The Relationship between Emotional Working Hour and Muscle Pain

Lee, Bokim

Abstract

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to investigate muscle pains of emotional laborers and determine whether there were differences in their muscle pains depending on the hours spent on emotional labor.
METHODS
This is a secondary analysis of the data collected from the 3rd (2011) Korean Working Conditions Survey. 50,032 participants responded to the study's questionnaire. Among them, 15,669 participants were emotional laborers who directly dealt with people such as customers, passengers, pupils, patients, etc.
RESULTS
Thirty three percent of subjects had reported muscle pains. Muscle pains of subjects were positively related to the hours spent on emotional labor (p<.001). According to the logistic regression analysis, the adjusted odd ratio of the subjects who spent about almost all of the work hours on emotional labor was 1.32 (95% CI: 1.15~1.52), compared to the subjects who spent about a quarter of their work hours on emotional labor, when other factors were controlled.
CONCLUSION
The study's findings indicate that engaging in emotional labor for longer hours increases the risks of muscle pains. Occupational nurses must pay closer attention to the management of muscle pains of emotional laborers.