Association between labor union presence and return to work after occupational injury or illness: A nationally representative longitudinal study in South Korea.

BACKGROUND: This study sought to examine the association between labor union presence and return to work after occupational injury or illness (RTW) among workers in South Korea. METHODS: We analyzed the first (2018) and second (2019) wave data from the Panel Study of Workers' Compensation Insurance in South Korea. The cohort consisted of 3,294 workers who had suffered occupational injury or illness and completed their convalescence by 2017. We examined whether RTW was associated with the presence of labor unions in the workplace at the time of the occupational injury or illness occurred. RESULTS: Compared to workers without labor unions, those with labor unions were more likely to report RTW (prevalence ratio: 1.35, 95% confidence interval: 1.20-1.51) after adjusting for potential confounders, including employment status, duration of convalescence, and severity of injury or illness. CONCLUSION: This study found that labor union presence was associated with RTW among workers who suffered occupational injury or illness in South Korea.

High Temperature and Its Association With Work-Related Injuries by Employment Status in South Korea, 2017-2018.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to determine the association between maximum daily temperature and work-related injuries according to employment status in South Korea. METHODS: Data on workers' compensation claims and daily maximum temperature between May 20 and September 10, 2017-2018, were collected and analyzed. The absolute temperature risk effect (ATR) was evaluated by comparing the risk effect at 2 temperatures (30°C vs 33°C) across all communities using 2-stage time-series analysis. RESULTS: The association between high temperatures and work-related injuries was statistically significant in the construction sector (ATR, 1.129; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.010-1.261). In addition, the findings of this study also demonstrated a higher risk effect among nonpermanent workers (ATR, 1.109; 95% CI, 1.013-1.214) at 33°C versus 30°C when compared with permanent workers (ATR, 0.963; 95% CI, 0.891-1.041). CONCLUSIONS: This study found a significant association between high temperatures and work-related injuries among nonpermanent workers in South Korea.

Working Alone, Limited Restroom Accessibility, and Poor Menstrual Health Among Cosmetics Saleswomen in South Korea.

Menstrual hygiene management (MHM) at work has been neglected in occupational health research despite its importance for female workers' health. This study investigated the association between hours of working alone and poor menstrual health among 740 cosmetics saleswomen in South Korea. Hours of working alone in a day were classified into 4 categories. MHM was measured by asking "Over the past six months, have you ever experienced that you could not change your sanitary pad when you need to change it at work?" We also measured the experience of dermatopathy due to unchanged sanitary pads. Cosmetics saleswomen who worked alone for 3 h or more in a day reported a higher prevalence of ever being unable to change the sanitary pads (prevalence ratio [PR] 1.84, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.37-2.46) and dermatopathy due to unchanged sanitary pads (PR 2.06, 95% CI: 1.18-3.59) than those who worked alone less than 1 h in a day.

Health Disparities Among Workers With Standing Position and Limited Restroom Access: A Cosmetics Saleswomen Study in South Korea.

Korean cosmetics sales workers in department stores face harmful working environments, including limited restroom access, working long hours in a standing position, and customer violence. This study investigated health disparities between cosmetics saleswomen and the general population of working women in South Korea. We assessed the prevalence of health indicators, including physician-diagnosed disease, using a cross-sectional survey of 860 Korean cosmetics saleswomen in September 2018. Health indicators of cosmetics saleswomen were compared to those of general working women from the nationally representative datasets (e.g., National Health Insurance Service-National Sample Cohort). We estimated age-standardized prevalence ratios (SPRs) for health outcomes, including physical, mental, and health-related behavioral conditions. Cosmetics saleswomen were more likely to be diagnosed or treated for physical and mental conditions (e.g., cystitis SPR: 4.03, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 3.48-4.65; plantar fasciitis SPR: 23.48, 95% CI: 18.12-29.93; varicose vein SPR: 38.41, 95% CI: 32.18-45.49; and depression SPR: 11.18, 95% CI: 8.53-14.40) compared to general working women. Prevalence of smoking and hazardous alcohol consumption was also higher among cosmetics saleswomen than those of general women workers. Given our findings, further research is needed to identify work-related risk factors that could deteriorate cosmetic sales workers' health in South Korea.

Adolescent Bullying Victimization at Secondary School and Adult Suicidality and Depressive Symptoms Among 2152 Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Adults in South Korea.

This study examined the association between adolescent bullying victimization (ABV) and adult mental health among lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals in South Korea (hereafter Korea). We conducted a cross-sectional survey of 2152 Korean LGB adults in 2016. Based on experiences of and reasons for ABV, participants were categorized into four groups: "never bullied," "bullied due to sexual orientation and gender expression (SOGE)," "bullied due to other reasons," and "bullied, reason unspecified." Compared with participants who have never been bullied during adolescence, those who have been "bullied due to SOGE" were 1.56 times, 1.53 times, and 3.59 times more likely to report depressive symptoms, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts, respectively. Statistically significant associations with all three mental health indicators were also observed among those who have been "bullied due to other reasons": depressive symptoms (adjusted prevalence ratio [aPR] = 1.72), suicidal ideation (aPR = 1.48), and suicide attempts (aPR = 3.15). This study suggests that ABV may increase depressive symptoms and suicidality in adulthood among LGB individuals.

Association between Discrimination and Depressive Symptoms Among 2,162 Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Adults in South Korea: Does Community Connectedness Modify the Association?

