Korean J Occup Environ Med.  2009 Sep;21(3):267-275.

The Factors Related to Health-related Quality of Life(HRQOL), and Correlation between Occupational Stress and HRQOL among Municipal Fire Officers in Incheon

• Lee K
• Heo H
• Kim D
• Kim I
• Kim S
• Rho J
• Jung S
• Mun J

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
This study was performed to investigate the factors related to HRQOL, and a correlation between occupational stress and HRQOL among municipal fire officers.
METHODS
In November 2005, 341 male municipal fire officers submitted to the following tests: A general questionnaire, a medical questionnaire, the Korean Occupational Stress Scale Short Form(KOSSSF), and the SmithKline Beecham quality of life scale (SBQOL).
RESULTS
Back pain (OR=3.54, 95% C.I.=1.81-6.93) and occupational stress (OR=6.33, 95% C.I.=3.12-12.83) were significantly related to poor HRQOL scores among municipal fire officers, and there is negative relationship between KOSS-SF score and SBQOL score. Logistic regression analysis indicated that the medium occupational stress group (OR=2.21, 95% C.I.=1.04-4.71) and the high occupational stress group (OR=6.33, 95% C.I.=3.12-12.83) were more significantly associated with poor HRQOL than low occupational stress group.
CONCLUSIONS
Among municipal fire officers, back pain and occupational stress were found to be related to their HRQOL. Based on this study, we suggest that the management of back pain and occupational stress are instrumental to improving the HRQOL among municipal fire officers.

Keyword

Occupational stress; Health-related quality of life; Fire officers; QOL

MeSH Terms

Back Pain
Fires
Humans
Logistic Models
Male
Quality of Life
Questionnaires