middle-Aged Civil Servants.

ABSTRACT

AIM: Occupational strain is recognized as a risk for arthritis, yet little is known about how psychological stress affects arthritis moderated by sleep duration. The objective of this study is to assess work-related stress using the effort-reward imbalance (ERI) model and the job-demand-support (JDS) model on arthritis moderated by sleep duration. METHODS: A nationwide cross-sectional study randomly collected a total of 11,875 middle-aged, employed civil servants from 647 registered governmental institutions. Each participant anonymously and voluntarily filled out a web-based questionnaire and informed consent at the time of the study. Psychosocial work stress was assessed by ERI and JDS measured by a Chinese version of the job content questionnaire. RESULTS: There were significant odds ratios (ORs) of arthritis positively associated with high ERI (OR = 1.58), high overcommitment (OC) (OR = 1.57), and job demand (OR = 1.31) and negatively associated with job support (OR = 0.69) using multivariate analysis after being adjusted for covariates. For the short sleep duration group, there was an interaction effect of both high ERI and OC on arthritis, with a synergy index of 18.91 and 1.52, respectively. Similarly, there are high ORs of arthritis in both the high job demand and low job support groups. CONCLUSION: Work-related stress related to arthritis moderated by sleep duration for civil servants. Civil servants with high job demand and low job support should use caution to reduce the risk of arthritis.