This study investigated the association between perceived discrimination and depressive symptoms among Korean lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals and explored the role of community connectedness in that association. We analyzed a nationwide cross-sectional survey of 2,162 LGB adults in Korea. Discrimination based on its types, including sexual orientation, over the past 12 months was classified into four categories: (1) 'never experienced discrimination,' experienced (2) 'only sexual orientation discrimination,' (3) 'any of the other types of discrimination,' and (4) 'both sexual orientation discrimination and any of the other types of discrimination.' Our findings suggest that there was a statistically significant association between 'only sexual orientation discrimination' and depressive symptoms among LGB individuals with a low-level of community connectedness, but not among those with a high-level. In the other two categories of discrimination, which included the other types of discrimination, the associations were statistically significant, regardless of the level of community connectedness.

Health inequalities of 57,541 prisoners in Korea: a comparison with the general population.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to examine health disparities between prisoners and the general population in Korea. METHODS: We sought to estimate the prevalence of 17 physical and mental diseases using the nationwide medication prescription dataset among the total population of prisoners (n=57,541) in Korea. Age- and sex- standardized prevalence ratios (SPRs) were estimated to compare the disease prevalence between the prisoners and the general population. The disease prevalence for the general population was calculated from the prescription dataset for a representative of the Korean population (n=926,246) from the 2013 Korean National Health Insurance Service-National Sample Cohort. Furthermore, the prevalence of these diseases was compared between prisoners and a low-income segment of the general population (n=159,781). RESULTS: Compared to the general population, prisoners had higher prevalence of almost all physical and mental diseases, including hyperlipidemia (SPR, 20.18; 95% confidence interval [CI], 19.43 to 20.94), pulmonary tuberculosis (SPR, 9.58; 95% CI, 7.91 to 11.50), diabetes (SPR, 6.13; 95% CI, 5.96 to 6.31), cancer (SPR, 2.36; 95% CI, 2.07 to 2.68), and depression (SPR, 46.73; 95% CI, 44.14 to 49.43). When compared with the low-income population segment, higher prevalence were still found among prisoners for most diseases, including pulmonary tuberculosis (SPR, 6.39; 95% CI, 5.27 to 7.67) and depression (SPR, 34.71; 95% CI, 32.79 to 36.72). CONCLUSIONS: We found that prisoners were more likely to be unhealthy than the general population, even in comparison with a low-income segment of the general population in Korea.

Experiences of and barriers to transition-related healthcare among Korean transgender adults: focus on gender identity disorder diagnosis, hormone therapy, and sex reassignment surgery.

OBJECTIVES: Transgender people may encounter barriers to transition-related healthcare services. This study aimed to investigate the experiences of transition-related healthcare and barriers to those procedures among transgender adults in Korea. METHODS: In 2017, we conducted a nationwide cross-sectional survey of 278 transgender adults, which named Rainbow Connection Project II, in Korea. We assessed the prevalence of transition-related healthcare, including gender identity disorder (GID) diagnosis, hormone therapy, and sex reassignment surgery. To understand the barriers to those procedures, we also asked participants for their reasons for not receiving each procedure. Further, this study examined their experiences of and the reasons for using non-prescribed hormone medications. RESULTS: Of transgender people participated in the survey, 91.0% (n=253/278) were diagnosed with GID, 88.0% (n=243/276) received hormone therapy, and 42.4% (n=115/271) have had any kind of sex reassignment surgery. Cost was the most common barrier to transition-related healthcare among Korean transgender adults. Other common barriers were identified as follows: negative experiences in healthcare settings, lack of specialized healthcare professionals and facilities, and social stigma against transgender people. Among those who had taken hormone medications, 25.1% (n=61/243) reported that they had ever purchased them without a prescription. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that barriers to transition-related healthcare exist in Korea and constrain transgender individuals' safe access to the needed healthcare. Institutional interventions are strongly recommended to improve access to transition-related healthcare. These interventions include provision of programs to train Korean healthcare professionals and expansion of national health insurance to include these procedures.

Health disparities between lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults and the general population in South Korea: Rainbow Connection Project I.

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to investigate health disparities between lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) adults and the general population in Korea, where there is low public acceptance of sexual minorities and a lack of research on the health of sexual minorities. METHODS: The research team conducted a nationwide survey of 2,335 Korean LGB adults in 2016. Using the dataset, we estimated the age-standardized prevalence ratios (SPRs) for poor self-rated health, musculoskeletal pain, depressive symptoms, suicidal behaviors, smoking, and hazardous drinking. We then compared the SPRs of the LGB adults and the general population which participated in three different nationally representative surveys in Korea. SPRs were estimated for each of the four groups (i.e., gay men, bisexual men, lesbians, and bisexual women). RESULTS: Korean LGB adults exhibited a statistically significantly higher prevalence of depressive symptoms, suicidal ideation and attempts, and musculoskeletal pain than the general population. Lesbian and bisexual women had a higher risk of poor self-rated health and smoking than the general women population, whereas gay and bisexual men showed no differences with the general men population. Higher prevalence of hazardous drinking was observed among lesbians, gay men, and bisexual women compared to the general population, but was not observed in bisexual men. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that LGB adults have poorer health conditions compared to the general population in Korea. These results suggest that interventions are needed to address the health disparities of Korean LGB adults.